Click bait

[Brian Stirling]

I've been noticing for a while now that many of the news websites are using a similar strategy to drive clicks -- top 10 lists or similar lists!

Top 25 most beautiful women.

37 people that used to be attractive.

Top 5 badass fighter planes.

etc.

The fact that just about all the sites employ this very same trick makes it pretty clear that they now what they're doing and they're doing it for clicks.


Brian

 

[Ns1]

http://www.theatlantic.com/technolo...pworthy-headlines-suddenly-everywhere/282048/

http://www.upworthygenerator.com/

 

[cbrunny]

Number 17 will blow your mind!

 

[cbrunny]

When I got to number 3 I started bawling!

 

[cbrunny]

Number 11 might be enough to make me turn gay.

 

[Schfifty Five]

"You won't believe what this waitress did for her customer..."

 

[amdhunter]

Amen.

 

[Captante]

One weird trick?


More like one great reason to stop coming to our website.

 

[Ken g6]

http://www.theatlantic.com/technolo...pworthy-headlines-suddenly-everywhere/282048/

tl;dr: 5 Good Reasons to Like That Article on Facebook

 

[Red Squirrel]

Yeah these cliche titles are getting old. I can't believe I used to fall for them, now I don't even think of clicking, I just move on. Typically those sites are LITTERED with javascript bullcrap and modals and other annoyances, and at times the information is split up in ways making it impossible to navigate. The title should be "I bet you'll never make it to number 3 without getting frustrated and closing out of the tab!"

 

[Ichinisan]

Countdowns let them force you to click through multiple pages, so they get multiple hits on their ads.

 

[Ns1]

Countdowns let them force you to click through multiple pages, so they get multiple hits on their ads.

yep, saw a top 10 list from LA Mag break that into 11 pages (1 intro + 1 for each number). closed that link immediately.

 

[SMOGZINN]

Any article that is not sensible titled, any article that breaks things down into a slideshow that is one picture per page, or any thing that requires me to jump through a bunch of hoops to even get to their content is simply not clicked on anymore. Not even once. Not even if they tell me that I won't believe what happened next (and yes I will. It is never that unbelievable). For no reason whatsoever will I give them clicks.

I can only hope the entire pseud-news website industry dies in a terrible netclamity.

 

[AdamK47]

Are you guys just figuring this out?

The Internet has been one giant cesspool of click bait for quite a while now.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Listicles are taking the internet and GNC by storm!

 

[Skeeedunt]

I clicked on a bunch of threads in ATOT and you won't believe which one I decided to leave a pointless comment on.

 

[John Connor]

FaceSchmuck has to be the worst for this. They show a half ass image and you have to click to see the article along with the horrid Ads and pop ups (which you can't stop with the FaceShmuck App) and it turns out to be a stupid article.

Yeah... Number 10 will BLOW your mind. Fuckers...

 

[John Connor]

I clicked on a bunch of threads in ATOT and you won't believe which one I decided to leave a pointless comment on.

So which one was it?

 

[John Connor]

LMAO!

 

[Red Squirrel]

I wonder if you could write a bot that keeps reloading those pages, and the ad networks will think they're trying to cheat, and then ban them.

 

[John Connor]

*Rubs hands together* Sounds like a plan. :twisted:

 

[Fire&Blood]

Wherever there is click bait, infinite scrolling can't be far.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Wherever there is click bait, infinite scrolling can't be far.

Right after the 40-page slide show with 1 image and sentence of text per page.

 

[Homerboy]

Wait, you're JUST figuring this out now?

 

[zinfamous]

http://www.theatlantic.com/technolo...pworthy-headlines-suddenly-everywhere/282048/

http://www.upworthygenerator.com/

that, and if you've ever met another useless dickhole of a person that you wanted to punch more than this guy:

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/01/05/virologist


then I would be impressed.