You have seen them. The 'Me = Better Than You' articles. The 'my elitist book is better than your mainstream book' articles. The 'I stalked this blogger because she was mean to me (but not really- she just reviewed my book *honestly*)' article. The 'YA is not for Adults, because I said so and my opinion is the bestest (
I hate very few things in this world, mostly suffering and ignorance, mean people, corn syrup, doctors without empathy, mice who hide in my closet, people who abuse animals, - you get the picture. Most of my hates are relatively mainstream or a result of experience, but one true flaming hatred burnt up my empathy the other day- clickbait.
Clickbait is a relatively new phenomena that evolved with the internet's trove of trolls. It would not survive if the internet's users didn't stop clicking the 'bait'. But curiosity kills the cat, and perpetuates the clickbait. We want to know things. The internet is full of interesting information. Unfortunately, most clickbait articles aren't actually based on facts- much like this Confession, they are based on opinions. And when we keep on clicking them, the clickbait-life-cycle rides again.
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| Not to be confused with 'the life cycle of greedy trolls'. |
Every internet citizen plays a role in the life cycle of clickbait. Everyone of us, except those few who don't take the bait, and refuse to click. I aspire to be one of those people.
When I read a clickbait article, I am more likely to get angry than to feel happy about the opinions expressed therein. It takes time to read a clickbait article- time I could use for checking up on my favorite blogs, or reading my next favorite book. In summary, clickbait does nothing for me except waste my time and sour my mood- so why do I keep clicking?
The short answer: I am human.
The long answer: Clickbait fuels my sense of righteous anger, which, in part, fuels my ambition, which helps me write this blog, which I've been meaning to keep on writing, even if my posts air a little later than I want them to. But, I have plenty of righteous anger- I'm just born that way. I guess I click clickbait because I'm human.
Although I am human, I now realize I'm playing a part in my arch-nemeses continuing reign of pseudo-journalistic terror. I intend to stop it *right after I click that article on-* right now. I'm no longer interested in articles that are deliberately contrarian, offensive, stupid, boorish, or otherwise troll-written. It will not be easy, as I know the next author-who-writes-a-badly-thought-out-article will be due for a comeback any day now, but I trust that I won't need to see it. Enough people can be righteously angry in my place.
I never click on clickbait. I feel like I shouldn't say never but I really never do. It's just a waste of time to me and a lot of them are inspired by people hating on things or other people and I don't think that really has a place in the world. Of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion, just try to be nice about it.
ReplyDeleteAwesome post - I hope you achieve your goal of never clicking on clickbait again :D
Laura @BlueEyeBooks
"I don't think it has a place in the world" - my thoughts exactly! I think it's crazy that people get paid for it too- I think that's really what makes me angry about it. I also fully believe in free speech, but sometimes it's like "I don't know you- so your opinion is moot."
DeleteThanks for stopping by and commenting, Laura!
~Litha Nelle
It's like an internet train wreck I can't look away from - things have a tendency to blow more out of promotion online because of internet ease and social networking. I think we're all guilty on some level.
ReplyDeleteYeah, those links are so tempting sometimes, especially if a fellow blogger mentions one. We're definitely all guilty at some point- the click bait life cycle wouldn't work if we didn't click!
DeleteThanks for stopping by and commenting, Erin!
~Litha Nelle
Sometimes I get sucked in. And then UGH. And the energy it takes!
ReplyDeleteWhich is why I aspire never to become a clickbait-er of a blogger.
There are places on the internet where you can be sucked into a vacuum of clickbait, places where your hope that the internet might make the world a better place go to die. It certainly takes a lot to keep up with the latest clickbait, which is why I aspire to avoid it.
DeleteThanks for stopping by and commenting, guiltless reader!
~Litha Nelle
How do I know what is a click bait article and what isn't? Are there any clues to look for?
ReplyDeleteClick bait is generally peddled on sites like Slate (infamous for their inflammatory YA article), but if you read an article that's opinion-based and makes steam come out of your ears, generally that is called outrage clickbait, which I targeted in this confession. Other clickbait can include ads that are like "You'll never guess what this grandma did to look like Pamela Anderson", "Look at how out of shape Kevin Bacon looks in this selfie (without a pic, just a link)", and "Lose 30 pounds by avoiding these 5 foods".
DeleteWhile some clickbait might contain actual information, generally it has junk trivia to get you on their site, where you'll be bombarded with ads for their other click-happy articles. I forgive clickbait that has a purpose/is positive (i.e. Upworthy), but in general, clickbait articles aren't worth reading. Here's a Wikipedia article on the subject that sums it up better than I can: Clickbait.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting, Karen!
~Litha Nelle