Congratulations! You’ve just been clickbaited!
If you spend any time on the internet, whether it’s browsing Google, YouTube, or even social media platforms, you’ve 100% come across articles or posts with titles that would be considered ‘clickbait.’
Clickbait is a form of media propaganda which includes a title that is often misleading and far off from the information contained in the attached link. It’s intended to grab readers’ attention and persuade them to click on the online material to which the title is linked. Clickbait is frequently misleading, dishonest, and deceptive. With thousands of influencers, authors, and publishers using clickbait to attract more people to their content, it is inevitable that you, along with others, experience some sort of clickbait every single day.
It can be difficult to recognize the difference between clickbait and legitimate headlines.
At times, clickbait can be outrageously misleading and contain headlines that are very clearly fake. However, at other times, clickbait can be hard to distinguish from real headlines as they resemble accurate and reliable information from popular companies or news sources. Nonetheless, even big-time news agencies and companies use some sort of clickbait to draw in people to visit their sites or articles.
The reason clickbait has become so popular is because it increases revenue for companies. Websites normally make money off how many clicks they get on their website, due to ad companies buying space on their pages. It is because of these advertisements that companies make so much income from the number of clicks their sites get. Since this is the case, companies tend to stray from quality information and produce mediocre content. If a company values the number of ‘clicks’ over the content, then what’s the point of even publishing quality content in the first place?
Let’s take a look at the image of clickbait above.
This image is a prime example of clickbait in the media. The title reads “I’ve Tested this Instagram Worthy Cleanser, and It Gives My Skin a Glow I’ve never Seen Before.” However, how do we actually know, as the consumer market, that Larry Stansbury, the author of this article, actually tried out this cleanser and liked it? When browsing the news icon on my laptop, I came across this article and of course had to click on it. As a 19-year-old girl who’s into skincare, it’s no doubt that I’m obviously going to want to know more about what cleaner would give my skin a glow I’ve never seen before.
The image above, from the same article, states “I’ve been using this since day one.” However, this brand of skin cleanser has only been around for two years. So, if Larry Stansbury has been using this product since day 1, wouldn’t it have to have been around for longer than two years?
Clickbait may not seem like a big issue to many, as it objectively causes no harm. However, when clickbait is used along with fake news, it can lead to the spread of misinformation on the internet. Clickbait is designed to persuade people to click on sites so that companies make money off of advertisements, when in reality the information being presented may not be true.
It’s important for our generation to be media literate.
We, as Gen Z, need to be able to identify the difference between rumors and facts. We need to be aware of the fact that not all news is legitimate. We need to know how to carefully frame a search, think critically about what we’re searching, and most importantly, never stop educating ourselves. Clickbait damages our ability to be media literate by blatantly tricking us into believing something that’s not true. While clickbait can be tempting to click on, it’s important to keep a critical eye and approach online content carefully in order to stop the contribution of spreading false sensationalized information online.
Don’t fall for fake news, don’t contribute to the spread of misinformation, and DON’T get click baited!
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