Going Viral – The Pros and Cons of Clickbaiting

Do not click on this post if you want to have an update on coronavirus. The idea for this article is older than this new media fever. It is about ethics, business and power of (mis)information.

Raise your hand if you were not victim of misleading headline. Anyone? I thought so. Internet is a wonderful thing but it also created many new pitfalls.

1.     Spreading the disease

It is only natural, that bad news and warnings spread faster than good news. Fear is an important factor in our lives, we were equipped with it by nature to survive. Statistically we will receive warning much faster than information that situation is back to normal. What is important, the more fearmongering would fall upon us, the less susceptible we would be to good news (in this case that we are safe and coronavirus is no longer a threat).  

2.     Accuracy is a victim of speed

We live in competitive world and media believed at one point that being first is more important than being accurate. Old journalists shiver but with Internet at fingertips of every mobile phone user, the race to beat competition is more crazy than ever. Posts and articles without verification are mushrooming around us at a breakneck speed. Some factcheckers will try to bring them down eventually. But that is too little too late. The damage is done.

3.     Overpromise of overhyped headline

Have you noticed how often disappointed we are with the full text we get to read after falling to clickbait? Yet publishers seem to think that our addiction to news and gossip would keep us clicking this stuff. Maybe they are right. Their stats are telling them so probably. But there is price we will all pay. Not to mention how much time is wasted in a process of reading irrelevant or bullshit content.   

4.     Prioritize to monetize

Yeah. In case of some bloggers or Twitter users it might be about fame or popularity. But most of clickbaits are just for profit. To increase traffic. To get more money from advertisers. It has been even explained: most of users do not want to pay for content. But there are no free news.

5.     Erosion of trust

This is ultimate price we will all pay. More and more sources with less and less credibility. Then one day somebody will post something important. We will ignore it. And only too late understanding would fall upon us. This time they were right.  

Hey, but you promised “pros of clickbaiting” and all we got are “cons”. Isn’t it a clickbait in itself?

No. The conclusion of the article will be simple. Clickbaits are offering media short term gains for the price of long term credibility loss. If you are blogging or work for the media you need to decide what has more value to you.  

If you are a reader clickbaits have no value for you at all. They will waste your time and energy, undermine your trust towards media. And in the time of trial little is more important than sources we can trust.

This is an incredibly short article by my standards. If you are interested in reading how to deal with fake news – see Fake’s Anatomy with 10 Commandments of Aware Media Consumption.

1.     Verify everything you can in minimum two sources.

2.     Treat sources with caution (critical analysis of the source is not only for historians).

3.     Remember: two journalists do not equal two sources.

4.     Media publish information, but they are not source of it (with exception of reporters witnessing some events and investigative journalism).

5.     Nobody is objective but everybody can be impartial. Respect such journalists, they are endangered species. 

6.     Wikipedia is fast reference not encyclopaedia.

7.     Read, read, read. Only vast general knowledge can make you immune to manipulation.

8.     Respect great minds but think for yourself. A person you like might be wrong. A person you disagree with could be right.

9.     Politician does not always lie. But always gives own interpretation.

10. Do not share opinions you disagree with. Retract false information shared in a hurry. Admit you can be wrong too.