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Anybody else annoyed by news headlines being predominantly clickbaity now? (lemmy.world)

submitted 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) by LovableSidekick@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

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Typical pattern: "Scientists find something strange when they look at a common whatever - and it's not good!"

This kind of crap used to be the style of little blurbs at the side or the bottom of an article, but it's in the headlines now. Until you click the headline you don't even really know what the article is about anymore - just the general topic area, with maybe a fear trigger.

Clicking on the headline is going to display ads, but at that point the goal isn't to get you to buy anything yet, it's just to generate ad impressions, which the content provider gets paid for regardless of whether you even see the ads. It's a weird meta-revenue created by the delivery mechanism, and it has altered the substance of headlines, and our expectations of what "headline" even means.

(page 2) 11 comments

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[-] callouscomic@lemm.ee 1 points 2 weeks ago

News headlines have gotten more clickbaity. Here's why.

[-] Empricorn@feddit.nl 1 points 2 weeks ago

If you think that's bad, wait until I tell you one obscure detail about this common thing! But first, let me tell you about Raid Shadow Legends...

[-] winni@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

I dont click on them. Unfortunately rss is going in the same direction

[-] csm10495@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 week ago

You won't believe what this person thinks of our headlines

[-] otp@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 weeks ago

Newspapers used to be displayed in boxes, and available for sale almost vending machine-style.

I imagine headlines were "buy-bait" back then. But maybe they weren't quite as good at it, since it hadn't been studied as much?

[-] victorz@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

I despise it. It's everywhere.

It's even like that in our public service media in my country, which is tax-funded and does not need to generate clicks at all. There are no ads embedded in their articles or anything. They have no reason at all to bait.

Yet they do. It's like it's getting taught at journalism school or wherever the fuck they go before starting their career in baiting.

Master baiters are what they are. Absolute masters.

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this post was submitted on 27 Apr 2025

287 points (97.0% liked)

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