by Charles Miller

As I sit here writing this column my emotional state has gone through the phases of sad then annoyed. This was prompted by the realization I had been cleverly deceived while surfing a news web site. It is always annoying to recognize I have been suckered or manipulated by some clever clickbait. The example I am about to relate happened months ago and is a better example than what just happened to me today.

The headline of an online news article read "End of an Era - Star of 'Crocodile Dundee' Dies Peacefully at 90" That iconic 1986 feel-good comedy movie was one that I went to the theater to see more than once, and have rewatched since then. Who could forget the hilarious knife fight scene? I knew that the star, the Australian Paul Hogan, was likely to be an octogenarian by then; still it made me sad to think of his passing. That was before I was tricked into reading the article.

My emotion changed from sad to annoyed when I read in the article that the "star of Crocodile Dundee" in the headline turned out to not be Mr. Hogan, who is apparently still alive at age 85, but "Bert" the Australian saltwater crocodile who had only a brief but terrifying cameo in the film. I had fallen for what is termed "clickbait."

Clickbait is a physiological technique and refers to a type of online content crafted to attract your attention and entice you to click on a link. Clickbait employs sensationalized and misleading headlines and/or graphics. This practice exploits the "curiosity gap" where the headline or graphic provides just enough information to pique interest without revealing the true nature of the content. Users are compelled to click on the link to learn more, motivated in part by "FOMO." Fear of Missing Out is a powerful motivator and clickbait milks it for all it is worth.

Among the characteristics of clickbait are sensational headlines made up of exaggerated or misleading words that imply much more than the actual content. That content, articles or videos linked through clickbait, often disappoint which is why they needed clickbait to get you to click in the first place. Clickbait often tries to evoke strong emotional reactions, such as shock or outrage. The primary goal of clickbait is to drive traffic to websites, thereby increasing advertising revenue. Unfortunately it does so at the expense of quality and journalistic integrity.

In recent years one of the most egregious offenders purveying clickbait has to be Youtube.com. It has reached the point that a very high percentage of Youtube videos are displayed above completely misleading titles, but worse is that many of the thumbnail images depict things that are not even in the video. Combine these conditions with the fact that anyone can create an account and upload videos no matter how false or misleading the content and you have a real mess.

A most revolting development on Youtube is the recent phenomenon of "obituary pirates." This disturbing trend has emerged as individuals create misleading or entirely fabricated death announcements which they then upload. The practice exploits grief and curiosity surrounding the deaths of notable individuals, all for the purpose of generating ad revenue for the sick creators of the fake videos.

Companies including Facebook and Google are trying to reduce clickbait because it leads to high "bounce rates," or visitors who immediately click away when they realize they have been manipulated. Advertisers can monitor how long visitors spend on a page, thus knowing how long the visitor was exposed to their advertisement. We can all hope that advertisers will push to minimize clickbait in order to maximize the impact of their advertising while also improving everyone’s internet surfing experience.

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Charles Miller is a freelance computer consultant with decades of IT experience and a Texan with a lifetime love for Mexico. The opinions expressed are his own. He may be contacted at 415-101-8528 or email FAQ8 (at) SMAguru.com.

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