clickbait

Clickbait is online content whose primary purpose is to attract attention and prompt users to click on a link, usually by using sensationalized headlines, thumbnails, or teaser text. It aims to generate page views and advertising revenue, but it often does not accurately reflect the content of the article.

Common techniques include sensational headlines with extreme language, curiosity gaps, lists and numbers, phrases like "you won't believe" or "shocking," ambiguous or provocative statements, and misleading thumbnails. The content often delivers a weaker or unrelated article to fulfill the headline.

Impact: It can erode trust, degrade user experience, encourage short attention spans, and influence platform algorithms that optimize for engagement. It can contribute to misinformation when headlines misrepresent facts and mislead readers about the substance of the story.

History: The concept became prominent with the rise of social media in the 2000s and 2010s; the term "clickbait" is widely used, while the related term "linkbait" was used earlier by some bloggers. Platforms have since developed policies to discourage misleading headlines and to promote more transparent headlines.

Ethics and remediation: Some outlets use more accurate headlines, adhere to editorial guidelines, or label content; readers can employ critical media literacy to assess headlines against article content; platforms experiment with ranking signals, annotations, or downranking of low-quality headlines.