Clickbait Survival Guide
By: Claire Spinner
Tags: Real News, Headlines, Clickbait, Fake News, Clickbait Headlines

Clickbait meme from the blog “Guardio.”

With every year that passes in the digital age, more and more news readers find that a majority of the news they read comes from social media. According to a Forbes article, the Pew Research Center found in 2019 that 55% of Americans get their news on social media “often” or “sometimes.” Within this realm is the existence of “Clickbait.” Clickbait is a phenomenon that attracts readers to click on a headline linking to an article based on its shock value or exaggeration. Because news on social media is often reduced to a headline, clickbait is an increasingly popular strategy being used by less than trustworthy sources.

This video gives a great summary of what clickbait is and how we encounter it in our daily lives.

Because it can often mislead an audience to click on an article they may not have, and because the headline is often a misrepresentation of the actual content of the article, clickbait can become dangerous rather quickly. Here are some examples of how clickbait can be used to sway an audience.

Clickbait headline examples from Pinterest. https://pin.it/25fwXeV

Some examples of clickbait are less obvious. Almost any headline that sounds “too good to be true” can be an example of clickbait.

Tweet representing less obvious clickbait on social media, from a source that otherwise seems trustworthy.

Twitter, and other social media platforms that usually only have room for headlines, are often the most susceptible to containing clickbait. Because of the prevalence of clickbait in our current world of media, even children are being taught to differentiate clickbait articles from real news!

In order to protect yourself from clickbait, it is important to be able to identify fake news sites and assess their differences from real news sites. While it is unlikely that a clickbait-y headline will come from a legitimate news site to begin with, it is still important to be able to disseminate good news sites from the bad.

A quick guide from Pinterest to spotting fake news on the internet, the first step to understanding clickbait. https://pin.it/5pzsIMT

Some other ways to avoid fake news and clickbaity headlines can actually be found on Twitter itself, simply searching “avoiding clickbait” can bring you up some helpful tips! Here are some I found with one simple search.

Something else to keep an eye out for are sources that actually encourage businesses, blogs, and other companies using media to use clickbait headlines to attract viewers. By using their “tips” you can find some creative ways not to get tricked yourself. In this blog article, you can see what some of the positives are to using clickbait, on the side of the user.

https://neilpatel.com/blog/why-clickbait-works

Once you are able to separate fake news from real news, the final step in avoiding clickbait is to listen with your heart. If something seems fake on the internet, it probably is. Don’t fall for catchy articles that could lead you to false information, or simply waste your time. Always stay vigilant when using social media for news! When you see something that seems simply unbelievable, you now know not to believe it in the first place.