Today's topic clickbait. What the this episode of Awkward Anthem is brought to you by Necessary Evils. Like the thumbnail I just baited you with. Subscribe today and you'll get a 25% discount on all of our top sellers, such as Righteous Indignation. How very dare you! And my personal favorite? Scared to click. But glad I did. I'm glad you clicked too. I have a love-hate relationship with clickbait. Mostly hate. And to be fair, there's nothing I really consciously love about it. But I think as human beings we are wired to gravitate towards the sensational, the controversy, the drama. Barney was smuggling contraband? Were they flinstone vitamins? It's a yellow circle. But maybe you can imagine that it's something else too. So I wanted to explore this concept more because while I did get a lot of positive engagement on my legal, legal video, there was definitely a theme to the more critical comments. And it was the implication that me leaving my job was a bad thing or that my boss was a bad person. None of which is true. But could have been interpreted that way. I wanted to share one comment in particular because it was really well written and I didn't actually disagree with it at all. L Edwards writes. I respect the hustle and I do get it. If you're trying to make it as a small channel, you need that initial engagement to start building subscribers. And controversy bait with a major YouTuber is a great way to pull in views. It's just I hate that this works. I hate that the internet culture we have is that engagement is prioritized above everything. And that it really doesn't matter whether that's positive or negative engagement. And that that means you're actively incentivized to get people angry and upset drama cells. And I think that criticism is fair. But if I could, I would like to offer my perspective as a content creator that feels somewhat shackled by the rules of the game. And the challenge of striking that very delicate balance of invoking curiosity while also delivering value. And doing a little more research on this topic, I stumbled on this really fantastic breakdown by a creator that really knows how to level up his PowerPoint presentations. Look at this dude, he's standing on a ladder and just teaching me stuff. In his view, there's two types of clickbait. Type one and type two. Type one clickbait is really the kind you should aim for. He refers to it as legit bait. It looks enticing, sounds enticing, isn't icing, and also legit. Type two clickbait is the gross kind. Whereas he refers to it a click trap. What's notable though is that we don't all agree on the definition of clickbait. And as he states, everyone's perception of words and images are different. I think type one and type two clickbait are so different that we shouldn't even use the same word for them. And I think as a content consumer myself, that's exactly how I would make the distinction too. Good clickbait for me has a great hook. It appeals to the emotional center in my brain. It makes me curious. And it might leave the door slightly open to interpretation. But it ultimately delivers because it leads me somewhere better. Bad clickbait in my view is so egregious and it's level of deception that I end up feeling cheated. Like my time was wasted. It's cheap. It's low effort. It's lazy. And most importantly, it doesn't lead me somewhere better. It leads me to disappointment. But I wanted to make this fun. So I thought I would do a little thought experiment. What if I didn't play the game at all? What if I just put up a thumbnail like this? And then I asked myself, what I click on that? Probably not. This is the internet. I have choices. So I did another thought experiment. And I asked myself, would I click on that? And the answer is maybe, because Ginny Neutron isn't real. But if legal ego was an animated character, this would be a very wholesome and kind of funny comparison. So I did one more thought experiment. And I asked myself, would I click on that? And the answer is, absolutely yes, like, oh my god, what did he do? That looks real bad. And I guess it is a little click baity, but he does deserve whatever he gets. Just good things. But he also looks like my sleep paralysis demon. So that seems very misleading and especially unkind. So I tried to strike a balance. And this is ultimately what I landed on. And I guess it still missed the mark, but it did spark a conversation. And it did inspire the video that you're currently watching. Glasses have full people, yeah? Yeah, can I get an amen? No. Okay, the people have spoken. No amends? Nope, just check in. Now I'm not suggesting the click bait is some net good for society. Or that it's even required to be successful. If there's a masterclass, and how to more effectively grab your eyeballs without injecting hyperbole in facial expressions or adding a little bit of ambiguity to the mix, please share with me and the rest of us in the comment section. Because I think there's a really interesting discussion to be had here. But this really does go back to L Edwards comment and I'm paraphrasing. But click bait exists because it works. If rainbows and sunshine and puppies got the click, rather than perceived scandal or salaciousness, well, I think we would all be better for it and a lot of media companies would go broke overnight. But that's not the world that we live in. I mean, can we at least agree on that? Yes? For has to suck. Okay, just my two cents. As a content creator on this platform, who above all else really does want to deliver value. I want you to click, but I want you to feel like it was worth it. Hi, Amy from the future here. Before I wrap up this video, I just wanted to extend an even bigger thank you than the last thank you, because a week ago I had less than 200 subscribers, and I am now at the time of this recording at almost 60,000. And I've never been in a position where I feel like I can't individually respond to everyone. An awesome problem to have, just requiring some adjustment on my end, because none of this feels real. But I am so moved by your kindness and really excited by all of the interest in the topic of editing, which is my favorite part of the whole content creation process. So in the next video, I will be sharing some insights on what I've learned in the 20 years that I've been doing this. So stay tuned for that. Until next time, awkward and out. Whoops, forgot I wasn't alone for a second there. Sorry. I'm so awkward and out. The drama. Let me take it again. Take a breath. To start built, let me just fit. What am I doing? I can just do it this way. He refers to it as legit pilleur. And how to grab your eyeballs. Jesus. Sorry about that.