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Oof. Clickbait headlines are like watching evolution in action. The article is a better read than the title suggests. Of note, the extra cold spot in the Nort

Oof. Clickbait headlines are like watching evolution in action. The article is a better read than the title suggests. Of note, the extra cold spot in the North Atlantic is proposed to be connect to the extra warmth of the Artic. This radical and swift change to normal conditions is troublesome.

kordless 11y ago
> Clickbait headlines are like watching evolution in action. Actually, there's a theory for viruses of the mind: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viruses_of_the_Mind https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viruses_of_the_Mind. Headlines and other memes can spread if they appeal to certain emotional responses and "fitter" memes spread faster. One way to mitigate this is to disallow words like 'floored' when used in the context of emotions, but that's going to require some serious AI to help with it.
- manachar 11y ago
  It's a tough dilemma for any ad-supported news organization. You get paid by getting eyeballs on a story. With most people getting their news via social networks and aggregators you need a headline that is shareable and yet still gets people to click through for the remaining article. If the headline is too informative you get fewer eyeballs and less revenue. So, if you're the editor of Washington Post, what do you choose? The headline that appeals to emotion and encourages clicks, or an accurate headline that is less appealing and less vague? Especially knowing that there's a fleet of rebloggers out there who will take your story, turn it into 10 pages of slides and "credit" you but have the more clickbait headline?
Outdoorsman 11y ago
>>temperature anomalies above 4 degrees Celsius (7.2 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than the 1951 to 1980 average in this region.<< >>impacts of Arctic warming include the melting of major Arctic glaciers and Greenland (containing the potential for up to 7 meters of sea level rise if it were to melt entirely), the thawing of carbon rich permafrost (which could add to the burden of atmospheric greenhouse gas emissions) and signs of worsening wildfires across the boreal forests of Alaska, to name a few.<< "Floored" may be perfectly apt in this instance...
castratikron 11y ago
I agree. Even a line from the article would make a better title, "January saw the greatest departure from average of any month on record"

kordless 11y ago

> Clickbait headlines are like watching evolution in action. Actually, there's a theory for viruses of the mind: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viruses_of_the_Mind https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viruses_of_the_Mind. Headlines and other memes can spread if they appeal to certain emotional responses and "fitter" memes spread faster. One way to mitigate this is to disallow words like 'floored' when used in the context of emotions, but that's going to require some serious AI to help with it.

manachar 11y ago
It's a tough dilemma for any ad-supported news organization. You get paid by getting eyeballs on a story. With most people getting their news via social networks and aggregators you need a headline that is shareable and yet still gets people to click through for the remaining article. If the headline is too informative you get fewer eyeballs and less revenue. So, if you're the editor of Washington Post, what do you choose? The headline that appeals to emotion and encourages clicks, or an accurate headline that is less appealing and less vague? Especially knowing that there's a fleet of rebloggers out there who will take your story, turn it into 10 pages of slides and "credit" you but have the more clickbait headline?

Outdoorsman 11y ago

>>temperature anomalies above 4 degrees Celsius (7.2 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than the 1951 to 1980 average in this region.<< >>impacts of Arctic warming include the melting of major Arctic glaciers and Greenland (containing the potential for up to 7 meters of sea level rise if it were to melt entirely), the thawing of carbon rich permafrost (which could add to the burden of atmospheric greenhouse gas emissions) and signs of worsening wildfires across the boreal forests of Alaska, to name a few.<< "Floored" may be perfectly apt in this instance...

castratikron 11y ago

I agree. Even a line from the article would make a better title, "January saw the greatest departure from average of any month on record"