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Non-clickbait headline suggestion: "Saudi Arabia cyber attack goal was chemical plant explosion; experts fear retry" (Edit: meet length requirement)
by dzdt 9y ago
Non-clickbait headline suggestion: "Saudi Arabia cyber attack goal was chemical plant explosion; experts fear retry"
(Edit: meet length requirement)
- mfrw 9y agoDone
- notadaytrader 9y agoIs there a way to massage this into the HN submission guidelines? Basically any headline from NY Times, Washington Post, Business Insider, Forbes, The Atlantic, or its offshoot QZ is styled in this way.
- tzs 9y agoHow is the original headline, "A Cyberattack in Saudi Arabia Had a Deadly Goal. Experts Fear Another Try", clickbait? According to the article, investigators believe the explosion would have killed people, and notes that fatalities are a common outcome of chemical plant explosions. Most cyber attacks just inconvenience people, or cost a little bit of money. If they can kill, it is a tertiary or more remote effect. That this one was trying to do something that had it succeeded would have very directly and immediately led to deaths is what makes it interesting to a wider audience.
- kurthr 9y agoThe original title is longer, has less information, and higher emotional content.
- godzillabrennus 9y agoWhen you talk about deaths because of a cyber attack I think people also wonder what would the retaliation be from the nation state that was attacked? Would a cyber attack start a new real world war? Would more people die? There is a reason the headline is written in this way. This is big news.
- dzdt 9y agoThe clickbait aspect is the teaser "had a deadly goal" which is designed to make you wonder "what was the deadly goal?" It's the same form as "You won't believe number 9!" in a clickbait top 20 list. It is phrased in a way to make you wonder "what is item 9?" There is a combination of emotional content and purposeful, unnecessary ambiguity.
- megaman22 9y agoThe original title seems more honest.