5 ms·

Meta: when did this clickbait formulation of headlines become the norm even for serious, reputable news? I still find it grating, and avoid articles headlined

Meta: when did this clickbait formulation of headlines become the norm even for serious, reputable news? I still find it grating, and avoid articles headlined this way.

mikkom 7y ago
I would assume it's when someone decided that KPI for news is clicks for headlines.
malvosenior 7y ago
I wouldn't call Bloomberg reputable. They were the outlet that published the unfounded Chinese chip infiltration story.
- tntn 7y ago
  I'm somewhat surprised that story wasn't investigated as securities fraud. I'm sure a lot of people stood to make a lot of money shorting supermicro. Anyone who knows more about this than me know why it is ok for Bloomberg to do that? See https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emulex_hoax https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emulex_hoax for an example of fabricated news causing massive changes to stock price.
saalweachter 7y ago
1890?
- asark 7y ago
  Have you looked at old newspapers? Clickbait headlines are the opposite of what they did. They're designed so you can get a pretty damn good idea of what's going on by skimming the headlines and maybe first couple lines of each story.
  - ilamont 7y ago
    Depends on the newspaper. Long before there were clicks, editors (driven by their publishers) strove to get more readers by coming up with headlines and stories and other elements (such as cartoons) that they couldn't find elsewhere. In the United States sensationalistic headlines were part of the "Yellow Journalism" trend in the late 1800s - this is how Pulitzer and Hearst got their starts. Britain perfected the art of the tabloid headline, so much so that it exported some of its best writers to Australia and the United States, which is how Rupert Murdoch was able to expand. Advertisers used similar techniques, leveraging current events and sensationalism to grab eyeballs and customers. A few years ago I found this example (https://www.digitalmediamachine.com/2016/11/a-history-of-clickbait-and-keyword.html https://www.digitalmediamachine.com/2016/11/a-history-of-cli..., scroll to the bottom) in a regional newspaper in western NY while doing genealogical research. It was from 1904.
  - inflatableDodo 7y ago
    The UK press has been doing clickbait headlines for a very long time, occaisionally raising it to the standard of an art form. I particularly like the Liverpool Echo's genius headline from the 1970's - "Super Cally Goes Ballistic, QPR Atrocious."
duxup 7y ago
Is there something wrong with the title?
- spatulon 7y ago
  It's clickbait, because it's deliberately vague. The natural human response is to to click through to find out who 'He' refers to, even if they have no other interest in the story. Bloomberg could just as easily have written 'Craig Wright' instead.
  - duxup 7y ago
    I'm pretty sensitive to crappy headlines but I really don't think including the guy's name or not would make a huge difference here.
  - CWuestefeld 7y ago
    I think it's semantically incorrect. Pronouns like "he" are placeholders, simplifying the reference to a known object and avoiding cumbersome repetition. But without having any antecedent, the pronoun is left without any meaning at all. The result is, as you say, a statement that serves only as an advertisement of sorts to click into the story, without carrying actual information.
castlecrasher2 7y ago
>when did this clickbait formulation of headlines become the norm even for serious, reputable news? When clicks and ad views became the target for news outlets.
BoiledCabbage 7y ago
"Man says he invented Bitcoin and is suing those who doubt him" is a perfectly 'traditional' headline. I don't see a strong argument that changing "man" to "he" transforms this into a clickbait headline. More modern style of headline yes, but clickbait I don't see.
dragonwriter 7y ago
> when did this clickbait formulation of headlines become the norm even for serious, reputable news? Before there were clicks to bait. The only thing that makes it not a traditional headline is the length, and “He” instead of “man”.

Meta: when did this clickbait formulation of headlines become the norm even for serious, reputable news? I still find it grating, and avoid articles headlined this way.

mikkom 7y ago

I would assume it's when someone decided that KPI for news is clicks for headlines.

malvosenior 7y ago

I wouldn't call Bloomberg reputable. They were the outlet that published the unfounded Chinese chip infiltration story.

tntn 7y ago
I'm somewhat surprised that story wasn't investigated as securities fraud. I'm sure a lot of people stood to make a lot of money shorting supermicro. Anyone who knows more about this than me know why it is ok for Bloomberg to do that? See https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emulex_hoax https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emulex_hoax for an example of fabricated news causing massive changes to stock price.

saalweachter 7y ago

1890?

asark 7y ago
Have you looked at old newspapers? Clickbait headlines are the opposite of what they did. They're designed so you can get a pretty damn good idea of what's going on by skimming the headlines and maybe first couple lines of each story.
- ilamont 7y ago
  Depends on the newspaper. Long before there were clicks, editors (driven by their publishers) strove to get more readers by coming up with headlines and stories and other elements (such as cartoons) that they couldn't find elsewhere. In the United States sensationalistic headlines were part of the "Yellow Journalism" trend in the late 1800s - this is how Pulitzer and Hearst got their starts. Britain perfected the art of the tabloid headline, so much so that it exported some of its best writers to Australia and the United States, which is how Rupert Murdoch was able to expand. Advertisers used similar techniques, leveraging current events and sensationalism to grab eyeballs and customers. A few years ago I found this example (https://www.digitalmediamachine.com/2016/11/a-history-of-clickbait-and-keyword.html https://www.digitalmediamachine.com/2016/11/a-history-of-cli..., scroll to the bottom) in a regional newspaper in western NY while doing genealogical research. It was from 1904.
- inflatableDodo 7y ago
  The UK press has been doing clickbait headlines for a very long time, occaisionally raising it to the standard of an art form. I particularly like the Liverpool Echo's genius headline from the 1970's - "Super Cally Goes Ballistic, QPR Atrocious."

duxup 7y ago

Is there something wrong with the title?

spatulon 7y ago
It's clickbait, because it's deliberately vague. The natural human response is to to click through to find out who 'He' refers to, even if they have no other interest in the story. Bloomberg could just as easily have written 'Craig Wright' instead.
- duxup 7y ago
  I'm pretty sensitive to crappy headlines but I really don't think including the guy's name or not would make a huge difference here.
- CWuestefeld 7y ago
  I think it's semantically incorrect. Pronouns like "he" are placeholders, simplifying the reference to a known object and avoiding cumbersome repetition. But without having any antecedent, the pronoun is left without any meaning at all. The result is, as you say, a statement that serves only as an advertisement of sorts to click into the story, without carrying actual information.

castlecrasher2 7y ago

>when did this clickbait formulation of headlines become the norm even for serious, reputable news? When clicks and ad views became the target for news outlets.

BoiledCabbage 7y ago

"Man says he invented Bitcoin and is suing those who doubt him" is a perfectly 'traditional' headline. I don't see a strong argument that changing "man" to "he" transforms this into a clickbait headline. More modern style of headline yes, but clickbait I don't see.

dragonwriter 7y ago

> when did this clickbait formulation of headlines become the norm even for serious, reputable news? Before there were clicks to bait. The only thing that makes it not a traditional headline is the length, and “He” instead of “man”.