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The first is a title any time before the explosion of clickbait, when everyone started prepending “how” or “why” for some reason.
by vundercind 2y ago
The first is a title any time before the explosion of clickbait, when everyone started prepending “how” or “why” for some reason.
- xanderlewis 2y agoIt's definitely fashion, but how is it 'clickbait'? Adding 'how' or 'why' doesn't seem to make one any more likely to click. I'm not sure you're right in thinking that such titles are so new; there've been standard wordings for titles since the dawn of books. Just think of the number of old treatises starting with 'on...' or 'concerning...', for example. Are they 'clickbait'?
- vundercind 2y agoClickbait is the tradition that made the “how” and “why” so standard that we’re having a discussion prompted by its feeling necessary when it isn’t, because that’s the pattern headlines must have now… popularized by clickbait. The clickbaitiest application of the pattern prepends a “how” or “why” and accompanies and article that doesn’t actually address the how or why, which is why they’re clickbait titles. This one at least arguably does address it, sort-of, even if that’s not quite its main focus.