> "This is mostly to try to normalize posts, so things with super linkbait titles don't always do well, and things with terrible titles don't always do poorly."

> "This is mostly to try to normalize posts, so things with super linkbait titles don't always do well, and things with terrible titles don't always do poorly." I don't get this impression. If anything, I've found that original article titles are far more likely to be link-baity than editorialized versions. In addition, It's rare that I've seen a bad article title improved the way you're suggesting. If anything, I've had the impression that this system is somewhat automated and original article titles are used if they differ significantly from the title submitted (triggered after some threshold).