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What a linkbait headline. It might as well be, "Trolls hate this one weird old trick that could fix the patent system"

• lisper 13y ago
  Unfortunately, HN rules left me no choice but to submit the headline that the article had. But just out of curiosity, what headline would you have considered appropriate?
  • raldi 13y ago
    I wasn't blaming you; I was blaming Slate. A non-linkbait headline would be, "Doing _____ would, all by itself, go a long way toward reforming the patent system."
    • lisper 13y ago
      Well, it's not really fair to blame Slate either. Their business depends on getting people to click on links, link bait is effective, so they have little choice but to use it. This is one of the reasons that IMO the requirement to submit original titles is counterproductive. The interests of site headline writer are not generally aligned with those of the HN audience.
      • raldi 13y ago
        "It's not really fair to blame a spammer; their business depends on you getting spammed, spam is effective, and so they have little choice but to spam you."
        • lisper 13y ago
          Not a proper analogy. Spam is a property of the delivery mechanism, linkbait is a property of the content. Apples and monkey wrenches.
          • raldi 13y ago
            Oh come on. Fine, pretend I said Nigerian scammers.
            • lisper 13y ago
              Still not a proper analogy. Nigerian scammers are scammers. They are committing fraud. Slate is an ad-supported publisher, which in most places is still considered an honorable trade.