Clickbait

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Clickbait refers to a certain kind of web content advertisement that is designed to entice its readers into clicking an accompanying link, they are usually found in social media sites in the form of short teaser messages [1] that are designed to attract the attention of people. They encourage people to click on them without giving much information about what the reader is going to find next and are often filled with stories that are fake, opinion-based, with little-to-no research done to back up the author’s points.[2][3][4]. Online news media outlets rely heavily on page views to generate ad revenue and use clickbaits to increase the amount of people that visit their page [5][6]. The presence of clickbait in social media create many ethical concern as they threaten to clog up social media channels, spreading misinformation, and creating controversy [7][8]

Backlash

Social media websites have recognized the issues surrounding clickbaits and have made several attempts to be able to recognize them quickly and prevent them from gaining popularity. Facebook has recognized the problem and has made efforts to improve their newsfeed to "help people find the posts and links from publishers that are most interesting and relevant, and to continue to weed out stories that people frequently tell us are spammy and that they don’t want to see." [2]. Systems have been created that detects clickbaits by identifyng phrases that are commonly used in clickbait headlines[9] [10]or identifying clickbaits by measuring the amount of time that the user spend on the website after clicking the link [2]. Other scholars have also developed clickbait detection models and extensions to further help decrease how often they appear and achieving an accurate detection 93% of the time.[11][12].

Types

Exaggeration

Title exaggerating the content on the landing page. For example, a headline that reads "Cringeworthy tattoos that will destroy your faith in humanity."[13]

Example:   Cringeworthy tattoos that will destroy your faith in humanity

Teasing

Omission of details from title to build suspense: teasing.[13]

Example:   New twist in Panthers star’s trial could end his season.

Inflammatory

Either phrasing or use of inappropriate/vulgar words.[13]

Example:   Putin Punched at G20 Summit.

Formatting

Overuse of capitalization/punctuation, particularly ALL CAPS or exclamation points.[13]

Example:   EXCLUSIVE: Top-Secret Method allowed a mother to break the world record: 12kg in 4 weeks!

Graphic

Subject matter that is salacious or disturbing or unbelievable[13]

Example:   Donatella Versace plastic surgery overload: Waxy face re-sembles melting candle.

Bait-and-switch

The thing promised/implied from the title is not on the landing page: it requires additional clicks or just missing. [13]

Example:   Beers Americans No Longer Drink.

Ambiguous

Title unclear or confusing to spur curiosity.[13]

Example:   Hands on: Samsung’s iPhone 5 is absolutely beautiful.

Wrong

Just plain incorrect article: factually wrong.[13]

Example:   Scientist Confesses: “Global Warming a $22 Billion Scam/center"

References

  1. Potthast, Martin; Köpsel, Sebatian; Stein, Benno; Hagen, Matthias (2016). ClickBait Detection Bauhaus-Universität Weimer
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 The Washington Post website: "What is ‘click bait’ and why Facebook wants to display less of it" https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/technology/wp/2014/08/26/what-is-click-bait-and-why-facebook-wants-to-display-less-of-it/?utm_term=.eccfff2e28b8
  3. Tech Crunch: "*** is a clickbait "https://techcrunch.com/2016/09/25/wtf-is-clickbait/"
  4. Click Bait Websites and the Age of Misinformation "https://jordandetmers.com/2014/09/11/click-bait-websites-and-the-age-of-misinformation/"
  5. Chakraborty, Abhijnan; Paranjape, Bhargavi; Kakarla, Sourya; Ganguly, Niloy (2016). Stop Clickbait: Detecting and Preventing Clickbaits in Online News Media Cornell University Library
  6. The dirty secrets of clickbait. This post will blow your mind! "https://econsultancy.com/blog/64399-the-dirty-secrets-of-clickbait-this-post-will-blow-your-mind/"
  7. Potthast, Martin; Köpsel, Sebatian; Stein, Benno; Hagen, Matthias (2016). ClickBait Detection Bauhaus-Universität Weimer
  8. Click Bait Websites and the Age of Misinformation "https://jordandetmers.com/2014/09/11/click-bait-websites-and-the-age-of-misinformation/"
  9. Facebook newsroom website: "News Feed FYI: Further Reducing Clickbait in Feed"http://newsroom.fb.com/news/2016/08/news-feed-fyi-further-reducing-clickbait-in-feed/
  10. engadget: "Facebook is ramping up its fight against clickbait"https://www.engadget.com/2016/08/04/facebook-is-ramping-up-its-fight-against-clickbait/
  11. Potthast, Martin; Köpsel, Sebatian; Stein, Benno; Hagen, Matthias (2016). ClickBait Detection Bauhaus-Universität Weimer
  12. Abhijnan Chakraborty, Bhargavi Paranjape, Sourya Kakarla, Niloy Ganguly (2016). Stop Clickbait: Detecting and preventing clickbaits in online news media IEEE Xplore Digital Library
  13. 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 13.6 13.7 Prakhar Biyani; Kostas Tsioutsiouliklis; John Blackmer (2016). “8 Amazing Secrets for Getting More Clicks”: Detecting Clickbaits in News Streams Using Article Informality Yahoo Labs