Clickbait, the undesirable strategy of earning revenue on the web

Clickbait is now in everywhere, it is widely used in social media websites, YouTube and other video streaming websites and also getting popularity in Journalism.  Presenting something in a lucid manner with eye catching substances that increases the curiosity of the onlooker to click, watch & forward the presentation is what summarises the idea of Clickbait.



It is used for generating revenues from online advertisements with contents that often fail to fulfill the curiosity of the viewers that it creates from its sensationalist headlines or eye-catching thumbnail pictures.  It just provides enough information to make readers curious, but not enough to satisfy their curiosity without clicking through to the linked content.

From historical point of view, Clickbait publications can be treated as the Yellow journalism that aims to increase the sale of newspapers or other publications by creating news of scandal-mongering or sensationalism. The Guardian has said that "chasing down cheap clicks at the expense of accuracy and veracity" undermines the value of journalism and truth.

In 2014, the excessive use of Clickbait on the web had begun to lead to a backlash against its use. Facebook minimizes the impact of clickbait on its social network by taking technical measures. Sponsored advertising model also affected the Clickbait model where the content of the article is more important than the click-rate. Certain other features like ad blockers also hampered the progress of Clickbait.

Comments