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The Truth About Clickbait
How it works and what you can learn from it
Have you ever looked at a headline and immediately recognized it as clickbait only to click on it anyway? Join the club. There’s a reason that clickbait works… it speaks to our curiosity. It doesn’t matter how blatant it is, there’s something about our need to know that triggers our click.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise, to be honest. According to Psychology Today, we’re primed to fall for clickbait. Within the article, they site the definition as per Merriam-Webster, as “something designed to make readers want to click on a hyperlink especially when the link leads to content of dubious value or interest.”
We know it, we recognize it, and we fall for it anyway. Why is that?
According to the article above, it’s because we value information, we seek it out, and the promise of that information is enough to compel us to click, even when we know we’re being had. How frustrating of our brains to allow it!
How Clickbait Works
Clickbait preys on your emotions
You might think of yourself as a rational, logical, person, but the reality of the matter is humans are emotional. That’s the magic of clickbait. Authors of clickbait know how emotional humans…
