this post was submitted on 27 Apr 2025
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Typical pattern: "Scientists find something strange when they look at a common whatever - and it's not good!"

This kind of crap used to be the style of little blurbs at the side or the bottom of an article, but it's in the headlines now. Until you click the headline you don't even really know what the article is about anymore - just the general topic area, with maybe a fear trigger.

Clicking on the headline is going to display ads, but at that point the goal isn't to get you to buy anything yet, it's just to generate ad impressions, which the content provider gets paid for regardless of whether you even see the ads. It's a weird meta-revenue created by the delivery mechanism, and it has altered the substance of headlines, and our expectations of what "headline" even means.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 hour ago

For quite a while, yes.

Anytime I see headlines that say "you won't guess what's next!" "you won't believe this!" or any other variation is a immediate avoid.

I think Lemmy owes itself a savedyouaclick instance.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 23 hours ago (2 children)

While we're at it, does anyone on Lemmy hate capitalism? I never see anyone mention it.

And that Trump guy is really not turning out well.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

I don't hate it, but it's been allowed to go uncontrolled for too long and it has become cancerous to the successful advancement of society.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 14 hours ago

Hey does anyone else on Lemmy hate Puppy Kickers?

I think they suck but just curious if anyone else felt that way

[–] [email protected] 0 points 19 hours ago

Iconoclast!

[–] [email protected] 183 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Lemmy user SLAMS mainstream media, you will not believe what the comment section said

[–] [email protected] 41 points 1 day ago (1 children)

OP is on BLAST after reading this one comment.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 22 hours ago

SHOCK reaction as bait comment fallout nixes OP campaign success chances, experts warn.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 day ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago
[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago

and welcome to the JAM!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 19 hours ago

Well played. You got me to click.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 day ago

Whenever people ask this question, I do this one thing.

[–] [email protected] 73 points 1 day ago (5 children)

Yeah I made c/savedyouaclick in the hope of getting people de-clickbaiting stories, but I was the only poster afaict. I wonder if calling it newssummararies could help.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Oh I'd be up to help if I could

Maybe a link or two a day

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I'll also contribute a wank or two a day.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Thank you for your service

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

For what, cutting down?

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 day ago

It could be worth posting about it in [email protected] and [email protected]

[–] [email protected] 1 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

How do you "do" c/savedyouaclick? I've summarized links in a comment before, but I don't know what would be the point of also mentioning c/savedyouaclick when I do that.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 16 hours ago

See the existing posts there, I guess, or look at the reddit version. I agree that there's not much point in cross linking it unless there's a significant discussion thread for that post. But reddit got those sometimes.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 day ago

Nah that community name is fine, it just needs to be promoted. Someone else linked some communities where it can be advertised.

[–] [email protected] 42 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I don't click those any more. I assume they're completely written by AI and not fact-checked in any way. They just suck knowledge out of me instead of adding more.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 day ago

Exactly. If the headline is garbage, I assume the story is, too. Real journalism that’s worth reading doesn’t need to resort to clickbait.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 1 day ago (1 children)

No other choice than sticking with the few reputable media that still don't do that. Gotta support them so they don't fall into that too.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Sometimes the articles themselves are fine, and it’s just the editorial department that adds the sensational headlines. I don’t know if it’s worth throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)

If the marketing has the power to go over the journalism to change the titles, isn't it a symptom that things are going downward for this media?

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Haven't the titles always been traditionally written by someone other that the articles author?

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 day ago

There’s something I hate more than clickbaity headlines, click here to find out!!

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 day ago

MAN THREATENS TO NOT READ NEWS ANYMORE over clickbaity headlines

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 day ago (1 children)

NPR and the BBC still aren't doing that.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Thankfully there are still a lot of amazing news sources that have held onto their integrity. Click here to see even more. Number 17 will surprise you!

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 day ago

That's a very good list. I just threw out the first couple that came to mind, but it is worth calling out the organizations that are still trying to do real journalism.

I give small sustaining donations to NPR, ProPublica, and The Guardian. I hope to add a few more when I can.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 day ago

I hate them. I hate that everything is always trying to sell you something or trick you into generating profit somehow. It makes me want to burn down a bank.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 day ago

Readers hate this one simple trick -- Do this every day!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I'm not annoyed by them (I simply don't read them, why would I want to waste my time?), I'm saddened by them.

Edit: that's also the reason why I read so few newspapers/periodicals. And why I pay for them. I want to support quality work.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 day ago

It’s the news that Starship Troopers and Idiocracy both parodied. Except it’s not future fantasy, it’s real and here now.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 day ago

I miss objective news in general

Everything has a spin on it, even if it's subtle

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

It’s not new, it’s just adapted to the media format.

Getting people to read the news and the ads between articles is how the game is designed.

Journalism classes has always educated this.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

If you had been an adult during a decade or two before the Internet you would know that a headline used to sum up the basics of a story. For example, picking a random 1980s headline: "Six US embassy aides escape from Iran". Nowadays that would be more like, "US admits Iran plot."

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I took some journalism classes in the 90’s (and then decided it wasn’t for me), and my SO was a journalist around the same time.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

Everybody has always been annoyed by them. Since before computers existed; newspaper headlines were the original clickbait and it's always sucked.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago (4 children)

Could have social media websites


like us


have some system for selecting, maybe voting on, alternative titles.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago

I'm less annoyed if its technically true and I get to sharpen my media crit skills by making that evaluation after the fact

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

It was wild for a while, then scaled back and not it's re-emerging with a vengance. It's really annoying, and it's spreading to social media. It was getting crazy on reddit, where people have gone back to literally ending titles with "And then this happened"(actually using the word "this" instead of a real descriptor).

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