News Literacy: Clickbait

Clickbait is a form of exaggerated headlines. This type of headline dates back to the 1890's and the era of Yellow Journalism. This refers to newspapers that presented little or not legitimate, well-researched news, while instead using eye-catching headlines for increased sales. Techniques include exaggerations of news events, scandal-mongering, and sensationalism.

This marketing ploy worked so well for Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst, that now it's everywhere and we have a new term for it, "Clickbait".

Clickbait is advertising that is designed to get people to click on it. Web sites make money from advertisers based on the number of people who click on their ads. These are often exaggerated or untrue headlines, promising to reveal shocking information.

It can often include "Ad arbitrage", which is a long slideshow that the clicker enters into where page after page promises something shocking or revealing at the end. 

Some real examples of Clickbait:

Would you classify these as clickbait?