Clickbait: An Escape from the Fish-Net

With the increase in the time spent by individuals on the internet, people are increasingly becoming victims to clickbait. Lack of knowledge about the phenomenon and the increasing desire to stay connected to the world at trying times like these are some of the reasons for this. But, what exactly is clickbait?

Clickbait refers to “something like a headline designed to make the viewer click on a hyperlink that may lead to dubious content.”

When this technique is used by websites, their main aim is to get as many clicks as possible rather than the quality or the type of information they may produce. In certain cases, this may be harmful to the user as they may unknowingly fall victim to fraud, fake news etc. these websites get paid by the advertisers and hence they wish to get more and more clicks so as to increase their ad revenue.

Clickbait headlines are seen all over the internet and it is this constant presence of it that makes it difficult for users to avoid it. They are available on social media sites and blogs and one must be extremely careful and vigilant about clicking a link even on legitimate websites.

Even though there is a lot of negative connotations attached to clickbait, there are several reasons why it is so successful. People have a fear of missing out. These headlines make people feel as if they do not have access to some information that others know about. Clickbait headlines evoke an emotional response in people and they feel that unless they read what the article states, they will miss something out. People also dislike ambiguity. When we come across something that is ambiguous, it attracts our attention unconsciously and we want to assess whether it is a threat to us or not.

It is not always easy to recognise clickbait links. Usually, eye-catching and striking headlines and/or images are associated with clickbait links, but it becomes increasingly difficult for viewers between genuine news headlines and clickbait- as even news articles try to garner the attention of the viewers.

However, this does not mean that there are no common elements in clickbait headlines. Often these headlines are vague and the images that accompany them often let the viewers’ imagination run wild. Shock and outrage are also used by clickbait links to grab the attention of the viewers. The headline may also refer to a numbered list. Clickbait headlines use different combinations of these elements.

Clickbait headlines have the potential to cause harm to the viewer. The user may become victim to any of the many internet scams like financial fraud, identity theft, spreading of fake news etc. Users must maintain caution while surfing the web so as to not fall victim to these scams. Users must only click on links they are sure will lead to legitimate sites and try to avoid clicking on any seemingly suspicious headlines. Users must also verify contents of articles that they come across from legitimate and trustworthy sites before thinking of sharing that particular news with others so as to not spread potentially fake news.

For further reading:

What is clickbait?

Clickbait in detail

Clickbait examples