Friday, 18 September 2015

Clickbait - Changing Online Journalism

Promoted article links

Online journalism is evolving everyday - however some aspects of it may not be as welcomed as others. Enter 'clickbait' journalism.

We've all come across clickbait journalism. Actually, a lot of websites now employ this tactic to get people to read their articles. It is always important to gain a reader's attention, and producing the most eye catching titles is vital. Clickbait articles can arise from anywhere - they may put a message across that the article is a must read, however when you actually view the article you realise it was merely just a rumour, or something completely different. For websites that do this, they know that it is a sure fire way to get more views on their articles and help boost their website metrics - but is it really benefiting journalists?

The use of clickbait may be lifting the number of views to an article - but it can slowly destroy the credibility of a journalist and their work. The best journalists can keep their titles to the point, short and sweet, and then deliver in the articles. In my personal opinion, I see clickbait journalism a tactic used by weaker journalists to help not only boost their metric rates but also to boost their names amongst viewers. But I see this as again counterproductive, as with more people becoming aware of clickbait journalism, people may turn away from websites that use these.

What's your opinion on it?

No comments:

Post a Comment