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IDemo

(16,926 posts) Sat Nov 28, 2015, 10:27 AM Nov 2015

Headlines reading "10 Things You Need to Know About XYZ"

This has become a standard format for headline writing across a wide spectrum of the media. USA Today seems particularly fond of it. My impression is that the writers are snapping their fingers in the faces of readers, trying desperately to gain the attention of an audience which has become increasingly uninterested in non-entertainment related news. And it's become irritating; will my day really collapse if I don't know about the latest tidbits about tech or dietary habits?

8 replies

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Headlines reading "10 Things You Need to Know About XYZ" (Original Post) IDemo Nov 2015 OP

Ten Things You Need To Know About Clickbait Scuba Nov 2015 #1

Listicles pinboy3niner Nov 2015 #2

I don't mind so much if content is displayed in a list format IDemo Nov 2015 #4

Was that inspired by my OP quoting Tulsi Gabbard? CJCRANE Nov 2015 #3

Hadn't seen that yet, so no. IDemo Nov 2015 #5

I don't have the patience LiberalElite Nov 2015 #6

When something is stupid and just useless and unsatisfying attentionmongering activity lunatica Nov 2015 #7

"Number 8 will BLOW YOUR MIND!!!" dawg Nov 2015 #8

Scuba

(53,475 posts)

1. Ten Things You Need To Know About Clickbait

Reply to IDemo (Original post)

Sat Nov 28, 2015, 10:31 AM

Nov 2015

1. It's clickbait.
2. It's clickbait.
3. It's clickbait.
4. It's clickbait.
5. It's clickbait.
6. It's clickbait.
7. It's clickbait.
8. It's clickbait.
9. It's clickbait.
10. It's clickbait.

pinboy3niner

(53,339 posts)

2. Listicles

Reply to IDemo (Original post)

Sat Nov 28, 2015, 10:35 AM

Nov 2015

A List of Reasons Why Our Brains Love Lists
By Maria Konnikova

“6 TITANIC SURVIVORS WHO SHOULD HAVE DIED.” “THESE 9 NAZI ATROCITIES WILL MAKE YOU LOSE FAITH IN HUMANITY.” “5 INSANE PLANS FOR FEEDING WEST BERLIN YOU WON’T BELIEVE ARE REAL.” These are just some of the lists that the comic strip “XKCD” recently joked would result from retrofitting the twentieth century’s most newsworthy events with modern, Internet-style headlines. Despite the growing derision of listicles exemplified by the comic, numbered lists—a venerable media format—have become one of the most ubiquitous ways to package content on the Web. Why do we find them so appealing?

...

http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/a-list-of-reasons-why-our-brains-love-lists

IDemo

(16,926 posts)

4. I don't mind so much if content is displayed in a list format

Reply to pinboy3niner (Reply #2)

Sat Nov 28, 2015, 10:40 AM

Nov 2015

It's the strident insistence of the headline writer that we drop what we're doing and pay attention that irritates me.

CJCRANE

(18,184 posts)

3. Was that inspired by my OP quoting Tulsi Gabbard?

Reply to IDemo (Original post)

Sat Nov 28, 2015, 10:36 AM

Nov 2015

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1016138278

I'll edit the title to make it the same as the press release.

IDemo

(16,926 posts)

5. Hadn't seen that yet, so no.

Reply to CJCRANE (Reply #3)

Sat Nov 28, 2015, 10:41 AM

Nov 2015

Good example, though.

LiberalElite

(14,691 posts)

6. I don't have the patience

Reply to IDemo (Original post)

Sat Nov 28, 2015, 10:44 AM

Nov 2015

to click through this stuff. It's too tedious and often not all that informative. Some of the must-know things I discover I knew already. So, I don't take the (click) bait anymore.

lunatica

(53,410 posts)

7. When something is stupid and just useless and unsatisfying attentionmongering activity

Reply to IDemo (Original post)

Sat Nov 28, 2015, 12:26 PM

Nov 2015

it gets old very quickly. After a couple of times and after my computer refused to upload the content, I lost complete interest.

Most intelligent people lose interest quickly.

dawg

(10,624 posts)

8. "Number 8 will BLOW YOUR MIND!!!"

Reply to IDemo (Original post)

Sat Nov 28, 2015, 12:36 PM

Nov 2015

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