Ideas #142

The edgier the content the better. Usually. But in reality most people click on and consume shocking headlines and general clickbait. This is true all across the internet from news headlines to youtube videos. We like exciting and new and crazy and all of these things that we have become accustomed to seeing on a regular basis. Shocking stuff is much more clickable than heartwarming, carefree, compassionate or any other form of content.

The people doing the most good in the world are not trying to shock people. They are genuinely providing the truth and never misleading people. How many times have you clicked on something and it didn’t turn out to be very relevant to the given headline? A lot. For me this is frustrating. It is essentially lying to the viewer. So, the line between being edgy and new, but still honest, and misleading clickbait can become very narrow.

There are things to fix. But I feel like this is a fundamental part of the global consciousness as of now and it will take a shift to disrupt this model. Time will tell if the trend of misleading and shocking headlines will continue. My bet is that it will, unfortunately. It’s a long tradition that I see as being very hard to counteract. To win in the game of the internet it may be necessary to play this game.