A Case for Clickbait
All content is clickbait.
In 1996, Bill Gates published an essay named “Content is King.” Everyone, from your nephew to your grandma, has heard that phrase. But where there is a king, there is a war for your precious clicks.
Attention!
Content may be king, but its purpose is not fully served if it can’t garner much attention.
To get attention, it has to stand out from the rest. And standing out is not always comfortable. Something has to be weird. It can’t be normal.
We’ve all seen those thumbnails with a person looking all surprised, inviting you to the mysterious, fun adventure they’re promising to take you on.
But alas, they’re reacting to a cat falling down a three-story building. The cat lands, but the content doesn’t.
The Bait is Innocent
Countless other methods will be used, and rest assured — your attention will be grabbed. But is that bad in and of itself? You are scrolling through some website with tens of things staring right at you.
You are a fish in the lake and must choose your bait. Where the bait leads you is not the fault of the bait. If you clicked on it, it was good bait. Maybe the creator is a master at setting up the bait but sucks at delivering…
