What is the Difference Between Compelling Content and Clickbait Content?
You will often times find me at 8am in the morning, huddled under my blankets, reading Cosmopolitan’s “24 Ways to Tell if He Likes You”. Even though I manage to score a solid 22/24, I am still left in conflict, and that is when I move onto BuzzFeed’s “7 Things Your Crush Does When He Likes You”. After about an hour of wasting my life on Snapchat’s Discover page, I finally get out of my bed and continue on with my daily routine. I swear, having a crush is the equivalent to selling your soul to the devil, as you are in a constant state of not knowing what to expect.
Now don’t get me wrong, some of the content on these posts are quite accurate (at least I hope so because I’m just trying to get my love life to reach the level of Taylor Swift’s character in ‘You Belong With Me’). At the same time, some of this content can be completely absurd, unrealistic, and untrue.
The content I am referring to is clickbait. We have all been there, we have all read it, and we have all fallen for those ludicrous headlines. Sometimes the clickbait content we read is quite accurate and interesting, however, it does not necessarily exemplify itself as being compelling content. Now this poses the question of, what is the difference between compelling content and clickbait content ?
In my opinion, clickbait content entices our superficial curiosities. It does not necessarily challenge how we think or promote our minds to think critically about a topic. It is almost like walking through the CNE, and being enticed by those deep-fried butter balls that you know are not going to benefit you in the long run in any way possible. I find myself entirely guilty of falling for this, and clicking pages that do not resonate with me at any critical level whatsoever. Another defining element of clickbait would be the obvious, and that is it revolves around how many ‘clicks’ the content receives. Much of the content is linked to ads, commercials and other monetary endorsements, and the more clicks a page receives, the more revenue it generates (What Is Clickbait, The Atlantic). Thus, seducing headlines are often created. The headlines are misleading to the content itself, as they are often used just for the sake of tempting an individual to click the page, as opposed to actually reading what is on it (What is Clickbait, The Atlantic). Oftentimes when individuals do decide to read the content, it is much blander and uninteresting than it was posed as (What is Clickbait, The Atlantic). For instance, I am quite sure many of us have found YouTube videos where the title says “When My Uber Driver Tried to Kill Me”, only to watch the video and find out that the driver accidentally took the wrong turn. I believe that to a certain extent, the reason why we find ourselves reading clickbait is because it correlates with our broader interests and it answers the questions with the responses we want to hear. It is content that we read when we don’t necessarily feel like putting our minds to it.
Now back to me and my crush. To some extent I think clickbait is like having a crush, you know it drives you crazy every time you fall for the person (or that headline). You know deep down that it is not going to go anywhere (or teach you anything), and you know it is the equivalent of selling your soul (or time) to the devil.
Now in regards to compelling content, I believe it is content that challenges pre established ideas or invokes an individual’s thinking. It is content that truly engages one’s mind and it teaches them something new or builds upon a concept they are already familiar with. It reaches to their core curiosities and at the same time it satisfies their interests. In my opinion, compelling content is supported by external viable sources, to better argue or to persuade messages across to an audience. I feel like it requires a bit more of the mind when viewing, as opposed to mindlessly viewing. For the sake of another food reference, it is like a kale smoothie, something that will benefit your mind for the long-run. The content truly teaches us something and resonates with us for a long period of time. That being said, sometimes compelling content uses clickbait headlines. Now this is because of the oversaturation of various types of content online, and for compelling content to be recognized. Regardless, the content posted still withholds the characteristics of what compelling content is.
Either way, you’ll still find me huddled under my blanket, at the peak of dawn, repeating my cycle of regret.
Sources:
https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/11/clickbait-what-is/382545/
