User:Hazelwoodb/sandbox

Stop Clickbait

Since the appearance of ClickBait in 2014, it has become more prevalent in media and received more adverse reactions. The unnecessity of Clickbait and its annoyance has caused multiple online communities to fight back with a movement to stop Clickbait, commonly under the hashtag #StopClickBait. It has a page on Twitter titled @WeHateBait and has its own Facebook page titled Stop Clickbait.

Clickbait is a derisive way of describing an online article headline that misleadingly prompts a consumer to click on the article. Clickbait can be difficult to define due to it being an intangible concept but it is present all the same. The main problem with Clickbait is that the articles tease the reader with a "hook" that is almost impossible to ignore. Though it is typically a negative term, not all Clickbait has to be misleading. Some articles may have a great and honest title, but the bad seems to overshadow the good.

#StopClickbait is very satirical in nature. It takes writing devices seen in Clickbait headlines and uses it against them, poking fun at the media who use them. In its own way, the hashtag has a sort of "meme-like" quality in that it is a joke that unites a group of people who are in agreeance on the subject.

How It Works

Accounts like @WeHateBait gain a following by revealing the content and answer to the wildly tantalizing question posed in the Clickbait title. They read the article so you do not have to. These accounts will retweet or repost an article with a Clickbait title and reveal the answer in their post. Bored Panda wrote an article about 'Stop Clickbait' with a few examples of the best and funniest times Stop Clickbait spoiled an article along with their own Clickbait headline.

How It Got Started

Stop Clickbait began in 2014 when Daniel Tuttle decided he wanted to go against the marketing ploy of Clickbait. It all started with a Facebook page. He expected to receive backlash but assumed that he could get enough of a following that he would not be shut down; he was right. The Facebook page has about 150,000 likes. From there other users liked the idea and began their own pages. Tuttle is planning on creating a browser extension to automatically detect Clickbait. There is some downloadable software that can already achieve this.

Is It Effective?

Though Clickbait is still present and most likely will never go away, the movement to Stop Clickbait has made it easier for readers to avoid some of it. Clickbait is a marketing technique, therefore, until something better comes along to take its place, it is not going to go anywhere. The main goal of Stop Clickbait is to lessen the annoyance of having to read every article that has a misleading title. The movement has definitely achieved this goal. Stop Clickbait has had a large notice taken to it since its beginning. It has been covered in news articles and websites like The Chive has written about it.

Backlash Receiving Backlash?

Most online news providers do not like #StopClickbait. It is common that when someone spoils one of their titles, they will block the account. This is seen on the Twitter account @Stop_ClickBait where they brag about being "blocked by over twenty ClickBaiting accounts."

Where Can You Find It?

There are multiple accounts on various platforms decided to Stop Clickbait. They include Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Currently, many of these accounts are inactive and do not have very many followers. Most have their last post dated to be around a year ago or longer.

Other Efforts to #StopClickBait

Twitter: @Clickbaitexposed

Twitter: @Stop_ClickBait

YouTube: Stop Clickbait