{"video_id":"qskqM9O0FC0","title":"How Does Clickbait Work?","channel":"Techquickie","show":"Techquickie","published_at":"2017-05-06T14:58:16Z","duration_s":289,"segments":[{"start_s":0.08,"end_s":6.72,"text":"What happens on this episode of TechWiki will absolutely shock you. Well, maybe","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":5.12,"end_s":11.519,"text":"not. And don't worry, we haven't sold the channel to Buzzfeed. Today's episode","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":8.96,"end_s":15.28,"text":"is all about clickbait, a certain style of content and headline writing that's","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":13.599,"end_s":20.68,"text":"geared towards trying to get people to click on something as much as possible,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":18.24,"end_s":26.08,"text":"often at the expense of quality information. But what makes clickbait","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":23.519,"end_s":29.92,"text":"clickbay anyways? The answer lies in our own psychological tendencies. As","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":28.4,"end_s":34.559,"text":"different as people are, there are certain things that the brain generally","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":31.92,"end_s":39.04,"text":"just really likes. Information presented in an ordered list, for example, is","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":36.96,"end_s":45.12,"text":"especially appealing, which is why you always see the slideshows of the 17 most","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":42.239,"end_s":50.559,"text":"important One Direction moments or whatever. These work because they spread","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":47.68,"end_s":55.12,"text":"information in a structured way and also present themselves with a degree of","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":52.64,"end_s":60.399,"text":"authority. A list with a precise number of elements seems more certain and has","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":57.6,"end_s":64.32,"text":"more finality than a general headline. It's very appealing to our brains, which","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":62.48,"end_s":68.64,"text":"want to cut through the crap and understand things quickly. Very ironic","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":66.96,"end_s":73.04,"text":"considering the lists themselves are often completely freaking useless. And","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":71.36,"end_s":76.96,"text":"even for click- baity headlines that don't direct you to a numbered list, the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":74.88,"end_s":83.68,"text":"use of authoritative sounding words such as science, the best, or destroyed is","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":81.04,"end_s":89.28,"text":"common in order to appeal to that same desire for certainty in our lives. Which","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":86.88,"end_s":93.52,"text":"also explains why many articles that try to promote half-baked things like","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":90.96,"end_s":99.2,"text":"political opinions claim that a certain argument destroys the other one. Other","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":97.119,"end_s":103.84,"text":"clickbait headlines flip the script of how journalism was usually done in the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":101.28,"end_s":109.6,"text":"past by merely teasing at what the content has inside. Instead of dog bites","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":106.56,"end_s":111.56,"text":"man, you see this man confronted a dog","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":109.6,"end_s":116.159,"text":"and you won't believe what happened next. This encourages the user to click","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":114.479,"end_s":120.799,"text":"through instead of giving away the articles meat right in the headline.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":118.64,"end_s":125.84,"text":"This kind of direct appeal to our natural curiosity results in the reward","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":123.439,"end_s":129.36,"text":"center of our brain lighting up when you find out what the answer to the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":127.119,"end_s":134.64,"text":"click-baity question or tease in the headline was. Even if the content inside","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":131.92,"end_s":140.08,"text":"turns out to be totally stupid. This has often been referred to as the curiosity","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":137.52,"end_s":145.599,"text":"gap, which is a key part of how the website Upworthy operates. Upworthy's","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":142.72,"end_s":150.08,"text":"tendency to only place hints as to the actual content in their titles has led","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":147.76,"end_s":155.519,"text":"their articles to being some of the most shared content on all of Facebook. And","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":153.519,"end_s":160.319,"text":"of course, clickbait has gone beyond legitimate sites, well, as legitimate as","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":158.08,"end_s":164.64,"text":"they can be, to being used in ads designed to look like real articles.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":162.4,"end_s":167.56,"text":"Although quite a few techsavvy users have developed an eye for what's","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":166.08,"end_s":172.319,"text":"legitimate content and what's advertising or just use an ad blocker or","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":170.319,"end_s":178.8,"text":"something, the enticing headlines still draw a lot of people and have for a long","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":175.84,"end_s":183.12,"text":"time. Indeed, the arguable ancestors of modern clickbait are the vapid but","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":181.12,"end_s":188.4,"text":"eye-catching headlines of yestery year. From the yellow journalism in New York","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":185.599,"end_s":192.959,"text":"City that preceded the Spanishamean War in the late 1800s to grocery store","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":190.72,"end_s":198.8,"text":"tabloids claiming that the royal family is actually from Mars. With this sort of","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":196.12,"end_s":203.599,"text":"sensationalism playing to some pretty fundamental aspects of human nature, I","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":201.44,"end_s":208.56,"text":"wouldn't expect clickbait to go away anytime soon. But don't worry, I promise","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":206.48,"end_s":213.599,"text":"you that you'll never see a TechWiki episode titled The 22 Cutest CPUs you'll","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":211.92,"end_s":217.92,"text":"see all day. With a linda.com membership, you can watch and learn from","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":215.599,"end_s":222.64,"text":"top experts who are passionate about teaching and their field. These top","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":220.319,"end_s":227.28,"text":"experts have thousands of videos for ondemand courses that you can learn on","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":224.799,"end_s":231.36,"text":"your own schedule and your own pace. You can browse each course transcript to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":229.2,"end_s":234.959,"text":"follow along and search for an answer or skip to that point of the video, which I","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":232.959,"end_s":238.159,"text":"actually like a lot personally. Taking notes as you go is easy, and you can","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":236.56,"end_s":242.319,"text":"refer to them later on. You can even download tutorials and watch them on the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":239.92,"end_s":245.439,"text":"go, including access on your iOS or Android device. Create and save","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":243.92,"end_s":249.439,"text":"playlists of courses that you want to watch to customize your learning path or","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":247.599,"end_s":252.64,"text":"share with friends or colleagues or even team members. So whether you're looking","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":250.959,"end_s":257.6,"text":"to become an industry expert, you're passionate about just some random hobby,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":255.28,"end_s":261.359,"text":"or you want to learn something new, head over to linda.com/techquicky and sign up for","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":259.84,"end_s":266.0,"text":"your free 10-day trial. Thanks for watching, guys. Like it if you liked it, disliked if you disliked it. Don't","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":263.759,"end_s":269.52,"text":"forget to get subscribed, and let us know in the comments down below if","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":267.199,"end_s":273.52,"text":"there's some like psychology of something style episode that you'd like","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":271.52,"end_s":277.199,"text":"us to check out in the future. Don't forget to click on this video, which","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":275.36,"end_s":281.68,"text":"hopefully has a clickbaity title so you actually do it and has something to do","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":279.199,"end_s":285.68,"text":"with it's super fun or something. Have fun over there. You're you're super","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":283.52,"end_s":290.16,"text":"interested in what may or may not have happened. You'll never guess. Yeah.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0}],"full_text":"What happens on this episode of TechWiki will absolutely shock you. Well, maybe not. And don't worry, we haven't sold the channel to Buzzfeed. Today's episode is all about clickbait, a certain style of content and headline writing that's geared towards trying to get people to click on something as much as possible, often at the expense of quality information. But what makes clickbait clickbay anyways? The answer lies in our own psychological tendencies. As different as people are, there are certain things that the brain generally just really likes. Information presented in an ordered list, for example, is especially appealing, which is why you always see the slideshows of the 17 most important One Direction moments or whatever. These work because they spread information in a structured way and also present themselves with a degree of authority. A list with a precise number of elements seems more certain and has more finality than a general headline. It's very appealing to our brains, which want to cut through the crap and understand things quickly. Very ironic considering the lists themselves are often completely freaking useless. And even for click- baity headlines that don't direct you to a numbered list, the use of authoritative sounding words such as science, the best, or destroyed is common in order to appeal to that same desire for certainty in our lives. Which also explains why many articles that try to promote half-baked things like political opinions claim that a certain argument destroys the other one. Other clickbait headlines flip the script of how journalism was usually done in the past by merely teasing at what the content has inside. Instead of dog bites man, you see this man confronted a dog and you won't believe what happened next. This encourages the user to click through instead of giving away the articles meat right in the headline. This kind of direct appeal to our natural curiosity results in the reward center of our brain lighting up when you find out what the answer to the click-baity question or tease in the headline was. Even if the content inside turns out to be totally stupid. This has often been referred to as the curiosity gap, which is a key part of how the website Upworthy operates. Upworthy's tendency to only place hints as to the actual content in their titles has led their articles to being some of the most shared content on all of Facebook. And of course, clickbait has gone beyond legitimate sites, well, as legitimate as they can be, to being used in ads designed to look like real articles. Although quite a few techsavvy users have developed an eye for what's legitimate content and what's advertising or just use an ad blocker or something, the enticing headlines still draw a lot of people and have for a long time. Indeed, the arguable ancestors of modern clickbait are the vapid but eye-catching headlines of yestery year. From the yellow journalism in New York City that preceded the Spanishamean War in the late 1800s to grocery store tabloids claiming that the royal family is actually from Mars. With this sort of sensationalism playing to some pretty fundamental aspects of human nature, I wouldn't expect clickbait to go away anytime soon. But don't worry, I promise you that you'll never see a TechWiki episode titled The 22 Cutest CPUs you'll see all day. With a linda.com membership, you can watch and learn from top experts who are passionate about teaching and their field. These top experts have thousands of videos for ondemand courses that you can learn on your own schedule and your own pace. You can browse each course transcript to follow along and search for an answer or skip to that point of the video, which I actually like a lot personally. Taking notes as you go is easy, and you can refer to them later on. You can even download tutorials and watch them on the go, including access on your iOS or Android device. Create and save playlists of courses that you want to watch to customize your learning path or share with friends or colleagues or even team members. So whether you're looking to become an industry expert, you're passionate about just some random hobby, or you want to learn something new, head over to linda.com/techquicky and sign up for your free 10-day trial. Thanks for watching, guys. Like it if you liked it, disliked if you disliked it. Don't forget to get subscribed, and let us know in the comments down below if there's some like psychology of something style episode that you'd like us to check out in the future. Don't forget to click on this video, which hopefully has a clickbaity title so you actually do it and has something to do with it's super fun or something. Have fun over there. You're you're super interested in what may or may not have happened. You'll never guess. Yeah."}