AI might be able to do many things, but the art of coming up with clickbait headlines is uniquely human.
And it’s getting worse.
The term often gets misapplied. For every link that shows up on social media or in search engines, the outlet that posted it hopes someone will click on it. But there’s a difference between enticing engagement through transparency and candor and luring folks to click on an article by making it seem like something it isn’t.
That’s clickbait. The link to the article is presented in a way that’s misleading or confusing. The tipping point for me came this morning, when I saw this ridiculous headline from SI.com: “Steelers Intentionally Cut Super Bowl Winning QB.”
“What the hell is that?” was my reaction, with a four-letter word other than hell. I clicked it mainly because I had no idea what it meant.
Inside was six-paragraphs of word slaw framed around quarterback Chris Oladokun saying on a podcast that Steelers coach Mike Tomlin cut him earlier than necessary in 2022 to give him a chance to land elsewhere.
And while Oladukon, who ended up in Kansas City but has never played in a game that counts (he’s been on the active roster only once), has two more Super Bowl rings than Dan Marino, Dan Fouts, Jim Kelly, Fran Tarkenton, and Warren Moon combined, Oladukon is hardly a “Super Bowl winning quarterback.”
Of course, an accurate and non-misleading headline wouldn’t have gotten the job done. Absent clickbait, people would have concluded they don’t care before, not after, clicking the link.
Prior to that came the ridiculously misleading headline from the Clarion-Ledger aimed at commemorating the 75th birthday of Archie Manning while also creating the impression that he had died.
“Archie Manning: Ole Miss football legend, dad of Eli, Peyton, grandfather of Arch, is 75,” the headline declared. When we (and many others) saw it, the first thought was that it was an obituary. (We reposted it with a classic clip from The Office, where Michael Scott creates the impression that Meredith died after he hit her with his car.)
In the Oladukon case, the headline was aimed at creating enough confusion to get readers to take a closer look. As to Archie, the apparent goal was to get people to think he had died, harvesting a click that would then leave them feeling more relieved than deceived.
Regardless, it’s bullshit. The people who are doing it know what they’re doing. And those who do it need to be called out and criticized, or they won’t stop.
It probably won’t stop. That’s why I fully expect to see this headline on September 3: “Chris Oladukon, Super Bowl-winning quarterback who was once intentionally cut by the Steelers, is 27.”