So much content is being created on the internet everyday and the goal of authors of this content is for it to be seen. Some people employ the tactic of clickbait, but the question is what is clickbait? James Hamblin deliberates on this in his title aptly titled It’s Everywhere, the Clickbait. After the question of what clickbait actually is answered we have to ask ourselves is it right or ethical to use clickbait? Rebecca Blood helps us answer that with he article titled Weblog Ethics.
In a world with popular websites like Buzzfeed and blogs like Gawker, it is not surprising that clickbait has become a household term. In James Hamblin’s article on the Atlantic, titled It’s Everywhere, the Clickbait, he discusses what may be the exact definition of clickbait. Hamblin goes on to quote the Oxford English Dictionary, which says “(On the Internet) [Ed: Is that parenthetical necessary?] content whose main purpose is to attract attention and encourage visitors to click on a link to a particular web page” (Hamblin). Hamblin continue’s the explain even though according to this definition Buzzfeed does not post clickbait articles it does create a “curiosity-gap” which then causes people to click on their links more. Hamblin also hits on the fact that the reason people dislike and criticize clickbait is because it feels like “misdirection and lying” (Hamblin) to them. Hamblin’s own definition of clickbait is anything that feels like it is pandering to him. He accepts the fact that writers and journalists want their content to be read but that they should do so in and engaging way about an engaging topic. Hamblin ends up with “Did this post need to exist, or did you just make a thing for the sake of making a thing?” (Hamblin) as the “best” definition of clickbait.
Moving on to Rebecca Blood’s piece, titled Weblog Ethics, she lays out a set of “rules” that she believes webloggers should use to be held in the same regard as professional journalists, which they insist to regarded as. The first of those rules is “Publish as fact only that which you believe to be true” (Blood). The rules have to do with only stating fact, linking any references, correcting misinformation, making sure to state if a source is biased or questionable (Blood), and others. Blood believes these rules are necessary because the unruly world online makes it hard for information to be valuable and contain integrity. She believes these rules will help with the transparency in weblogging and help webloggers become the journalists they so desperately want to be without being apart of mainstream media.
One rule Blood brings up, that may address the issue of clickbait that Hamblin brings up, is the one in which she states “Publish as fact only that which you believe to be true” (Blood). When someone makes a clickbait title, as Hamblin discussed, it could be many different things; but sometimes clickbait can lie to you. People make the mistake of over dramatizing things on the internet to get views. Obviously when putting creative content out in the world people want other to see it but at what cost? When you blatantly oversell or even missell your content it makes the person consuming it less trusting of you and all other content you have created. This is exactly why Blood made these rules and ethics for weblogs; she wants people to be fair and right in the content they are putting out on the internet. The internet can lead people to use sensationalism to get others to view their content. This is neither ethical or right and I believe Hamblin and Blood would agree.
Blood, Rebecca. “Weblog Ethics”, The Weblog Handbook: Practical Advice on Creating and Maintaining Your Blog. Cambridge: Perseus Publishing, 2002. 114-121.
Hamblin, James. “It’s Everywhere, the Clickbait.” The Atlantic, The Atlantic Monthly Group, 11 Nov. 2014. Accessed 28 Sep. 2016.
Citizen Journalism and Coursework 