Information Literacy In Real Life (IL IRL)

Clickbait

You are scrolling through social media or your favorite news site and you see an article that makes you pause. The article's headline reads something like "You Won't Believe What Scientists Have Discovered About Coffee!" Intrigued, you click on the article, which leads you to another website, only to learn that the content of the article is not as shocking or as interesting as the headline made it seem.

Clickbait is meant to make a person click on online content by using a sensationalized title that makes a reader curious and want to click to read more. It manipulates the reader into clicking on the content through misleading or unclear headlines. There are many reasons for why websites will use clickbait. It can help drive up views on a certain website, people so many people are curious about what the article promises. Clickbait can also be used for phishing attempts and computer viruses.

It is important to be able to recognize clickbait, so you do not get caught up by sensationalized articles or accidentally get a computer virus. The below video from TED-Ed has a great overview of how to recognize clickbait.