If you are online or have been online for the past five to seven years, you have read a clickbait article or link. You probably have even clicked on the link. "You'll never believe what happens next..." "10 Things You Didn't Know About..." These are examples of clickbait article titles that you might see on different social media platforms. Clickbait is used for a variety of reasons, but some are nefarious. Businesses or news platforms use clickbait so that people can click the link to bring traffic to their site. Other times, it can lead to a scam. Many people know they should be cautious when clicking these links, but do anyway for a variety of reasons.
The Veritasium video below makes the point that most people hate clickbait, yet it is everywhere. And on top of that, no one truly agrees on the definition of clickbait.
Clickbait is a new phenomenon that has emerged alongside the internet and the attention economy. Our textbook describes it as "content that is created simply to entice viewers to click through on it, usually to increase traffic or inflate statistics of a particular channel or age" (Lawrence, 2022, p. 101). While Shrestha et al quote Avery et al. when defining clickbait- “In that regard, clickbait is a social engineering attack primarily carried out through social networking sites that use misleading or sensationalized headlines and images to trick users into clicking on malicious links (Avery et al., 2017; Li et al.)" (Shrestha et. al. 2025, p. 2352). Although there are other definitions, this one describes the worst that can happen when someone clicks on a clickbait link. Some links are just for traffic, and some can lead the clicker to a scam.
However, many creators feel like they have to use clickbait in order to get any attention. “It is created to advertise, arouse interest, misinform, and create income opportunities. The creator receives money based on the number of clicks, which makes clickbait commercial" (Srimanoi et. al. 2025, p 105). This is why you see so much clickbait, especially in the new realm- they need us to click and drive traffic to their site.
(Smarter Digital Marketing, n.d.)
Why do people click on clickbait articles? Curiosity would seem to be the strongest reason. The above info graph calls it the "curiosity gap," where the person is promised context if they click on the link (Smarter Digital Marketing, n.d.). Other reasons can be that the link could play with the reader's emotions or the clicker gets a dopamine hit when they click the link. "One study showed that the number of clicks was not influenced by the topic of the headline, but merely by word choices, which increased the readers' curiosity (Lee et. al., 2019)" (Srimanoi et. al. 2025, p. 106).
Lawrence (2022) states that "when you are creating language, no matter the platform, that language should approximate or orient itself toward the truth" (Lawrence, 2022, p. 23). It would behoove online content creators to be truthful in the language they use, especially those who are trying to disseminate information. However, users need to be more savvy when clicking on clickbait links to protect themselves online.
References
Lawrence, D. (2022). Digital Writing: A Guide to writing for Social Media and the web. Broadview Press.
Smarter Digital Marketing (N.D.). Why clickbait works [Infographic]. https://www.smarterdigitalmarketing.co.uk/clickbait-psychological-triggers/.
Srimanoi, W., & Boonmoh, A. (2025). English clickbait language features which attract Thai tertiary EFLlearners. rEFLections, 32(1), 104–125.https://doi.org/10.61508/refl.v32i1.278870.
Veritasium. (2021, August 17th). Clickbait is Unreasonably Effective [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2xHZPH5Sng.
Hello I agree with how we should be truthful in what we portray. That is one of my squabbles with social media- how easy it is to lie and misrepresent. I always wondered how anyone made it to the top of a google search. I learned from our text that companies pay for key words so that their product appears before others (Lawrence, 2022). I also learned what a click farm was which are people paid to click. Sadly, manipulation of our emotions to evoke a response is a very common phenomenon in the rhetoric world. Click bait is another form of that. It generates a feeling of satisfaction however the source of this satisfaction is misguided and based on a perception of an image. Images that are familiar or recognizable are more inviting to the eyes (Rossi & Milino, 2023).
ReplyDeleteI really appreciated how you broke down clickbait instead of just dismissing it as bad writing. That nuance matters. Lawrence (2023) reminds us that digital writing is always rhetorical. Headlines are not just summaries. They are intentional moves designed to shape reader behavior. Clickbait is strategic, not accidental.
ReplyDeleteWhat stood out to me most is the idea of the curiosity gap. When a headline gives just enough information to spark interest but withholds the full story, it creates tension. Clicking feels like resolving that tension. Research supports this. Le Quéré (2025) found that headlines that strategically withhold or limit detail increase click behavior because they activate curiosity. That shows how powerful wording alone can be in shaping decisions.
At the same time, Lawrence (2023) emphasizes that digital language should orient itself toward truth. That is where the ethical tension shows up. Writers and creators are working within systems that reward clicks, but they still carry responsibility. As educators, I think this is where digital literacy becomes critical. Students need to understand not only what clickbait is, but how and why it works.
Your post really highlights that clickbait is not just a style choice. It reflects how attention operates in digital spaces. When we help students recognize that structure, we are giving them tools to navigate online content more thoughtfully.
References
Lawrence, D. (2023). Digital writing: A guide to writing for social media and the web. Broadview Press.
Le Quéré, M. A. (2025). When curiosity gaps backfire: Effects of headline concreteness on information selection decisions. Scientific Reports.https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-81575-9?utm_source=chatgpt.com