Clickbait generation (circumlunar.space), 01/02/2020
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You know what clickbait is[1]. Curiosity gap exploitation, where the
most annoying feature (to me) is the extremism. For some reason, it's
not good enough to tease with anything but the most fantastical of
promises. I see it in news and marketing daily, the enticement to
click, with the promise of rich reward.
Are people so desensitized to reality that they require absurd
assurances to buy in to any idea? Does this new thing have to be the
best thing that has ever been imagined? Does this news story have to
be the most shockingly morose deed ever accomplished? Is reality so
devoid of interest in the information age, that it must be primed and
painted up before it can expect any kind of reception?
As someone of my age might do, I blame this on an entire generation of
humans. I don't know what the age range is, or where the epicenter
lies, but I'm certain that it could be identified. Maybe there is no
age range- perhaps the clickbait generation is everyone without
sufficient common sense, living in our current era. I'm being a jerk,
I know, but it does get old, wading through all the garbage out there,
all the time.
Want to hear the worst part of it (you don't mind me complaining,
right? Some people hate complaining, others seem to do fine with it.)
The thing that spurred this gopher phlog was the ever increasing
amount of clickbaity fodder I've been seeing in religious circles. I
get that religion is falling out of favor with a lot of people, but
that doesn't mean you have to dress it up. If people don't want
it, they don't have to have it. What's with the heavy marketing
approaches?
Ah well... it's the world I live in. I can't change it. People are
going to do what they want to do. My job is to not click. Serves me
right for wandering around in places where a mouse is required.
[1]
gopher://gopherpedia.com:70/0/Clickbait
