Is this real news, or just click bait?

fuzzybuddy

fuzzybuddy

SF VIP
Location
The Sticks, Northeast PA.
If you go to most news sites, you have to click through lots of news stories. The feature being the "click"= each touch of your mouse means a few cents in their bank account. I just read a MSN new story about Mike Lindell, the My pillow guy. According to the main blub, it looks Lindell is quoted as saying his employees should look for a new job. But when you click on the story, that quote is from some blogger, not Lindell. The point being this story was "click bait" just to generate usage and cash. What do think about real news vs. click bait.
 

Often you can spot a clickbait link because the title will be worded so as to provoke an emotion, often anger or annoyance. So pay attention to how you feel about a link before clicking. Scams work the same way, by trying to get you scared so you act without thinking

The other thing is you can usually find where the link is going. Long press or right click and check the hidden details

Finally try searching G00gle etc for the same story at a source you know and trust. Lots of easy ways to avoid clickbait...
 

Balzac said:
Often you can spot a clickbait link because the title will be worded so as to provoke an emotion, often anger or annoyance. So pay attention to how you feel about a link before clicking. Scams work the same way, by trying to get you scared so you act without thinking

The other thing is you can usually find where the link is going. Long press or right click and check the hidden details

Finally try searching G00gle etc for the same story at a source you know and trust. Lots of easy ways to avoid clickbait...
Click to expand...
That's precisely what I always do...
 
fuzzybuddy said:
If you go to most news sites, you have to click through lots of news stories. The feature being the "click"= each touch of your mouse means a few cents in their bank account. I just read a MSN new story about Mike Lindell, the My pillow guy. According to the main blub, it looks Lindell is quoted as saying his employees should look for a new job. But when you click on the story, that quote is from some blogger, not Lindell. The point being this story was "click bait" just to generate usage and cash. What do think about real news vs. click bait.
Click to expand...
It's getting difficult to tell the difference these days. Sometimes I click on a YouTube video thinking: "Oh no, what happened?" Then, find out it's clickbait argh! No comment, no likes and remove from watch history...

Some news reporters make up stories by order from their bosses. That is one reason of principles why I quit a job very early on after graduating. I'd written an article on something that had happened, an anniversary of some kind 100 years I remember.

The chief editor liked it so much, he made a generous offer but I turned it down. I had begun typing the classified ads. It was good money...

What he offered was a triple jump in salary BUT when he explained the ins and outs and the blatant answer he gave me: "If found untrue we'll just retract..." that was it.

I took my last paycheck on that Friday night, left and never looked back.

However, at school for the last two years, I was chief editor of our school's bulletin. Everyone enjoyed it and our optional pot of money grew so much that we were able to have two amazing girl trips in the summer's for over 75 students out of 125.

Our subjects were what teenagers went through in those two years before facing adulthood and the working world. Two stubborn teachers refused to read them due to my use of British English 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Their loss...📰🗞️ so one told me a decade later 🤯
 
I think there's some AI generated news. Their algorithm probably noticed the name and posted it. Probably enough people searched or read stories about Lindell that it prioritized those stories. The problem is blogs and commentary are on ' news'sites which is probably why it's even considered.
 
The commercial side of the Internet generates money via clicks and eyeballs. They need you to click ads, they need to keep you staring at their pages. Since this is a prime objective, we get "clickbait". It's a commercial exercise. Some of the more nefarious websites use it to dish up ads for cash or worse.

Coming from the UK in the 1980's and moving to the US, I was surprised by the news coverage there. I was used to dry bald men reading the news bulletin without emotion and in the Queen's English. What I saw there were perfectly preened men and woman, joking, making asides, and sometimes smiling! It was clear that the news broadcasts in the US were for entertainment purposes. Of course, this has spread to the UK now, but it stuck in my head - it's all about the ad dollars.

However, I also realized that I have control over what goes into my brain. I simply don't need to know the vast majority of the "news". I don't care what celebrities are doing. I don't care what people are watching on TV. I don't do fashion. I don't need a new brand of shampoo. In fact, often times I don't even need to read the story, the headline tells me all I need to know.

My routine is simply to look at the front page of the BBC News page. If a story tweaks my interest I'll read what they've got, and if I'm still interested or I want to fact check, I hit Google. However, we should all remember that Google itself is coded to direct us to where they want us to go. Search results are doctored, and censorship can be real. Knocking a hit on a site on page three of the results is as good as a ban. In fact - 72%, upwards to 92% of people NEVER go beyond the first page of results presented by Google. The second page is seen by around 6% on average.
 
I get that Microsoft start page. It's full of crap . And full of click bait. I've stopped taking the bait, but I have in the past.

On YouTube, I've found some real good channels from suggested videos and channels however.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top