I am a big fan of the internet. BIG fan. However, one thing that irritates the fuck out of me is how hyperbolic ledes/titles can be. I cannot stand anything that has a title that starts, “You won’t believe what____”, “So-and-so CRUSHED/DESTROYED (his/her opponent!)”, or anything else of this ilk.
Another format I dislike is, “Did such and such a thing mean such and such?” I once read that if a headline asked a question, the answer was always no. Which I have found to be true 99% of the time.
Yet another thing that grinds my gear is titles that are negs in disguise. “Kpop hater listens to (Kpop group) for the first time! Will it change his mind?” That is such a bad premise, but it’s so clickbaity because most people want that redemption arc, even if it’s manufactured and/or trite. In the gaming world, the equivalent is, “I gave ______ (a game)” thirty minutes to make me interested.”
I will not click on any video that has any of those in the titles. Not only are they so negative, but they are overtly manipulative. If you’re going to manipulate me, it has to be much more covert than that. I resent being able to see the manipulation, and it’s so clumsy, too. It outrages me that these content creators think I’m that naive/ignorant/swayable.
It’s reached the point where if I see any title that starts with “Such and such hater tries–“, I just shut it down. Or tell YouTube not to recommend that channel. Also, it’s made me much more cynical in general. All the hyperbole, I mean. “You won’t believe–” Oh, I bet I will.
And all the ‘crushed’, ‘destroyed’, ‘humiliated’ talk is outright bullshit. I watched several of those (usually a liberal ‘destroying’ a conservative), and it’s never the humiliation that the channel is trumpeting it to be. At best, it’s a mild point scored for the liberal. At worst, it’s the liberal being shown in a bad light.
Look.
I know that it’s hard to get eyeballs on yyour channel no matter what the niche. There are a zillion channels, and you have to find a way to stand out. But this is so not my jam. I am turned off by negging and the exaggeration.
I don’t even know if it works. I mean, it must, right? Or why would people keep doing it? (Don’t answer that. I know there are other reasons why people might keep doing it.)
This kind of senseless sensationalism has infiltrated so-called serious journalism as well. There’s another problem there. They have to fill 24 hours, and that’s not easy to do. I’m thinking specifically of news stations like CNN. Think about it. We used to have a daily paper. Now, the news in a constant barrage peppering you relentlessly at every moment of the day.