You will never believe your eyes!
…
Really? You clicked on a link with that title? Are you a complete fucking moron?
Why would you do that? Don’t you realize that titles like this one are the types of titles used by spammers and virus-distributors? (“OMG what are you doing in this video?” “Wow click here you will be amazed!!!11”)
Now, of course, I realize that some of you may have ended up here because you are fans of this blog. If that’s the case, then I assume that you know this post is not directed toward you. Unless you read Buzzfeed…. in which case it is directed toward you.
I despise websites like Buzzfeed because they are destroying journalism. No, I’m not being hyperbolic or dramatic. They have effectively pushed the curve of what it means to do journalism by focusing entirely on “clickbait” and catering to people’s basest instincts.
Like a poorly behaved 6-year-old, they have learned that by standing on a table and pulling down their pants in a restaurant, they can get attention. So they keep doing it over, and over, and over again. And it is making people stupider.
Yes, I believe that: by transforming online journalism into moronic sensationalist titles and collages of shocking or feel-good pictures interspersed with inane commentary, these websites are actually training the average American mind to be even dumber than it already is.
But in the end, Buzzfeed and the rest of the websites that are going along with their strategy for garnering attention are doing it because it works. So in the end, it’s YOUR FAULT.
Stop clicking on crap titles like this. If a title doesn’t tell you anything about the actual contents of the article, then it’s a scam. It’s bullshit. it’s crap journalism and you need to avoid it. Any actual “information” you might get from a site like that, you will be able to get from a different site that actually knows how to write decent online articles and decent online titles.
So just stop it. Please never click on a title like this one again.
Thank you.
