Articles of Bait – OPINION
I’m sure we’ve all looked at the news over the past decade or so, and we’ve seen the articles that talk about Critical Financial: 20 loyal dog breeds that will never leave your side, Taste of home: 16 popular pizza chains rankled worst to best, or Yard barker: 20 stupid movies that are actually genius etc. I have an issue with these types of articles, mainly due to one thing within human nature that usually makes these articles moot as a topic. Human subjectivity and its main role in decisions. Let me explain:
These articles are made to draw people in by pure interest and curiosity, and to answer questions the reader may have. However, these articles only use a factor pool that doesn’t consider Subjectivity. For example, let’s take the first article I brought up: Critical Financial: 20 loyal dog breeds that will never leave your side.
Let’s say one of the examples that the article brings up is a small but loyal dog; Dachshunds. In the piece, they say they are protective and passionate about their families. But this article forgets that not only do dogs have their own personality, but most times don’t act as how these articles say. If you have a Dachshund with anxiety, the traits that the article claims your dog has would not be true. The claims the articles make are pretty broad and are put there to cover all bases.
This is a small example, but it applies to other topics like food, where taste is subjective. Or your taste in entertainment, etc. These kinds of articles are made just to make you click and guide your eyes through their claims. Of course, this is ‘Clickbait’, and it works well.
In short, These types of articles are not made for actual use in life. They’re made to grab your attention and get you to believe their claims. These articles are not reliable. Please find reputable sources and stay away from articles that blow up proportions.