No doubt, you've encountered clickbait over the course of browsing the web. Like the examples above, clickbait are those thumbnail images with sensational headlines that are designed to grab your attention by appealing to your curiosity with just enough information to get you to click on it.
When you click, the hosting website receives advertising revenue, but since their goal is to get as many clicks as possible, the actual content isn't very important, so the page may be full of uninteresting or low-quality information as well as ads that just waste your time.
At its worst, clickbait combined with disinformation can be harmful examples of fake news.
Like the examples shown above, fake news clickbait not only tries to grab your attention with outrageous or misleading headlines, when you click on the headline, you get taken to a web page that is intentionally deceptive, usually describing conspiracy theories that have been proven false or advancing untrue, malicious and damaging information about a celebrity, politician, or ethnic group.
Clickbait is nothing new and it isn't going away because it works. Why? Clickbait appeals to our fundamental desire to know the answer to a mystery. You can read more about how clickbait works by reading this article from Psychology Today.
This short quiz (5 questions) will show you sample headlines, some of which are examples of clickbait. Determine if it's clickbait or not by selecting the appropriate response.