Post by: CC27 on September 22, 2015, 10:18:32 AM
Quote
Star Member MineralMan (75,821 posts)
Sensationalist Clickbait Websites and DU
There are many, many websites on the Internet that pretend to be news sites. Their writers find stories in legitimate news media and then punch them up with sensational speculative content and headlines to attract attention. A good example is trueactivist.com. Even huffingtonpost.com uses sensational, hyperbolic headlines and speculation to attract people to link to that site, so they'll see all the ads that have made Ariana Huffington wealthy. Why do we support such websites?
You can recognize these websites from their sensationalism. Headlines that create fear or loathing or extreme reactions to the news of the day are their bait. Why use these sites, which are designed only to earn clicks for their owners? Why not go see what a legitimate news source has to say about the subject? Usually, there's a link in the stores at these clickbait site that will take you to the same source their hyperbolic writers used. Why not go there and then link to the legitimate, original source on DU?
Before linking on DU to a site, look at the other stories that site features. Are they listed with sensational headlines? If so, then you're on a clickbait website. Why not go away from there and let Google lead you to an original source? Why lead DUers to inaccurate, overblown stories on clickbait websites?
Thanks for reading this post.
What the hell clickbait? Is that like porn that colesdempervert is tempted to look at?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027191964
Post by: Big Dog on September 22, 2015, 10:23:54 AM
Without hyperbole, overreaction, hysteria, and outright lies, your Island would be a lonely place- and Skinner's wallet can't have that.
Post by: Carl on September 22, 2015, 10:35:27 AM
It is endless clickbait from huffpo,Daily Beast,Vox and all the other leftist tripe.
Post by: SVPete on September 22, 2015, 11:27:46 AM
I recently had two FB friend who, independently of each other, "Shared" fake news stories, one saying that Kim Davis had been given a Courage award by Isis, and the other a story that the founders of Snopes had been arrested for aiding terrorism. I wonder ... did some DU folk bite on and post the Kim Davis story?
Post by: Ralph Wiggum on September 22, 2015, 12:32:45 PM
Post by: thundley4 on September 22, 2015, 01:39:57 PM
Post by: 98ZJUSMC on September 22, 2015, 08:09:42 PM
Post by: 98ZJUSMC on September 22, 2015, 08:17:00 PM
I'v seen DUmmies link to "sensationalized" stories about white cops and black thugs. Go to the site and then follow more links or search for a legitimate news site, and you find that 99% of the story the DUmmie posted was fiction or speculation.
(D)Ummie® approved websites:
alternet
rawstory
politicsusa
dailykos
Post by: obumazombie on September 22, 2015, 09:02:24 PM
Both sides engage in "click baiting". Drudge is a leading example on the right.
Not disagreeing with you.
My experience isn't the same.
All the headlines I have linked to( on Drudge) have been born out by the full story.
Post by: SVPete on September 23, 2015, 06:29:25 AM
I'v seen DUmmies link to "sensationalized" stories about white cops and black thugs. Go to the site and then follow more links or search for a legitimate news site, and you find that 99% of the story the DUmmie posted was fiction or speculation.
More broadly, but along the same lines, since my post yesterday AM (my time) I've been wondering whether/where sites like MMfA actually fit into my two clickbait varieties. MMfA's hate-Rush, etc. faux-poses' certainly hyper-hype each faux-pose', but they are also, every time I've checked out what Rush (or whomever) actually said/did, false. So in those senses MMfA could fit in either of my two varieties. But MMfA type people could not possibly, IMO, not know their faux-poses' are thoroughly dishonest. So they display a kind of malice that is distinct from ad-traffic or partisan urban-legend-wannabe clickbaiters.
The BLM-thugs' phony stories are of the same cloth as MMfA types' faux-poses', IMO, though I think at least some BLM-thugs are too stupid to rise (tunnel down?) to the kind of malicious deception MMfA offers up.
Post by: SVPete on September 23, 2015, 06:36:41 AM
Gosh dolt,have you seen Yahoos news page?
It is endless clickbait from huffpo,Daily Beast,Vox and all the other leftist tripe.
I think Yahoo has algorithms in the SW underlying their news page that "learns" the interests of the user(s) of a particular computer and selects many of the listed stories to fit those interests. Like Google's ad-selecting SW, Yahoo's doesn't seem to sense a user's POV, so many listed stories are of opposite POV of users whose interests were sensed. IOW, if it's any comfort, DU-folks see a lot of stories from Fox News on their personalized Yahoo News pages.
Post by: Ralph Wiggum on September 23, 2015, 09:27:06 AM
I think Yahoo has algorithms in the SW underlying their news page that "learns" the interests of the user(s) of a particular computer and selects many of the listed stories to fit those interests. Like Google's ad-selecting SW, Yahoo's doesn't seem to sense a user's POV, so many listed stories are of opposite POV of users whose interests were sensed. IOW, if it's any comfort, DU-folks see a lot of stories from Fox News on their personalized Yahoo News pages.Hell, I used my friend's laptop recently. Used to use it almost daily. It still puts up ads for Gearhart Chevrolet.
Post by: SVPete on September 23, 2015, 11:13:46 AM
Hell, I used my friend's laptop recently. Used to use it almost daily. It still puts up ads for Gearhart Chevrolet.
You could have done worse. Imagine had you used it to research "furries" ...