The Psychology of Clickbait Headlines (and How to Avoid Them)
Finding Real Value in a Mountain of Manipulation and Deception
“I think that there’s become a very clickbait mentality among a lot of reporters, where they’re more interested in their clip or their click than they are about the truth and the facts.” — Sean Spicer
In 2008, Classmates.com settled a false advertising lawsuit with over three million people. It cost them a cool $9.5 million.
Last time I checked, $9.5 million is real money. But, the case claimed that Classmates.com sent deceptive emails to their subscribers, promising to connect them with old friends if they upgraded to their Gold membership. Those connections never came. So, people sued, and Classmates ponied up (Heilpern, 2016).
Six years later, Red Bull settled a payout of $10 to every U.S. consumer who had bought their popular energy drink since 2002, up to $13 million, in a class-action lawsuit over false claims of performance-enhancing benefits. While Red Bull denies any and all wrongdoing or liability, several consumers brought the case against the company for not having improved their physical or intellectual capabilities (Heilpern, 2016). Red Bull has since changed their tagline from “Red Bull Gives You Wings” to “Red Bull Gives You Wiiings,” presumably…
