Click on This Video!

Voice 1

Welcome to Spotlight. I’m Megan Nollet.

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And I’m Colin Lowther. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.

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More than likely, these sentences seem familiar. Stories with names like these are all over the internet. These stories promise a lot. They suggest clicking on them will solve everything. But often the websites on the other end are unhelpful. They have nothing to do with what they promised. They may lead to dangerous websites. They are clickbait.

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As troubling as these misleading stories can be, they do exist for a reason. Some clickbait exists to gain money. Some clickbait brings people to new sites. These stories take advantage of what experts call the “curiosity gap” to attract people’s attention. The simple formula these stories use is designed to make people read or watch. But where did clickbait come from? And what happens when everything becomes clickbait? Today’s Spotlight hopes to answer some of these questions.

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Clickbait has been around since the early years of the internet. But the ideas behind clickbait have been around for much longer. It is similar to yellow, or tabloid journalism. This kind of reporting started in the eighteen hundreds. Newspaper sellers understood that they could sell more papers if their stories were striking. Writers began to make up surprising stories. Or they would report on things in the most extreme way possible. Truth did not matter if the story sold.

Voice 2

Clickbait operates in a similar way. But the way people make money on the internet is different than selling newspapers. Most websites make money through advertisements. These images or videos try to sell products to visitors. The more people  see advertisements on their page, the more money websites get. Some advertisers pay by the amount of time people spend on a web page. But most advertisers pay each time someone visits the page.  

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This business model has many advantages for internet content creators. One person can make a lot of money if something they make is popular. Videos that are said to “go viral” get clicked on millions of times. Each of these clicks means more money for its creator’s work. Often, part of this work is making themselves stand out. Damien Radcliffe is a journalism teacher at the University of Oregon. He told the British Broadcasting Corporation, or BBC:

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“Some people see this as a somewhat dirty business model. I do not share that opinion. It is just a digital reality.”

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Sadly, most experts agree that this kind of business does not encourage truth telling. It is often easier for creators on social media to post without worrying about the facts. Sometimes, creators post information that is incorrect. The information is usually shocking because it has little basis in reality. Readers may even know this. But they will click because the information looks interesting. Carlos Diaz Ruiz is a teacher at Hanken University in Finland. He told the Conversation:

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“There is a financial reason for websites to create more online use. Any content, true or not, that receives views, likes, and comments is highly valued.”

Voice 1

One of the most dangerous results of misinformation is in the political area. Sometimes this kind of clickbait comes from political actors. But just as often it comes from people hoping to make a profit. This bad information has real world effects. It may change the way that people see the world. It may frighten. It may even cause people to believe in things that simply are not true.

Voice 2

One example of political misinformation comes from South East Asia. In 2022, violent clashes between China and the Philippines broke out in the South China Sea. Soon after, misinformation about the conflict appeared on social media sites. Many posts made the fighting seem worse than it was. In one post, a social media user shared a picture of British soldiers leaving Afghanistan. But the user made it seem like they were soldiers from the United States. The post said these soldiers were coming to invade.

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These posts had real world effects. They frightened people in both countries. The conflict seemed like it would become a war. The Agence France-Presse, or AFP, is a news organization based in France. In 2024, it showed that most of these posts did not come from any government. Instead, they came from people uninvolved with the situation.

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One member of an organization in Thailand spoke with the AFP. His organization created many false posts about the conflict. He said that they knew very little about the politics of the area. Instead, they created posts that would spread widely. Each post could make them 20-70 US dollars.

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Not all clickbait is this harmful. At best, creating a shocking looking story means people will read it. It may be a good way to attract people’s attention to something true. But at its worst, clickbait is deceptive. It makes people question what they know to be true. It may cause fear about events that did not happen.

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Even with these problems, clickbait will probably be around for a long time. People are interested in shocking things. There will be no reason for people to stop as long as a story can make money through a click.

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This is where media literacy comes in. This is the idea that a person can learn how to see what news is true and what is not. A person who is skilled in media literacy watches where their information comes from. They test shocking news against other news reports to test whether they confirm the information. They understand to watch what they read.

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These skills are difficult to develop. It often takes years. But in today’s increasingly interconnected world, these skills are more important than ever. Understanding clickbait does not just help protect people from falsehood. It does not just protect from advertisements. Media literacy helps people be better citizens in a world that is increasingly online.

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Has clickbait ever fooled you? What about a misleading story? We would like to hear about your experiences. You can leave a comment on our website at www.spotlightenglish.com. You can also find us on Youtube, Facebook, Tiktok, and X. You can also get our programs delivered directly to your Android or Apple device through our free official Spotlight English app.

Voice 2

The writer and producer of this program was Dan Christmann. The voices you heard were from the United States and the United Kingdom. All quotes were adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight. This program is called, ‘Click on This Video!’.

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We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye.

Question:

Has clickbait ever fooled you? What about a misleading story?