Post #1641933
2026-02-22 14:13 UTC
@peteorrall in fairness: the author may not have chosen the headline.
I also hate the term “clickbait” these days. Yes. The point is to get people to read the article. Blaming publications for “clickbait” is really putting the blame in the wrong place. It’s an arms race for attention.
Why not criticize audiences for their failure to reward less-sensationalist headlines? If you think something is “clickbait” then… don’t click. The problem will go away. Better yet, support publications with more restrained copy/headlines. But that’s harder than the lazy application of “clickbait” that puts all the blame on the authors/publications trying to survive in an ever-more-hostile environment for online publishers and writers.
Replies (1)
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@peteorrall@mastodon.bsd.cafe 2026-02-22 15:12
@jzb I didn't know it was clickbait until I clicked on it and read the article. Typically I don't read ZDNet because it caters to a different audience and their articles lack technical detail. Until today, I honestly can't even remember the last time I even read a ZDNet article. I stumbled across it while looking for other stuff. My primary tech news source is The Register. While they are more enterprise focused, the site is biased towards #FOSS, the reporting is much better, and consistently accurate.