This, is a shame. I’m forced to use the same gimmick I criticize to have your attention.

In the impressive acceleration of the web content production, there is one trend which is not helping our posterity on this planet.

I don’t want to know the “18 Reasons Why Dads Are Awesome”

You can’t deny, you absolutely want to click on these click baiting optimized links. You know you will regret it, that behind these sexy titles you will fall in the void of content, but you can’t resist. You tell yourself: “Why not, it is fun and I will not spend a lot of my time”, and that’s it, you’ve click on the “18 Reasons Why Dads Are Awesome”.

But after you finish reading this suite of animated gifs without the slightest emotion or interest, you tell yourself “But … I don’t want to know the 18 Reasons Why Dads Are Awesome, I don’t even give a tiny shit.”

Unfortunately when you click on these links, you support, despite you, what is killing good quality content on the web. So why did you click on this shitty link ? You know their tricks, you know how these titles are built to fool you, that behind the catchy title, there is only disappointment and emptiness. So why ?

Actually, big companies as Buzzfeed, Melty, A+ etc. have developed algorithms to anticipate trending topics. The content is not driven by the actuality, the quality of a thought, or the passion of a writer, but by the audience, and the audience only.

Jaw-Dropping !

These type of articles are the best things that happened to Medias. It’s cheap to produce, you don’t need a journalist or some skilled writing profile to write it, and the impact on the audience is almost guaranteed. You just have to concentrate your work on native-advertising and optimize the titles to tease your audience with the whole bag of tricks :

The magnet number : “The {number} {things} only {specific targeted audience} will understand.”

The hyperbolic bullshit : “What this {someone} {doing something} will blow your mind.”

The order : “Watch {somebody} doing {something} in this adorable video.”

The emotional : “{something} is the most {sentiment} thing you could see.”

etc.

You can also sprinkle your titles with things like : “Jaw-dropping”, “Amazing”, “Speechless”, “Crazy”,”Breathtakingly beautiful”,”Brilliant”,”Heavenly”, etc.

“Hey this is my unsourced, uncreative, poorly written content and it’s amazing !”

The unclean chain links on Facebook have now become our daily readings. But these websites are proudly saying : “Hey this is my unsourced, uncreative, poorly written content and it’s amazing !”. This type of content is contrary to any kind of creation. These writers are not “writing” anything, they are doing some marketing shit.

This content is forgotten right after consumed. Try to remember one of the “27 Easy Weeknight Dinners Your Kids Will Actually Like”. The fact that these Articles are considered entertainment does not bother me, it’s more that they abound and reproduce exponentially that worries me.

“The 10 reasons you like bacon”, “The top 15 best burgers you should try”, “The 10 best reasons to be proud being red haired”, “8 good reasons to date a younger man”, “19 Reasons Brunch Weddings Are Pretty Much Perfect”, “18 Reasons Why Dads Are Awesome”, “29 Secrets Dads Want Their Sons To Know About Adulthood”, and definitely more reasons to stop reading those articles.

Recently, they began to produce their own content. This is the same shit but without hiding.

Native ads is good for your brain. And it’s free !

Type anything on the Web, a Top will pop. Brands are happy, content farms are wealthy, this trend is spreading like a viral illness and there is no reason for it to stop.

Remember maybe one thing, when you can’t resist clicking on these links, you don’t realize you fail to read something more meaningful.

I’m french, so I’m producing poorly written english articles myself. Damn!