Facebook Moves to End Clickbait Headlines; Publishers’ and PR Reactions Will Shock You :–)

You’ve surely seen them before. The news and social media headlines intentionally leave out vital information in order to spark readers’ curiosity. Something happened and “You’ll Never Believe What Happened Next” or “His Reaction was Priceless.” Or “This One Weird Trick Will End Clickbait Headlines Forever.” The headline style is called clickbait; it baits you to click without really knowing the content – or, sometimes, even the subject.

If you do click the link to read the article, you invariably find that it falls dismally short of expectations. You click back after a second, possibly feeling tricked.

In a recent announcement, Facebook said it will take additional steps to counter those types of headlines. Clickbait contradicts its values of “authentic communication.” In addition, users say they prefer clearly written headlines that accurately describe the article’s content so they don’t waste time on what they click.

Facebook previously changed it newsfeed algorithm to penalize posts that people click on but quickly clicked away from. That move helped reduce clickbait but far from eliminated it.

Defining Clickbait

For its new update, Facebook categorized tens of thousands of headlines as clickbait by considering two key points:

• If the headline withholds information required to understand content of the article as in “You’ll Never Believe Who Tripped and Fell on the Red Carpet.”
• And if the headline exaggerates the article to create misleading expectations for the reader as in “Apples Are Actually Bad for You?!” They’re only bad for you if you eat too many every day.

After Facebook identified clickbait headlines, it categorized common words they contain. Its system now ranks pages or domains that frequently use those words lower in users’ feeds. If they stop their devious practices, their rankings can recover. “We’ll continue to update how we identify clickbait as we improve our systems and hear more from people using News Feed,” states its announcement.

What Publishers, Marketers & PR Should Avoid

Facebook’s Publishing Best Practices explain how publishers, marketers and PR pros can craft effective headlines.

Share headlines that inform. Instead of relying on missing information to drive click-through, try using text prompts and calls-to-action in your posts to encourage engagement.

Set appropriate expectations. Exaggerated claims create misleading expectations as in “This Pen Never Ever Runs out of Ink! Get It While It Lasts!” The post is about a disposable pen.

Offer diverse content. In addition to links, post photos and videos. Consider exclusives, sneak peeks, milestones, and behind-the-scenes posts. Replying personally to people who comment on your posts shows that you’re listening.

Seek Respect for Your Content

Although clickbait is much reviled, it has proven effective, much like negative political ads. However, some experts say its days are numbered. They urge marketers and publishers to master new techniques and analyze metrics that are more meaningful than clicks.

“Users don’t like to be misled or disappointed, so instead of inducing curiosity before they click through, induce awe and respect after they start consuming your content,” recommends Rohan Ayyar in a Search Engine Watch post.

Clickbait is a grey area, Ayyar says. To determine if your posts are merely titillating clickbait or worthwhile content, he suggests holding an A/B or multi-armed bandit test with and without clickbait headlines. Be sure to implement tactics to obtain a sufficient audience that provides a statistically significant base for accurate testing.

The cliff-hanger headlines may generate an early spike in clicks but will probably soon fade away. Substantive posts may gain traction slowly and gain fewer clicks, but they’ll increase awareness of your brand and build a more loyal audience over the long run.

And, yes we’re aware we didn’t include any reactions from publishers and PR that will shock you – but we hope our analysis was helpful to you and will make you pause before using clickbait headlines in news releases, feature articles, blog posts, social media or marketing promotion.

Bottom Line: Facebook’s move against clickbait headlines may signal a broad reaction against titillating, misleading social media posts. As audiences become more discerning and algorithms become more sophisticated, the effectiveness of clickbait will end. Accurate, journalism-style headlines will create more meaningful long-term success.