We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
FACEBOOK BEGAN UPDATING its News Feed formula to cut down on “clickbait” headlines that promise much more than they deliver.
The tweak takes aim at headlines that intentionally leave out crucial information or mislead people, prompting them to click on links to stories to find out more, according to a blog post by Facebook researchers Kristin Hendrix and Alex Peysakhovich.
Headline examples given included “When She Looked Under Her Couch Cushions And Saw This…I Was Shocked!” and “He Put Garlic In His Shoes Before Going To Bed And What Happens Next Is Hard To Believe.”
“We’ve heard from people that they specifically want to see fewer stories with clickbait headlines or link titles,” Hendrix and Peysakhovich said.
“With this update, people will see fewer clickbait stories and more of the stories they want to see higher up in their feeds.”
Facebook had previously taken aim at clickbait with a News Feed update that reduced distribution of posts with links that people clicked on only to quickly return to the social network.
Facebook, which has some 1.7 billion users, said that it is cracking down even harder on clickbait by using a system that targets headlines that withhold information needed to understand what the article contains or which exaggerate to mislead readers.
For example, the headline “You’ll Never Believe Who Tripped and Fell on the Red Carpet” doesn’t clue readers into people involved or even the exact event.
“A team at Facebook reviewed thousands of headlines using these criteria, validating each other’s work to identify a large set of clickbait headlines,” the researchers said.
Any change in Facebook’s algorithm which ranks and places items in a user’s feed is closely watched by publishers because of the vast amount of potential traffic from the largest social media platform.
Clickbait headlines are typically tailored to spark people’s curiosity to lead them to stories that don’t live up to reader expectations but generate advertising revenue.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
You win today Journal you win.
How come the Journal are not advertising any movies
Maybe there are no lefty movies to watch this weekend
Amen. Avoided 7 years bad luck and got tons of superior exposure to my unsuspecting catcher. Oh wait..
The clickbait trolls over at Joe.ie will be crying over this. They’ll have to hire a new clickbait algorithm programmer.
What a horrendous outfit they are.
It would be “a touch of class” if they did cut down on click baiting though…..
I hate Joe.ie
Do you not enjoy stories about lads in gaa jerseys in Oz drinking Barry’s tea and eating taytos?
Facebook are about to do something you will NOT believe – joe.ie last article
Those stories “restore my faith in humanity”.
Amen
The journal might consider the same…
An over reliance on this type of journalism is a very poor business model in the long term.
I see the Guardian is in a financial mess currently.
next article “should the journal cut down on the number of click bait articles?” …. to click or not to click
And he speaks 35 languages! You won’t believe!
I feel sorry for the sap who’s spent years studying journalism in college only to end up writing this crap. eg: see The Daily Edge
I would never let my kids do journalism or media studies/communications, real McDonalds courses they are
What would you want them to do DAVE?
Work in Burger King
Do they teach clickbait as a module when studying journalism in college?
TheLadBible is gonna be screwed you will NOT believe what happens to them next!!!
Ok ok that was funny!
LMAO!!
Ye have some sense of humour in the Journal for even daring to post this on your website –
This particular story has the potential to blow the record for most comments out of the water,
and the majority of them will be giving you guys stick!
I’d prefer if they stopped those fake competition, where 30,000 morons think they’re winning a brand new BMW X5, and they all post “BLACK” “BLUE” “BLUE Please!”
Or type amen
Good, no more DAILY EDGE articles…
Adblock plus. I don’t see anything but my news feed.
I love that they’re doing this.
Even while reading the article I was planning my indignant comment about the missing trick they are using.
Then I got it and it was amazing …
Bravo journal!
Some neck
That’s Joe.ie screwed
Facebook is cutting down on clickbait…you won’t believe what happened next…HERE
How ironic that the Journal which loves publishing click bait stories decides to publish this and you will never guess what happens next.
Brilliant news …..
I wonder if we will find the results shocking
have your say