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The endless, relentless onslaught of clickbait titles in every Facebook feed

I saw one today that was a good combination of click-bait and actual description of the link:

24 Haunting Images Of Abandoned Places That Will Give You Goose Bumps. #16 Is Insane.

(I've removed the link).

I've seen a few like that recently.

Hopefully this is a sign that websites are starting to realise that click-bait without description drives a lot of people away. And then eventually the click-bait bit will go away too.
 
I'm sure you used to be able to elect to stop seeing certain things like games, links, videos. I can't find a setting now. What I'd like is to be able to just stop seeing any links at all, only my friends' actual posts that they've written and their photos. This is drastic but I just can't be arsed scrolling through all the crap any more to see if I'm missing anyone's significant life events.
 
scifisam said:
I saw one today that was a good combination of click-bait and actual description of the link:

24 Haunting Images Of Abandoned Places That Will Give You Goose Bumps. #16 Is Insane.

(I've removed the link).

I've seen a few like that recently.

Hopefully this is a sign that websites are starting to realise that click-bait without description drives a lot of people away. And then eventually the click-bait bit will go away too.
Click to expand...
Shame the description is wrong. There're more than 24 images and a sunken yacht isn't an "abandoned place".

Also, holy HDR Batman! :eek:
 
RubyToogood said:
I'm sure you used to be able to elect to stop seeing certain things like games, links, videos. I can't find a setting now. What I'd like is to be able to just stop seeing any links at all, only my friends' actual posts that they've written and their photos. This is drastic but I just can't be arsed scrolling through all the crap any more to see if I'm missing anyone's significant life events.
Click to expand...
at the top right of the post there is a little down arrow. click it it and you see the option to hide all from that site
 
joustmaster said:
at the top right of the post there is a little down arrow. click it it and you see the option to hide all from that site
Click to expand...
That only hides each site individually, and anyway they always seem to come back. I mean one global setting for your whole news feed that would disable ALL external links.
 
RubyToogood said:
That only hides each site individually, and anyway they always seem to come back. I mean one global setting for your whole news feed that would disable ALL external links.
Click to expand...
Something to stop seeing any web link that your friends post?
I doubt that will ever be an option
 
I don't spend that long on FB but when I've seen these things, I've assumed it's because someone on my friend's list has liked them? Soinso likes this amazing vid etc, etc. The random stuff I get comprises of extremely boring and misguided adverts
 
joustmaster said:
They are sharing it, and other people are liking it.
So telling them to stop would be a little fruitless, and just make me look like a cunt.

Doesn't mean I won't whine about it on Urban though :)
Click to expand...

Meant in general really. I sometimes click on them. Why would you browse FB if you weren't up for a bit of time wasting and trivia. :D
 
mr steev said:
An old friend of mine sadly died recently. At his funeral were lots of people from all round the country who hadn't seen each other for 20 years. That was down to facebook. It has it's uses.
Click to expand...

It is very useful. Most of who complain about this sort of link are also blocking things are well as we can, but also enjoying the way we can connect with people easily.

It's kinda like people who say they don't watch TV and feel all superior about it, despite actually watching TV via downloads, etc. I've gone through long periods of not watching TV and that was because I was busy or didn't really have a TV. I quite like having the time to watch TV. I can turn it off when I want to. I also quite like having the time to go on Facebook. I go on when I want to. The events thing is particularly handy.
 
mr steev said:
An old friend of mine sadly died recently. At his funeral were lots of people from all round the country who hadn't seen each other for 20 years. That was down to facebook. It has it's uses.
Click to expand...

pretty much why I joined. However, due to the widow being too grief stricken, the local paper put an article together about my best mate and his death based purely on facebook. That sucked
 
skyscraper101 said:
It's annoying because... I use facebook primarily as a news aggregator. It's simpler to just 'like' all the media sources I'm interested in and then browse through FB than visit a gazillion web pages every day. But since buzzfeed, upworthy et al. half of the newspapers are now copying their clickbait tactics to get you to read their site. It's bloody irritating.
Click to expand...
Try this http://feedly.com/ or one of the sites that probably does the same thing better.
 
scifisam said:
It's kinda like people who say they don't watch TV and feel all superior about it, despite actually watching TV via downloads, etc. I've gone through long periods of not watching TV and that was because I was busy or didn't really have a TV. I quite like having the time to watch TV. I can turn it off when I want to. I also quite like having the time to go on Facebook. I go on when I want to. The events thing is particularly handy.
Click to expand...
People who bang on about not having a telly cos they're such uber trendy, new age, bohemian hippies who are too busy practising reiki & juggling magic crystals can shove their pseudo individualist idealism where even Buddha would fear to tread.

I've got a big shiny telly that I watch a lot cos it's big & shiny and I like watching telly.

:cool:
 
What annoys me is 'suggested posts' that bear absolutely no relevance to me. Like how Dawn French lost weight, how to 'dress with style', or completely unaffordable holidays in the Caribbean :mad:
 
wiskey said:
I don't receive any marketing calls, ever.

It is possible to opt out.
Click to expand...

I know, I never used to get any marketing calls on my old phone, then when it eventually broke my dad gave me his old phone and simcard and I don't know what he must have done to get on so many bloody marketing lists. Imagine this, I was in bed at the grand old hour of 8am on the most recent bank holiday (I know that must seem like a lie in to some of you, but still) and my phone rings with a marketing call. It rings again 8 BLOODY TIMES before 10am. And I have signed up to the TPS, I keep telling myself it just hasn't kicked in yet. Then I tell myself that any company who thinks it's OK to call people at 8am on a bank holiday probably laughs at the TPS.
 
editor said:
I guess the success of BuzzFeed has spawned this entire industry of clickbait titles, with the repackaged content often years old and anything but as 'awesome' as the hyperbolic description suggests.

And boy, does it make Facebook even more depressing to use.
Click to expand...

Editor, you have literally climbed Everest with this thread! ;)
 
Its become massively annoying.

its a recent thing isn't it? I've only started to get annoyed by it recently, they started becoming more common about 6 months ago perhaps. I wonder if Facebook will have a say, starting to devalue their offering.

I have clicked the odd link when I started seeing them, but now they are just tiresome.
 
Sunray said:
Its become massively annoying.

its a recent thing isn't it? I've only started to get annoyed by it recently, they started becoming more common about 6 months ago perhaps. I wonder if Facebook will have a say, starting to devalue their offering.

I have clicked the odd link when I started seeing them, but now they are just tiresome.
Click to expand...
i am boycotting the buzzfeed website, completely.
Thats pretty serious for me, I still buy nestle products.
 
xenon said:
I don't spend that long on FB but when I've seen these things, I've assumed it's because someone on my friend's list has liked them? Soinso likes this amazing vid etc, etc. The random stuff I get comprises of extremely boring and misguided adverts
Click to expand...
A lot of the it's a bit of both. If your friend likes a page that company can pay to promote the post which is why you might see Bob likes Samsung style posts show up again and again even if Bob liked Samsungs page 2 years ago.

editor said:
And if it's not clickbait shite it's people posting up graphic photos of horrific atrocities like that's going to be make a shred of fucking difference.
Click to expand...

Yes I hate that. My friends in South Asia seem to be worst for it. There are a couple I've hidden purely because I don't want to see some corpse in between pictures of cats and people being drunk.

Epona said:
I know, I never used to get any marketing calls on my old phone, then when it eventually broke my dad gave me his old phone and simcard and I don't know what he must have done to get on so many bloody marketing lists. Imagine this, I was in bed at the grand old hour of 8am on the most recent bank holiday (I know that must seem like a lie in to some of you, but still) and my phone rings with a marketing call. It rings again 8 BLOODY TIMES before 10am. And I have signed up to the TPS, I keep telling myself it just hasn't kicked in yet. Then I tell myself that any company who thinks it's OK to call people at 8am on a bank holiday probably laughs at the TPS.
Click to expand...

TPS only applies to calls originating within the UK so offshore call centres are immune sadly. I'd pick up a new sim card.
 
Epona said:
I know, I never used to get any marketing calls on my old phone, then when it eventually broke my dad gave me his old phone and simcard and I don't know what he must have done to get on so many bloody marketing lists. Imagine this, I was in bed at the grand old hour of 8am on the most recent bank holiday (I know that must seem like a lie in to some of you, but still) and my phone rings with a marketing call. It rings again 8 BLOODY TIMES before 10am. And I have signed up to the TPS, I keep telling myself it just hasn't kicked in yet. Then I tell myself that any company who thinks it's OK to call people at 8am on a bank holiday probably laughs at the TPS.
Click to expand...

Get a smartphone. I can block any number I don't like the look of.
 
In the last week or so there has been a major new development. :eek:

As well as the MUST SEE headline, they've started to put a red circle or a red arrow to indicate some intriguing part of the picture which is not intriguing at all when you open up the page....
 
I follow - or 'like' - most of the mainstream UK press on facebook (except the Sun/Mail) just to aggregate them in to one feed so I don't have to go their individual pages all the time. The Mirror of late has been shamelessly clickbaiting with all kinds of nonsense 'YOU WON'T BELIEVE' style attention grabbers. This was the latest...

shave.jpg


...and YOU WON'T BELIEVE IT - it's a rubbish picture of Steven Gerrard :facepalm: I'm not even going to link to it its so lame.
 
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