Linkbait Example: Cage, pregnant teen in box office spotlight - Reuters 2007-01-06
This is a great example of linkbait.
It draws you in with its tabloid-style headline, seemingly going to tell you that Nicholas Cage and a pregnant teen are in a movie together.
The tabloid-itis part of us sees 'Nicholas Cage Gets Teen Co-Star Pregnant.'
While, if you take care to notice the comma, it is actually saying 'a movie Nicholas Cage is in and a movie about a pregnant teen are hot items in the theaters right now.'
Crafting titles such as the example in the heading of this post is a skill that take some practice. Once you have attained the level of deception required to harness this skill, you will be able to create this sort of crap easily.
I call it crap because that is what it is. Crap. Pure and simple.
Maybe the title above was not meant to be linkbait-sounding, but it is, at least to my jaded ears(eyes?).
Most likely, if the article was titled "Nicholas Cage Film And Movie About Pregnant Teen Top Box Office" and I was any of the following, I would have read the article anyway:
- A Nicholas Cage fan
- Interested in a movie about a pregnant teen
- Interested in what movies were at the top of the box office
But alas, many who are none of the above will read the article to see who got knocked up and what is going to happen! They want the bloody car crash, the failed plastic surgery, the "Britney 'Wigs' Out" news. Is it news? No, it's pop culture gossip and trash. My god, that bores me so these days…
Ok, off my soapbox.
I have been known to try some linkbait titles before, but I don't believe I have ever tried to insinuate a troubled affair such as mentioned in that article.
When writing your linkbait, think about how it could be taken by those who read it. Negatively that is…
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