Information Literacy: Click Bait

How to Avoid Clickbait:

1. Do NOT Click on Clickbait--Clicking on something will make it more likely to be shown to you on Social Media platforms
2. Subscribe to/Like/Follow Sources that Represent Both Sides of Spectrum (the Media Bias Chart from the ILCC Information Literacy Guide is a great place to discovered where news outlets fall--stick with the news outlets in the Green box, and sparingly from the Yellow box--but both sides)
3. Avoid Sources at the End of Either Side of the Spectrum (this means you should avoid anything from the Red box from the Media Bias Chart above)
4. Challenge Your Own Assumptions:
5. Seek Out Opinions (and their Facts) that Differ from Your Own
6. Question What You Read

Many reputable  news outlets sometimes use a form of Clickbait, after all, they are fighting for your attention. But those sites that regularly use these, especially extreme forms of it, should be avoided. 

More: Some additional sources:

• Medium provides an article on sample Clickbait titles (2017).
• BBC discussed the usage in an article "Clickbait: The Changing Face of Online Journalism" (2015) where the author discussed the increased usage of clickbait.
• Dennis Kim discussed "How to Escape Clickbait" in a 10 minute video from TEDx (independently sponsored Tedtalk)

• Sally Kohn discussed "Don't Like Clickbait? Don't Click" in a 4 minute TEDtalk. 

• Columbia Journalism Review describes the new way of paying journalists--by clicks in "What It's Like to Get Paid for Clicks"" (2015).