The "this" Keyword

Okay, that was a clickbait. But this isn't much different than what we see on social networks these days. This post is not about JavaScript's elusive this keyword. This is about a pattern I see now-a-days; almost everyday. Social networks have had a big impact on our daily lives. It's how we keep in touch with our friends and family. It's how we follow the people we admire. And now more than ever, it's how we get our daily of dose news. The authenticity of that news is another topic. Today I'll focus on how that news is presented to us. But first check out these screenshots.

Example 1

Example 2

Example 3

Example 4

Example 5

See anything in common? Sadly, this is how we see the headlines. More often than not the links are clickbaits or suffer from information withholding. This pattern is prevalent; be it Facebook or Twitter or Google News. In each instance, the publisher could have written the actual subject/topic in the headlines instead they chose to withhold the information. In many cases, the headline is totally different than the body of the article. I know journalism has its costs and the media companies need to generate revenue. But this such a cheap tactic to make users click links then bombard them with ads. I wrote about the ad situation a few months ago. You can read it here. What surprises me the most, not just new players, even established media conglomerates do this. These companies need to realize that cheating or fooling users never works in the long run. This feels like a tatic the old Microsoft would come up with. Everytime I see the "this" word in a headline, I think twice before clicking. I have been "cheated" more than I would like. I am sure there are others who do the same. This is opposite of what the headline was intended to do. The sooner we raise our voices, the sooner we can put a stop to this malpractice.

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