Mamamia has said goodbye to clickbait. It is dead.
Mamamia says it has quit clickbait. In this guest post Mamamia Women’s Network’s Kate Spies explains why.
2015 is the year that clickbait died. We as a network are embracing it, RIP and good riddance. And, we have seen our engagement metrics bolstered because of this strategic shift, on our site and on social. In fact, we have the sixth most engaging Facebook page in Australia.
The move away from clickbait is an evolution and it is one that we will continue to work on. Our readers have asked us for that, and customer advocacy underpins everything that we do. It is our reason for being, and we will never underestimate the value of that two-way communication in shaping our digital offering.
As online publishers grapple with this stark new reality, consumers are rejoicing and they should. They should also be patting themselves on the back because its demise has been precipitated by them and their changed behaviour.
Clickbait in its purest form was never good for journalism. Never good for consumers. But it was online journalists and their audiences alike who propelled the phenomenon into the viral stratosphere.
Clickbait has dominated the internet since 2012 when publishers like Upworthy burst into our social media feeds with impressive share counts, ‘clicky’ headlines and social media ‘sells’ that sucked you in hard.
‘And you’ll never guess what happened next.’ … ‘This kid’s response will melt your heart.’ … ‘Kim Kardashian has given birth and chosen THE MOST adorable name.’ … ‘Here’s why you should never challenge an angry cat.’
These kind of headlines, many of which you would have found across our network over the years, are created to take advantage of the audience’s curiosity gap, they must click to find the answers. And for a time they did click. A lot.
We produced, and the audience clicked. The more that people clicked, the more baiting stories were produced, the more popular the sites who did this kind of content got, the more they dictated digital content trends.
But just like that, the audience stopped clicking, and we’re all better for it.
The term ‘clickbait’ is widely recognised as a pejorative one. It suggests manipulation, deception, trickery. Online journalists have copped a lot of heat for creating and championing it, but at its heart, it’s no different to the way all forms of media have always sought to attract readers, viewers and listeners to their platforms so they could profit from them either directly or indirectly.
The coverlines you see on magazines; newspaper posters; news headlines at the start of TV and radio bulletins, they’re all examples. Think of the cliff-hanger promos you see for reality TV shows, even nightly news bulletins – they are baiting in their own way. They’re all designed to distil the most interesting aspect of a story into a few words that will entice you to keep listening, watching or to reach for your wallet so you can read the full story.
In print, headline writing has long been considered an art with experienced sub-editors highly valued for their ability to refine often complex stories into pithy, punchy headlines.
Over the past decade, the need to do this intensified in a crowded online marketplace where the sheer volume of information competed for your attention exploded.
The need to cut through a busy Facebook or Twitter feed meant that publishers had to resort to increasingly dramatic ways of drawing attention.
Outlining the basic details of a story stopped being enough a few years ago and the competition to play to the FOMO (fear of missing out) factor intensified.
But the audience soon got tired of being played.
The clickbaiting trend is well on its way out. The feedback we are getting from our readers is that they want to be served genuinely interesting content that engages them; they’ve had enough of clickbaiting.
In August 2014 Facebook’s army of data scientists noticed people turning away from this kind of content and they adjusted the NewsFeed algorithm to penalise publishers who spammed their audiences with it.
Some publishers responded and changed the way they encouraged readers to click on their stories.
Freedman
At Mamamia Women’s Network our approach to the content we publish and the way we conceive and create it is very much reader-led. It always has been. “You have to consume your own content like a reader, put yourself in their headspace and ensure you are delivering what they’re asking for,” says content director Mia Freedman. And on the editorial side of the business, this is our north star. Like every other part of the digital world, consumer behaviour changes rapidly and publishers who aren’t able to predict and adapt to that changed behaviour are just as rapidly left behind.
It’s a mistake to think clickbait is a measure of engagement. Leading publishers understand that engagement is about so much more than just a click. At MWN we have many measures of engagement and clicks alone are not our objective. Total Time Reading (TTR) or Time On Site (TOS) as well as social shares and comments are some of the metrics we value far above clicks alone. We want our audience to be genuinely engaged, to come back to us daily. If they feel disappointed after clicking on a baiting headline those objectives will never be realised.
So what’s the difference between clickbait and a good headline?
It’s ‘Someone told Penny Wong to “speak Australian”. What happened next will make you cheer’ verse ‘Penny Wong’s scathing response to the Senator who asked another to “speak Australian”.’
It’s ‘Lisa Wilkinson has an extremely important message for the world’ versus ‘Lisa Wilkinson calls for action on domestic violence on the Today show.’
It’s ‘This idea for empty Kirribilli House is total genius’ versus ‘If Malcolm Turnbull won’t be living in Kirribilli House, can we offer it to some of the Syrian refugees?’
It’s ‘There was something very different about the Emmys red carpet last night’ versus ‘The diverse Emmys red carpet showed why TV is so much better than the movies right now.’
It’s ‘This model’s story will make you sigh’ versus ‘Agnes is dangerously underweight, but still “too fat” to model’.
Clickbait is somewhat subjective: one person’s clickbait is another’s fantastic and enticing headline.
And despite our very conscious shift away from clickbait, I’m sure that there are readers who still take issue with our headlines. When you are producing 50 pieces of content a day, it is impossible to please everyone.
There is nothing wrong with producing attractive headlines – that is our job as editors. Creating a headline that gives the readers crucial information they want, yet entices them to read (or click) on is an art. There is, however, a problem with breaking the promise you make to your audience in said headlines. If a piece of content under delivers or is vastly different to how it was “sold”, it’s a frustrating user experience, and this fosters resentment and leaves your readers feeling ripped off. They won’t return, and this is why clickbait is so damaging for brands. In a fickle digital environment you don’t get many chances.
Clickbait, at its heart, is deliberately manipulative. All it cares about is the click, not how the person feels after clicking. And at MWN, this is key for us when we determine what headline to use: will our readers feel disappointed after clicking on this? Are we delivering on our editorial promise?
Not all clicks are created equal. And the click you get from tricking someone is of low, even negative, value. Your user will bounce right off the page and forget about getting them to click on another piece of content on your site.
You can’t have strong engagement levels when you rely on clickbait, and engagement is something we pride ourselves on at MWN. We have a laser-focus on recirculation and pages per session. Users visit our website and network for longer, and more times a month than any other women’s websites in Australia.
Each writer/video producer is KPI-ed on how long people spend on their piece and where users drop off. UBs are not, and have never been, our sole focus.
We are absolutely as dedicated to these engagement metrics as the sheer volume we drive to our sites. That’s why as a network we have embraced the death of clickbait. RIP and good riddance.
- Kate Spies is head of editorial strategy at Mamamia Women’s Network
Miranda Ward worked for Mumbrella from 2013 to 2017, eventually becoming deputy editor. Miranda joined Mumbrella in September 2013 from Sky News.
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Great decision, and well done for acknowledging it’s a consumer led decision. As consumers begin to get educated on what fulfils their curiosity, vs. what leaves them disappointed publishers will follow.
Thanks for sharing Kate.
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While you’re at it, can you lose the galleries for simple lists? There’s no easier way to make a person hate your site than to click on a headline, have to wait to remove the ad, the customer survey pop up and whatever else, only to find that I’d have to click through a gallery for something I’m mildly interested in.
You’ve sent my clicks to other sites many times for this.
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Headline should have been – “You won’t believe what Kate Spies has to say about click-bait.”
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This is refreshing news. But wasn’t there a problem with headlines like…
‘Lisa Wilkinson calls for action on domestic violence on the Today show.’ and
‘If Malcolm Turnbull won’t be living in Kirribilli House, can we offer it to some of the Syrian refugees?’
When these hit social media, people click “Like” but don’t actually go to read the article. Heavy sharing, not much conversion. That’s what the Guardian was saying a year ago anyway.
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So mamamia decided to stop duping it’s readers, and now things it’s invented journalism?
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this feels like Abbott’s “return to good government” apology/mandate
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Too late Mamaamia. So instead of clickbait you go for lowest common denominator topics. Same same.
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Interesting article and you’re right; what defines clickbait is entirely subjective. I’d suggest that pretty much any headline with the phrase “subject X is dead” would fall under a broad definition of the phrase.
In many ways this reminds me of the arguments of the ‘bad’ headlines that moves towards SEO were pushing a few years ago. Ultimately the worthiness of the headline will be in the eye of the beholder and your use of metrics over and above clicks/impressions will validate what the readers thought.
One thing though – I’d suggest that it’s rather unfair to lump Upworthy in with headlines about kittens or the Kardashians. Upworthy was set up specifically in order to be able to deliver socially important news* to audiences sheltered by the filter bubbles on social networks. The fact that their template was success was adopted by publishers with less loft aims is hardly their fault.
*in the eyes of the site’s creator who had in fact written the book The Filter Bubble which highlighted the challenges journalism faced in an algorithmically driven world.
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@Yup – really valid point. You will be happy to hear we are addressing the UX issues around galleries and an update is coming soon.
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Article posted at 11.09am. 51 minutes later…
“Six things they should ACTUALLY teach us at school.”
( https://twitter.com/Mamamia/status/646866712323690500 )
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Fantastic! I unfollowed/unliked/unwhatever Mamamia over a year ago because of this bullshit, I may just reverse that now… 😉
To Nick: while I might simply digest the tiny snipped of news/knowledge/comment that is “If Malcom Turnbull won’t be living in Kirribilli…”, I would almost definitely click through to read more about Lisa’s comments on domestic violence, because that story appeals to my interests. My high-quality engagement is the convergence of stories I am personally interested in, my trust in a publication I know will write about it well, and being treated with respect by NOT engaging in clickbait.
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Your excessive click-bait headlines lost me along time go. And don’t even get me started on the constant re-sharing of stories on Facebook…
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Can l remind Mia on what she said earlier this year at the Mumbrella360 conference regarding clickbait https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsOZ-RI6MwU (23 min mark). I thought Mamamia don’t use clickbait? me confused…
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Kate perhaps now mamamia could also stop blocking people who make mild criticism of you editorial policy. I once complained in the comments section about a sponsored story (spec savers) – asking that you more clearly flag sponsored content. Since then all my comments are blocked. Are you really celebrating two way communication? Why silence even your mildest critics when you are supposedly encouraging conversation. More work to do to establish your credibility.
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Glad we are getting the really big issues sorted out.
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Lasted all of 17 minutes
Spotted after this article went up ‘@mamamia – Six things they should ACTUALLY teach us at school.”
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I stopped liking Mamamia for exactly this reason but would only reconsider this if they stop the constant Facebook reposts and don’t get me started on the galleries.
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@Leslie, I’m glad you brought this up because there is a clear distinction between clickbait and a listicle-style headline, and I think they often are unfairly lumped together. You can’t list every single subhead from an article in a headline, and informing your audience of the nature of the list and how many things are on it falls into the enticing-headline category for me. As I mentioned in my piece, clickbait is problematic because it breaks a promise with your audience. Listicle-style headlines generally don’t do this, in fact they are quite descriptive.
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be interesting to see how traffic drops!
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“In August 2014 Facebook’s army of data scientists noticed people turning away from this kind of content and they adjusted the NewsFeed algorithm to penalise publishers who spammed their audiences with it.”
Ta-da, the real reason: they wrote clickbait headlines until it stopped making them money.
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Now could someone tell the Sydney Morning Herald online?
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Suspect they – and their advertisers – have finally realized that the only women who visit Mamamia are the less educated, home all day, less money to spend market segments.
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@Ian – and also tell the main culprit – news.com.au
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Latest Mamamia Tweet “My vegan neighbour won’t kill lice”. Hmmmm
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good work, but think beyond the headline: it’s not just about forgoing clickbait, it’s about creating premium long form content that readers want!
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Hallelujah to that! Nothing bugs me more than a clickbait headline on social media, and it absolutely has the opposite result with me – I just keep scrolling down my feed. If I can’t find out what the story is about via the headline, I usually won’t bother. Hope other media outlets follow suit! Well done.
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More Twitter “Oh dear. Sam Worthington and Lara Bingle Worthington got in a spot of bother yesterday.”
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i liked this article and agree with most of it. however… on the front page of mamamia right now we have:
The honest answer to “Do anti-ageing creams really work?” CLICKBAIT
Is The X-Factor’s “five-seat challenge” cruel and unusual punishment? Or just theatrics? CLICKBAIT
Why Lara and Sam are hounded by the paparazzi. And how they can stop them. CLICKBAIT
The 7 things I’d sell my best friend or step over my mother for. CLICKBAIT
There’s something refreshing about Snez’s first Instagram endorsement. CLICKBAIT
I suppose it’s harder for organisations that don’t actually report the news (no slight to mamamia, but they don’t) to subhead their columns and not be accused of clickbait. a headline like “Boat Sinks in South China Sea” or “Turnbull Announces Policy” doesnt need to clickified because it’s topical and purely descriptive of something that’s happening. whereas there’s nothing newsworthy about Snez’s instagram post or anti-ageing cream.
Oh dear, this comment is sounding far snarkier than i intended but i don’t really know how to fix it. as someone who is not in mamamias target market or readership i’m having to fight my own biases. let’s try again
Maybe the stylistic conventions that once underpinned news journalism are not relevant for lifestyle and pop culture websites that don’t report the news. Yet even these readers don’t always like being tricked into reading things, so some de-clickification was necessary. Facebook changing the algo probably sped this process up somewhat.
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CLICK BAITY ARTICLES? YOU’RE DOING IT ALL WRONG!
Mamamia sadly has strayed so far from its creator’s original vision that its essence has long been lost. The click bait style of story that has come about in recent times is just the tip of the iceberg. The joint sold out its uniqueness and credibility and relevance to women probably about four or five years ago, when it transformed itself into a barely distinguishable copy of so many other rubbish sites out there. Has it really taken them this long to see the light? Is this a response to Huff Post’s Australian version? The decrying of click bait by this so-called “network” now seems far too little, far too late.
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No linkbait? Uh huh…
https://twitter.com/Mamamia/status/646866712323690500
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Morning routines are all the buzz these days. But what about nighttime? Make these part of your pre-bed ritual – number three is pure genius.
From Facebook two hours ago.
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Sharing this post as a comment with the note “so irony isn’t dead after all” under their latest new clickbait viral video on Facebook today (which was shared by an American friend) made me smile so much 🙂
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“The move away from clickbait is an evolution” ….. Am i missing something here?!!/…. ha ha ha
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I actually blacklisted myself from reading the Huffington Post because the clickbait headlines were so misleading.
I, of course, couldn’t resist clicking those links to see the story behind the enticing headline. But I hated myself when I was duped over and over again.
So, despite the fact that it actually does have some good content, I removed it from my bookmarks and blocked it via my browser. I’m much happier.
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I wonder if your facebook page is so active because your comments are so unbelievably low on the site? There is such limited engagement now on the site with people commenting – I also notice that anything even mildly disagreeing with the author will never get published, so people write their honest feelings and feedback on facebook instead.
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Readers have complained on Facebook all year that they have to reload Mamamia pages multiple times in order to read them. Presumably the increase in traffic from having to reload stories will make up for any losses suffered by ditching the clickbait.
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It’s one thing to ‘say’ you’re going to do it, it’s another to actually do it (stop clickbait)
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Mamamia has stripped down click here to see more
https://mumbrella.com.au/mamamia-has-said-goodbye-to-clickbait-it-is-dead-320608
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I agree this article is a sanctimonious joke. On their website right now: The Bachelorette has a job. Do you know what it is?
If that’s not click bait, what is?
Mumbrella, you can do better than this sort of self-promotional crap masquerading as serious discussion about online audiences.
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As of 9th of Oct on MamaMia front page:
“A Victoria’s Secret photoshop fail has left a model with only one bum cheek.”
Guys, if that’s you leaving clickbait behind, thank the snowy kittens I didn’t check earlier.
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