The cure for clickbait
[Music]
[Applause]
a few months ago i couldn’t get to sleep
i was in my bed tossing and turning
and so finally i just reached for my
phone and i started scrolling through
facebook which
never helps
30 minutes later i am deep into a scroll
hole more awake than i was before
and i’m scrolling i’m scrolling i’m
scrolling
barely aware of what i’m viewing
and then
the headline of an article just grabbed
my attention
and i knew it was clickbait
so i resisted
i got out of bed i walked away
i did a load of laundry i i did the
dishes i never do the dishes
i even did a little yoga
but the headline was calling out to me
it beckoned me
it created such a curiosity
that i had to give in
i had to know
did man in montana
finally get proof of
bigfoot he did not
sadly this wasn’t the first time i fell
prey to click bait
here’s another one five proven
strategies
to stop fighting with your partner about
money
strategy number one
be single
but it doesn’t stop here unfortunately
we’ve all seen the clickbait headlines
about politics
natural disasters
our health
and the list goes on
and on
when we click debate inevitably we’re
disappointed
the content is poorly written or
negative
or completely false
or it makes you click again
and again to continue to read on
just so they can cram as many ads in as
possible the sad truth is that click
bait works
we know what spreads fastest negativity
over positivity
spin over science
shallowness over substance
lies over truth
in fact a study out of mit found that
falsehoods spread six times faster
than the truth
and this is exploited over
and over again
for example how many of you know that
napoleon was short
well it turns out he was actually a
little above average height for men of
his time
this is a fact
which is why it took me so long to find
it on the internet the negative effects
of this click-bait world we live in
are widespread
it supports the division and
polarization
of the most important issues of our time
and yet
we don’t seem to learn from these
lessons
we’ve allowed these techniques to infect
the way we communicate even on our own
personal social media pages i believe
this is because
we approach the way we post online by
asking the wrong questions
too often we’re only asking the
following two questions before we post
one
what is going to get the most views
likes or comments
two
how can i emulate what others are doing
to get the most views likes and comments
the ultimate paradox in this digital age
is this
we are virtually connected
yet distinctly
isolated
now i’m not about to suggest that we all
get rid of our phones computers and
social media pages for good
or at least if you do
finish watching this talk first what i
do want to point out though is that
we’re all searching
for the same thing to have an authentic
experience
with another human being
so how can we communicate or produce
content in a way
that maximizes real human connection
which in turn leads to trust and further
engagement
from those we care about
i created a few questions that i ask
myself before i post that have been
helpful to keep me in check
and i hope they’re helpful for you too
one
is what i’m about to post
true
novel i know
or if i’m not posting information or
data or something like that i ask is
this authentic to me
two
will it help others
and this doesn’t have to be too deep
important information is always great to
share but if i’m reposting a funny meme
for example
that might actually give somebody some
joy so
that counts
three
is it communicating
what i’m for
rather than what i’m against
for example
instead of posting i hate mondays
i might say
i love me some taco tuesdays if the
answer isn’t yes to all three of these
then i move on to the next idea
in this
hyper-connected world
i want to create connections
of substance
focused on how to authentically
share something how to advocate
positively for the things that matter
and how to turn down the noise on the
things that don’t
i want to create a world where not every
piece of communication
is filtered
through a lens
of how to gain something
but rather
how we give something
stop looking for the hook
the shtick
the secret the psychological mastery
bigfoot
the five proven strategies
they don’t actually deliver
on what matters
tell the truth
give something
share what you love and instead of click
bait
let’s create connection
[Music]