22 September 2020
We’ve all seen clickbait, those titillating internet headlines that entice us to follow the link only find vacuous content, or worse. The etymology is rather obvious: click + bait. The term dates to at least 1999, but I suspect earlier uses are to be found in some yet-to-be-indexed corners of the internet. And of course, the idea of using an enticing headline or magazine cover to get us to buy a publication is much, much older.
The earliest use I’m aware of is from Network Magazine of December 1999. Here the clickbait link is to malware, not to ad-driven content:
In January 1997, under the hot glare of lights from the TV station Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk, three German hackers gave a dramatic demonstration of mobile code and the havoc it can wreak. First a “clickbait” Web page with the message “Click here to become a millionaire in five minutes” was shown. Next, the program’s presenter (posing as a user) clicked on the link, unwittingly downloading ActiveX controls. When she subsequently opened Quicken, a background task clandestinely generated an electronic fund transfer, payable to “Bad Boy.”
For the next ten years, the term clickbait had a rather low profile, seldom appearing in published articles. But it pops up in June 2009 in Business Insider, which now uses the term in the familiar sense of a news headline that entices one to read pointless content:
Reason magazine compiled the "The 10 most absurd Time magazine covers from the last 40 years" and the coverlines feel downright clickbait-y if you ask us. We like it.
The two earliest Time covers on Reason magazine’s list are “The Occult Revival” from 19 June 1972 and “The Porno Plague” from 5 April 1976.
And there is this from June 2013, titled “Why I Hate Buzzfeed—A Rant on Page-View Journalism,” that explains the business model behind clickbait:
These are headlines designed to fuel page-view journalism, something we call clickbait. They want you to click on the link so they can waste more of your time and thus get money from their advertisers and sponsors. Sure, any online news org has ads to support the running of their site and paying their staff, but BuzzFeed is designed around this concept instead of being forced to rely on it as many news orgs are. As such, BuzzFeed keeps your attention with idiotic clickbait that serves no edifying aim. It‘s not journalism, it‘s not purposeful, and it‘s just plain stupid.
Sources:
Angel, Jonathan. “Mobile Code Security.” Network Magazine, 14.12, December 1999, 38. ProQuest.
Balko, Radley and Jeff Winkler. “The Top 10 Most Absurd Time Covers of The Past 40 Years.” Reason.com, 10 June 2009.
Carlson, Nicholas. "The 10 Most Absurd Time Magazine Covers from The Last 40 Years." Business Insider, 12 June 2009. Nexis Uni.
Oxford English Dictionary, third edition, December 2016, s.v. clickbait, n.
“Why I Hate Buzzfeed—A Rant on Page-View Journalism.” University Wire, 21 June 2013. ProQuest U.S. Newsstream.