The dumbest Stuff or Herald headlines (& other news media)

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DarthKermit

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#195076 5-Apr-2016 14:24

I know, I know, there are so many to choose from. However, this one has gotta be up there:

"Taylor Swift said her boyfriend's name out loud - why did the Internet lose its mind?"

Got any other great examples of stoopid headlines?

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#1526367 5-Apr-2016 14:31

That is a great headline. I would never click on that. It is the misleading ones which annoy me ; )

Fred99

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#1526381 5-Apr-2016 15:06

Just a typical selection from NZ Herald front page now. The whole site oozes quality reminiscent of Cleo Magazine in 1975.

The dessert that looks like a breast implant

3 days' worth of sodium in burger pizza

Quiz - Find out your money personality

Max Key seeking fame and fortune in LA

Why Smithers finally came out as gay

How long does sex normally last?

johnr

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#1526384 5-Apr-2016 15:10

Watch FBI crack iPhone and you watch video and it's just a video of a iPhone with screen locked

Batman

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#1526389 5-Apr-2016 15:25

I hate those sponsored ones like ... The most powerful military torch ever ... Click on it before it gets banned. I still haven't clicked on it and it still hasn't been banned.

Batman

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#1526391 5-Apr-2016 15:27

Just took another look ...

How long do you hang toilet paper ... Hmm ... I am hoping for a validated formula in that article ...

PoHq

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#1526392 5-Apr-2016 15:28

Click bait is out of control.

It wasn't in an NZ news outlet but I saw one which said "You'll never guess what Prince George is known as at Pre School"

Once you clicked and was into the article it said "He is simply known as George"

WTF!!

Batman

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#1526400 5-Apr-2016 15:33

At least it's accurate. There are those where you have to click 16 pages and find more ads.

frankv

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#1526429 5-Apr-2016 16:11

What I don't get is who, once they've been baited to get ads onto their screen, clicks through to the ad? Surely I'm normal, and the whole concept of being misled into reading ads just angers *everyone*? And therefore, on principal, no-one clicks on the ads?

AND, surely the advertisers are aware of this, and that the ads are completely valueless to them too? So why would the advertisers pay any money for them? And, if advertisers don't pay, why is Stuff/NZH baiting people into viewing them?

Elpie

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#1526432 5-Apr-2016 16:26

The worst headline ever by The Herald, above a photograph of Russell Crowe acting as a pallbearer and carrying his cousin Martin's coffin: "Russell Crowe's new supporting role". The story was about R. Crowe supporting M. Crowe's family at the funeral. FWIW, the funeral was on 11th March. The bad taste headline (since changed on their site but not changed on their Twitter account last time I looked) was published April 4th. No news there.Ultimate bad taste.

Tinshed

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#1526437 5-Apr-2016 16:39

PoHq: Click bait is out of control.

It wasn't in an NZ news outlet but I saw one which said "You'll never guess what Prince George is known as at Pre School"

Once you clicked and was into the article it said "He is simply known as George"

WTF!!

Speaking of which... from the 100 funniest tweets.

What do we want? CLICKBAIT

When do we want it? The answer will shock you.

Tinshed
Wellington, New Zealand

Geektastic

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#1526441 5-Apr-2016 16:54

PoHq: Click bait is out of control.

It wasn't in an NZ news outlet but I saw one which said "You'll never guess what Prince George is known as at Pre School"

Once you clicked and was into the article it said "He is simply known as George"

WTF!!

Better than Boy George, I suppose...!

Geektastic

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#1526442 5-Apr-2016 16:55

What is the actual point of clickbait? I mean, obviously to get clicks, but why?

Like any sane person, I never see adverts on the internet so it can't be related to that.

gzt

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#1526445 5-Apr-2016 17:20

Fred99:
Just a typical selection from NZ Herald front page now. The whole site oozes quality reminiscent of Cleo Magazine in 1975.

The dessert that looks like a breast implant
3 days' worth of sodium in burger pizza
Quiz - Find out your money personality
Max Key seeking fame and fortune in LA
Why Smithers finally came out as gay
How long does sex normally last?

Yeah so there are a significant number of readers that like that stuff and particularly presented with pictures. The actual mix of genuine stories is pretty good. Looking at the desktop site I'm not sure I would want to be seen reading it.

The m device site is actually better.

Then the plain text mobile site is even better again:

http://mobile.nzherald.co.nz/

I use the plain text site above almost 100% of the time.

shortcircuit

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#1526449 5-Apr-2016 17:29

"Can white men have dreadlocks?".... with a pic of the Bieber to prove they obviously can.

Behodar

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#1526450 5-Apr-2016 17:30

PoHq: Click bait is out of control.

It wasn't in an NZ news outlet but I saw one which said "You'll never guess what Prince George is known as at Pre School"

Once you clicked and was into the article it said "He is simply known as George"

WTF!!

Clickbait is indeed out of control. I have Taboola and Outbrain blocked at the DNS level which gets rid of most of them.

One of the first clickbaits I saw had a still from a movie that I'd seen, with a ghost or something in the background and circled, and a headline something like "you'll never have noticed this subtle subplot". I clicked through, and it had a summary of about ten different movies, none of which were the one from the ad. That was my first real experience with clickbait, and resulted in the DNS block :)

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