Askias wrote:Firstly, does the fact that we now have a member named 'titleguy' means we can't say insulting things about 'the title guy' anymore?
Say your worst, I deserve it some days.
edit:
as far as clickbait headlines and other things being discussed, this is how I feel:
Clickbait to me means a headline like "31 reasons titleguy is the worst. you won't believe number 15" or "She found the secret to great titles with this one simple trick"
When I select titles, I like to think about something fun or interesting from the article that can serve as a sort of appetizer in the title. So I'll select a small taste of something interesting (in this example, I really liked the part with the trans character) that shows you the value. Of course we want clicks, so it has to make you interested in clicking, but I don't feel it is dishonest.
Sometimes things get cut the night before it goes live, and I won't know till I wake up and check the site. So I'm not trying to use a minority to gain revenue, I'm trying to show you what I found interesting in the article so you read it too. Had I kept the title as it was when the part I liked most was bumped, then it would be dishonest, trying to get you to click on something that has no relevance to the title.
Sometimes a title I really like that I feel describes the article well doesn't do well for audiences, so we try some alternates to see what works better. That's why sometimes you'll see the article title change 2 or 3 or 5 times. I'll think "This is it, the perfect title!" and it is descriptive, maybe has a small joke, and I feel like it is a winner. And then it is getting half the amount of views it should be getting because people see the title and think "meh", so I change it to something like "5 Bizarre Bugs That Will Give You Nightmares" and more people view it, and stay on the page longer (meaning they are probably reading all of the entries instead of just browsing the topic headings)
It's a tricky thing, and a lot of thought goes into it. I've never tried to mislead anyone with any article title, but sometimes things happen and the title is incorrect when it goes live.
Also I heard title guy couldn't title his way out of a paper bag.