We all know what clickbait is – content designed to users to click on a link. Clickbait headlines typically aim to exploit human curiosity, providing just enough information to make readers curious — but not enough to satisfy their interest without clicking through to whatever is on the other end.
Here’s the thing about clickbait. Making interesting and compelling headlines is not the problem. Making thirsty, bait-and-switch or otherwise exploitative headlines is. The techniques employed by clickbait content producers are derivative of yellow journalism, which uses attention-seeking headlines that include exaggerations of news events, scandal-mongering or sensationalism and delivers little or no legit news in return.
Sites like BuzzFeed and Upworthy are notorious producers of clickbait content. Further, mainstream invocations and engagements of porn — FoodPornDaily.com anyone? — are a tried-and-true clickbait modality that has been engaged by just about every news outlet around. Case in point: the current news cycle related to Stormy Daniels’ alleged dealings with current U.S. President Donald Trump. Some of these stories are important and revealing; most however are just excuses to include Daniels’ and/or Trump’s names in a headline, like this one about Daniels’ “trained and beautiful” vagina.
And here’s the thing about all that – the current Daniels/Trump news cycle is not only being exploited by the mainstream. The adult industry is also attempting to engage in clickbait by capitalizing on readers’ curiosity. Case in point: the Erotic Heritage Museum’s bid to obtain Daniels’ “Trump Dress.”
Around about Feb. 15, the internet was abuzz (sort of) over Daniels’ alleged possession of a “Monica Lewinsky dress” – meaning, a dress brandishing a smattering of presidential DNA a la Lewinsky’s dress featuring Clinton DNA. An example headline screamed: “Stormy Daniels has a ‘Monica Lewinsky dress’ to test for Trump’s DNA, report says” (here, from Feb. 15).
Then, like thirsty magic, a press release appeared in YNOT’s media mailbox on Friday, Feb. 16 – “Erotic Heritage Museum Makes Offer to Obtain Stormy Daniels’ ‘Trump Dress,’” followed by “Las Vegas’ Premiere Museum Dedicated to History of Sexuality Commits to Paying $100k for DNA-Proven Dress from Porn Star’s Alleged Affair with Donald Trump.” This was followed up on Monday, Feb. 20 with an email message announcing a radio show appearance to “talk about the fact that the Erotic Heritage Museum has made a bid for the Stormy Daniels Trump dress.”
“I hope you can tune in,” the message read. “[Redacated] is always a good time and he does usually give me a couple of minutes to do my thang.”
Expecting members of our community to hold ourselves to higher standards regarding clickbait, seeking media coverage, stunt PR plays and the like is a complex issue – especially when so much mainstream media coverage comes from exactly this approach (see media histories of both Vivid Entertainment and sex tape offers, as well as xHamster’s stunt-motivated bids for event coverage for examples); however, decrying the mainstream media for exploiting porn, then turning around and attempting to exploit porn ourselves is equally complex.
Image via kevin Dowey.
