Clickbait is defined as a headline, text or thumbnail image designed to attract attention and entice users to follow that specific link to read, view, or listen to a piece of online content. It is often (thought not always) deceptive, sensationalized or misleading in nature. The origin of the word 'clickbait' itself can be traced back to a 2006 blogpost by a man named Jay Geiger. Alluring examples are rife on the modern day internet but are they psychologically effective? There is, of course, only one way to find out.

Will a short clip of a thin, pretty blond girl awkwardly dancing to a catchy pop tune in front of a generic background garner more views than other more intelligent fare — even if the actual word 'clickbait' is included in the title? Will such content nudge an unengaged audience to watch? Does including the names of celebrities such as Taylor Swift, Kanye West or a stray Kardashian in the description sway an unflinching algorithm? Will gamers linger if Minecraft, Elden Ring or Roblox are tagged and used as keywords? What about the use of trendy (trending) words like cringe or cancel culture? How does one test the parameters of a platform?

Or maybe none of this actually matters. Perhaps the content from a small channel is simply buried as quickly as it is uploaded. Banished to the far reaches of some server to gather cyber dust for all eternity. Could it be that there is just too much banal content clogging the internet now and not enough bored eyeballs to consume it? Will anyone ever read this text? Never. It is like screaming into the void. But maybe this #shorts experiment will provide some unequivocal answers. #clickbait