14 Secrets That Will Make Your Headline Go Viral

What line of text has the power to either launch you into fame or bury you in anonymity?

A headline.

When written well, a headline makes someone stop what she’s doing and pay attention. Later, it becomes shorthand for your thesis — Freakonomics, The Tipping Point, Too Big to Fail.

On the other hand, if you treat your headline as an afterthought, or don’t make it catchy enough, you deprive yourself of an audience. Put simply, a headline can make or break your work.

In this workshop, we’ll study the case studies and tricks by which the smartest marketers whet their reader’s appetite without deceiving them through clickbait. Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

• How to identify the most compelling angle of your work.
• How to create an itch.
• How to make your headline convey interaction.
• How to get specific.
• How to write a “listicle.”
• How to A/B test your work.

Transcript

1. REVEALED HOW TO WRITE A HEADLINE THAT PEOPLE CAN’T IGNORE
2. WHAT YOU’VE BEEN TAUGHT Aberrational Behavior and the Causal Effect of Incentives WHAT WORKS Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything Ø Sold 4 million copies Ø Led to a movie, a pod- cast, a blog, a column in the New York Times, a follow-up book, and a consulting group
3. First Coast News Deputies: Jacksonville Woman Shot by 4-Year-Old Son “Stable” The Florida Times-Union Woman Tells Putnam County Deputy That Son, 4, Shot Her in Back While She Was Driving The Mail Online Pro-Gun Poster Girl Is Shot in the Back by Her 4-Year-Old Son While Driving in Florida
4. “Just because the Mail Online represents some of the least savory aspects of digital journalism doesn’t mean the rest of us can’t learn from what it does well. Finding the most compelling angle for a story, and presenting it in a way that will encourage audiences to read and share it, should be a part of every writer’s skill set by now.” —Will Oremus
5. “Just because the Mail Online represents some of the least savory aspects of digital journalism doesn’t mean the rest of us can’t learn from what it does well. Finding the most compelling angle for a story, and presenting it in a way that will encourage audiences to read and share it, should be a part of every writer’s skill set by now.” —Will Oremus
6. Here’s What a Headline Does
7. 8/10 That’s how many people will read your headline.
8. 2/10 That’s how many people will read your text.
9. 400% That’s how many more readers you can gain if you write a headline that’s irresistible.
10. There’s Just One Problem
12. “I’m our highest-performing curator. I get 20-30% of our traffic every month. And every time I predict something will go viral, I’m usually horribly wrong. The reality is, Your audience’s behavior is unpredictable, so to get optimal performance, you always have to test.” —Adam Mordecai
13. 25 That’s how many headlines Upworthy requires its writers to submit for each piece of content.
14. 1. Hey White Guys! I Got Your Back 2. Do You Know How Hard It Is Being a White Guy? 3. Being a White Guy Is Harder Than You Think 4. You Don’t Know What It’s Like Being a White Guy 5. White Guys Don’t Have All the Luck 6. If You Knew What It Was Like for White Guys, You’d Keep Complaining 7. Seriously, Who Is Watching Out for the White Guys 8. This White Guy Thing Is Pretty Rough 9. You Don’t Know What It’s Like Being a White Guy 10. Imagine You Were a White Guy. You Know How Hard That Is? 11. Why Are White Guys Always Being Picked On? 12. Seriously, White Guys Can’t Catch a Break 13. White Guys Have So Many Problems, if Only You’d See That 14. An Open Message on Behalf of All White Guys Everywhere 15. This Is What a White Guy Has to Deal With 16. Put Yourself in a White Guy’s Shoes. Comfy, Right? 17.The Life of White Guys Is Way Harder Than You Realize 18. This Is Why You Should Feel Sorry for White Dudes 19. An Open Letter From White Dudes to America 20. A Public Service Announcement on Behalf of All White Dudes 21. White Dudes Have It Really Hard 22. Being a White Dude Is Harder Than Being Not a Woman or Not a Person of Color 23. Do You Know How Hard It Is Being a Woman? Try Being a White Dude 24. It’s Pretty Hard Out There for a Dude 25. Your Life Is Hard? Try Being (1) A Dude and (2) White
15. 1. Hey White Guys! I Got Your Back 2. Do You Know How Hard It Is Being a White Guy? 3. Being a White Guy Is Harder Than You Think 4. You Don’t Know What It’s Like Being a White Guy 5. White Guys Don’t Have All the Luck 6. If You Knew What It Was Like for White Guys, You’d Keep Complaining 7. Seriously, Who Is Watching Out for the White Guys 8. This White Guy Thing Is Pretty Rough 9. You Don’t Know What It’s Like Being a White Guy 10. Imagine You Were a White Guy. You Know How Hard That Is? 11. Why Are White Guys Always Being Picked On? 12. Seriously, White Guys Can’t Catch a Break 13. White Guys Have So Many Problems, if Only You’d See That 14. An Open Message on Behalf of All White Guys Everywhere 15. This Is What a White Guy Has to Deal With 16. Put Yourself in a White Guy’s Shoes. Comfy, Right? 17.The Life of White Guys Is Way Harder Than You Realize 18. This Is Why You Should Feel Sorry for White Dudes 19. An Open Letter From White Dudes to America 20. A Public Service Announcement on Behalf of All White Dudes 21. White Dudes Have It Really Hard 22. Being a White Dude Is Harder Than Being Not a Woman or Not a Person of Color 23. Do You Know How Hard It Is Being a Woman? Try Being a White Dude 24. It’s Pretty Hard Out There for a Dude 25. Your Life Is Hard? Try Being (1) A Dude and (2) White
17. Headline Clicks Views Rate 9 Secrets That Will Make Your Headline Go Viral 5 10,101 0.05 The Surefire Way to Make Anything Go Viral 7 9,456 0.07 The Closest Thing We Writers Have to a Silver Bullet 36 24,985 0.14 The Single Most Important Thing You Can Do to Make Your Content Go Viral 97 31,237 0.31 REVEALED: Every Trick in the Book to Write an Irresistible Headline 51 15,984 0.32 How to Write the Perfect Headline Every Time 114 21,361 0.53
18. Headline Clicks Views Rate 9 Secrets That Will Make Your Headline Go Viral 5 10,101 0.05 The Surefire Way to Make Anything Go Viral 7 9,456 0.07 The Closest Thing We Writers Have to a Silver Bullet 36 24,985 0.14 The Single Most Important Thing You Can Do to Make Your Content Go Viral 97 31,237 0.31 REVEALED: Every Trick in the Book to Write an Irresistible Headline 51 15,984 0.32 How to Write the Perfect Headline Every Time 114 21,361 0.53
19. Paid
20. Free
21. Think 25 Is a Lot?
22. 500 That’s how many headlines the Washington Post brainstormed before deciding on a winner.
25. 1,000 That’s how many times Thomas Edison failed en route to inventing the light bulb.
26. “I have not failed 1,000 times. I have not failed once. I have succeeded in proving that those 1,000 ways will not work.” —Thomas Edison
27. Here’s Here’s How to Think of Your Headline
28. “Editors who used to assume they’d have the reader’s attention on, at least, the front page of their website now realize that the average reader sees a story in the hectic flow of a social feed on a phone, jammed up against memes, recipes, photos, and articles from the competition — over which you have no control.” —Ben Smith
29. “Think of your headline as an emissary for your article, written to travel around the internet, selling your material to potential readers.” —Matt Thompson
34. Overview Upworthy tests this many headlines per article. Recap 1/3
35. Overview Name one way to test your headlines, free or paid. 2/3 Recap
36. Overview Why didn’t Thomas Edison consider his 1,000 tests to be failures? 3/3 Recap
37. 6 Case Studies BIG PICTURE / CASE STUDIES / SCIENCE / ART
38. When you got it, flaunt it.
39. Serve up your scoop.
40. Pull out your juiciest nugget.
41. When you got it, flaunt it.
43. FREEENTERPRISE.COM V1 Entitlements: Face the Truth, or Face the Consequences FREEENTERPRISE.COM V2 10 Entitlement Truths That Will Blow Your Mind 26,627 views 895 views 1
45. IOWA HOUSE DEMOCRATS Zach Wahls Speaks About Family MOVEON.ORG 2 Lesbians Raised a Baby, and This Is What They Got 17.4 million views 2.8 million views 2
46. “Our headline doesn’t try to summarize the video. Instead, it provokes curiosity and creates a sense of suspense.” — Caitlin Petre 2
47. Serve up your scoop.
48. © North Charleston 3
49. DEALBROOK Realities Behind Prosecuting Big Banks HUFFPOST Eric Holder Admits Some Banks Are Just Too Big to Prosecute Ø Mark Gongloff Ø 509 words Ø 4,591 comments Ø 2,300 likes Ø Andrew Ross Sorkin Ø 970 words Ø 82 comments 3
50. FORBES How Target Figured Out a Teen Girl Was Pregnant Before Her Father Did Ø Kashmir Hill Ø 1,200 words Ø 13,000 likes Ø Charles Duhigg Ø 6,800 words Ø 60 likes 4 THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE How Companies Learn Your Secrets How Forbes Stole a New York Times Article and Got All the Traffic
51. “I was stunned. It was an amazing anecdote that crystallized so much anxiety we feel about corporate data collection, how much ‘they’ know about us, and how they’ll use it. I couldn’t believe it was buried nearly 5,000 words into the story rather than being the lede or broken out on its own.” — Kashmir Hill 4
52. Pull out your juiciest nugget.
53. GOOD V2 The Club Drug That Causes Some Strange Side Effects, Like Becoming a Really Nice Person Ø 127,000 views Ø 16,000 views 5 GOOD V1 How M.D.M.A. Affects Empathy
54. GAWKER “Generational Consultant” Holds America’s Fakest Job Ø Hamilton Nolan Ø 436 words Ø 1 hour to write Ø Ian Shapira Ø 1,568 words Ø 2.5 hours to drive to the event, 1 hour to conduct the interview, 4 hours to transcribe the interview, 1 day to write the article 6 THE WASHINGTON POST Business Coach Anne Loehr Tries to Bridge Diverse Generations: X, Y, Baby Boomer
55. “Nearly every day a Washington Post staffer not only sends us links to its expensive reporting, but even pulls out the most interesting quotes so as to make it easier to pirate.” — Gabriel Snyder 6
56. Case Studies When you got it, ______ it. 1/3 Recap
57. Case Studies Don’t serve up your summary. Serve up your _____. 2/3 Recap
58. Case Studies Pull out your juiciest ______. 3/3 Recap
59. The Science of Headline Writing BIG PICTURE / CASE STUDIES / SCIENCE / ART
60. Use a listicle.
61. Get specific.
62. Steal from the smartest.
63. Pick a case.
64. Use a listicle.
65. AS A LISTICLE 7 Telecommunications Best Practices for the 21st-Century Enterprise EVERYDAY HEADLINE Telecommunications Best Practices for the 21st-Century Enterprise
67. “The geek equivalent of a Cosmo cover.” —Anil Dash
68. “Contemporary media culture prioritizes the smart take, the sound bite, the takeaway — and the list is the takeaway in its most convenient form. You are sucked in by the promise of a neatly quantified serving of information or diversion. There will be precisely 10 (or 14, or 33) items in this text, and they will pertain to precisely this stated topic. You know exactly what you’re going to get with a listicle.” —Mark O’Connell Long Answer
69. “Promise me 11 things; I’ll read at least three of them.” —Choire Sicha Short Answer
70. THE SYNOPSIS 5 Takeaways From 10 Years of Trump Tax Figures THE FULL ARTICLE Decade in the Red: Trump Tax Figures Show Over $1 Billion in Business Losses 1,500 words 4,000 words
71. DIGITS The Debt Ceiling Explained in 3 Videos and 1 Chart WORDS The Debt Ceiling Explained in Three Videos and One Chart 1
72. SPOTLIGHT THE NUMBER 5 Myths About Brand Licensing That Every C.M.O. Should Know How to Debunk BURY THE NUMBER Every C.M.O. Should Know How to Debunk These 5 Myths About Brand Licensing 2
75. Headline Source 7 Important Tax Facts About Medical and Dental Expenses 7 Ways to Make the Most of an AHIP Conference 5 Lessons in Digital Transformation From a Smart City 12 Ways of Looking at Frank Lloyd Wright The 6 Things You Never Thought to Tell House Guests The 5 Best Ways to Spot — and Thwart — Credit-Card Fraud
76. Get specific.
77. SPECIFIC Excel for Dummies GENERAL How to Use Excel 1
78. SPECIFIC How to Become a Master Networker Without Really Trying GENERAL Why You Should Network More 2
79. SPECIFIC The 5-Minute Guide to Organizing Your Day for More Focus and Productivity GENERAL How to Get Better at Organizing Your Day 3
80. Steal from the smartest.
81. How to Win Friends and Influence People How to Win Friends and Influence Bloggers How to Win Clients and Influence Prospects Dale Carnegie
82. Do You Make These Mistakes in English? Do You Make These Mistakes on a First Date? Do You Make These Mistakes When Buying a Car? Sherwin Cody
83. How I Improved My Memory in One Evening How I Gained 500 Followers Overnight How I Doubled My Income in 24 Hours Victor Jones
84. What Everybody Ought to Know About This Stock and Bond Business What Everybody Should Know About the New iPhone What Everyone Needs to Know About Campaign-Finance Reform Louis Engel
85. Pick a case.
86. Title Case Capitalize All Words Except Articles, Conjunctions, and Prepositions of Three or Fewer Letters. And Always Capitalize the First and Last Words Sentence Case Capitalize only the first word, like a sentence. Capitalize Each Word Capitalize Every Word, Even The Articles And Conjunctions
87. The Science “Listicle” is a portmanteau of which two words? 1/4 Recap
88. The Science Should you put your numbers at the beginning, middle, or end of your headline? 2/4 Recap
89. The Science Should you write numbers using words or digits? 3/4 Recap
90. The Science Which case do you prefer? 4/4 Recap
91. The Art of Headline Writing BIG PICTURE / CASE STUDIES / SCIENCE / ART
92. Use words that are evocative.
93. Create an itch.
94. Use words that are evocative.
95. “People don’t read the headline two or three times, considering the content and deciding whether it’s relevant to them. They scan it, subconsciously glossing over the words and making a gut-level reaction. So, if you want your content to be read, you have to punch people in the gut. You don’t have time to educate them, get them to think, or even help them create a new connection. All you have time to do is trigger an anchor that’s already in place.” —Jonathan Morrow
96. EVOCATIVE WORDS 11 Quick Steps to Become a Brilliant Writer WEAK WORDS How to Become a Better Writer 1
97. EVOCATIVE WORDS 5 Grammatical Errors That Make You Look Dumb WEAK WORDS 5 Grammatical Tips Everyone Needs to Learn 2
98. “Evocative headlines aren’t afraid to tell you how you’re going to feel about clicking them. The sentiments they inspire are part of the sales job in a way that wasn’t the case in traditional media.” —Joshua Benton
99. EVOCATIVE WORDS 6 Crippling Beliefs That Keep Writers Mired in Mediocrity WEAK WORDS 6 Beliefs That Make It Harder to Write 3
100. Create an itch.
101. “Did the local sports team win tonight’s big match against their rivals? We’ll tell you, next.” “A well-known politician got into a screaming match with reporters today. The video, after this break.”
102. Now This Is Why I Voted for Barack Obama What’s this mean? I must know! Click… Click… Click… Obama Blasts His Own Evasive Stance on Gay Marriage Great job, but now I know what it is and don’t need to click. Obama Says Same-Sex Marriage Should Be Legal Boooring. Already done.
103. A Boy Makes Anti-Muslim Comments in Front of an American Soldier. The Soldier’s Reply: Priceless See Why We Have an Absolutely Ridiculous Standard of Beauty in Just 37 Seconds Dustin Hoffman Breaks Down Crying Explaining Something That Every Woman Sadly Has Experienced 9 Out of 10 Americans Are Completely Wrong About This Mind-Blowing Fact This Amazing Kid Died. What He Left Behind Is Wondtacular Upworthy Superlative Unapologetic Sentimental Cliff-hangery
104. A Boy Makes Anti-Muslim Comments in Front of an American Soldier. The Soldier’s Reply: Priceless See Why We Have an Absolutely Ridiculous Standard of Beauty in Just 37 Seconds Dustin Hoffman Breaks Down Crying Explaining Something That Every Woman Sadly Has Experienced 9 Out of 10 Americans Are Completely Wrong About This Mind-Blowing Fact This Amazing Kid Died. What He Left Behind Is Wondtacular Upworthy
106. Be both imperative and inviting.
107. “Headlines now are a strange cross between imperative and inviting. The tone is soothing, seductive, and at least a little bit demanding — like every character ever played by Linda Fiorentino.” —Choire Sicha
108. Im perative ABC
109. ABC Amusing Im perative
110. ABC Bold Im perative
111. ABC Contrarian Im perative
112. ABC Amusing Im perative
113. Why Infographics Are Terrible, in One Terrible Infographic Demand Media’s Bold New Strategy for eHow: Suck Less What Shamu Taught Me About a Happy Marriage Headless Body in Topless Bar Try Not to Smile When Looking at These Tattoo Fails Am using
114. Why Infographics Are Terrible, in One Terrible Infographic Demand Media’s Bold New Strategy for eHow: Suck Less What Shamu Taught Me About a Happy Marriage Try Not to Smile When Looking at These Tattoo Fails Headless Body in Topless Bar Am using
115. Am using
116. Headline Source Schmooze or Lose: Social Friction and Lubrication in Email Negotiations The Microbiota, the Gut, and the Brain in Eating and Alcohol-Use Disorders: A “Ménage à Trois”? Mania and Depression. Mixed, Not Stirred How Cats Lap: Water Uptake by Felis Catus
117. ABC Bold Im perative
118. You’re Doing It Wrong: Poached Eggs This Awesome Ad, Set to the Beastie Boys, Is How to Get Girls to Become Engineers Why the FBI Director Is Wrong About Encryption All the Problems at Bloomberg Come Down to One Stat Bill Gates Makes Over $1 Million Every Day Doing Almost Nothing Bold
119. ABC Contrarian Im perative
120. Congress Deserves a Big Fat Raise A Negative COVID Test Has Never Been So Meaningless Why You Should Hire Job Hoppers Don’t Say Goodbye When You Leave a Party. Just Ghost Why Tom Brady Is the Most Overrated Quarterback in N.F.L. History Contrarian
121. I E P Inviting
122. E P Personal I Inviting
123. E PI Immediate Personal Inviting
124. E PI Immediate Personal Immediate Personal Exaggerated Inviting
125. E P Personal I Inviting
126. Don’t Ask Hillary Clinton About Abortion if You Can’t Handle Her Answer Everything You Need to Know About iOS 8 19 People Who Are Having a Way Worse Day Than You What Recruiters Look at During the 6 Seconds They Spend on Your Résumé 9 Questions About Syria You Were Too Embarrassed to Ask Personal YOU
127. Don’t Ask Hillary Clinton About Abortion if You Can’t Handle Her Answer Everything You Need to Know About iOS 8 19 People Who Are Having a Way Worse Day Than You What Recruiters Look at During the 6 Seconds They Spend on Your Résumé 9 Questions About Syria You Were Too Embarrassed to Ask Personal
128. Personal
129. E PI Immediate Inviting
130. Here Is What Happens When You Cast Lindsay Lohan in Your Movie 10 Things You Need to Know Before the Opening Bell The 15 Best Countries for You to Move to Right Now The U.K. Has Officially Begun the Brexit Process. Here’s What Happens Next This Is What China’s Renewed War on Covid Looks Like Im m ediate
131. E PI Exaggerated Inviting
132. The Impossible Choice That Had Elon Musk on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown The Most Sensational Murder Trial You’ve Never Heard of Started 100 Years Ago A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius The Pope Just Published One of the Most Powerful Critiques of Modern Capitalism That You Will Ever Read This Is the Greatest Hoodie Ever Made Exaggerated
133. The Impossible Choice That Had Elon Musk on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown The Most Sensational Murder Trial You’ve Never Heard of Started 100 Years Ago A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius The Pope Just Published One of the Most Powerful Critiques of Modern Capitalism That You Will Ever Read This Is the Greatest Hoodie Ever Made Exaggerated
134. Exaggerated
135. Exaggerated
136. The Art Use words that are _________. 1/5 Recap
137. The Art Create an ____. 2/5 Recap
138. The Art Make your headline i__________ and i_______. 3/5 Recap
139. The Art To make your headline imperative, use the A.B.C. techniques. 4/5 Recap
140. The Art To make your headline inviting, use the PIE techniques. 5/5 Recap
141. And Don’t Forget About Search- Engine Optimization
143. H1 Tag For People Title Tag Hillary Clinton’s Fraught Relationship With the Press
144. HEADLINE FOR PEOPLE All the Problems at Bloomberg Come Down to One Statistic HEADLINE FOR GOOGLE Slowing Terminal Sales at Bloomberg
145. HEADLINE FOR PEOPLE When Is a Flop Not a Flop? HEADLINE FOR GOOGLE The Fate of the Republicans Who Supported Gay Marriage
147. HEADLINE FOR THE INSIDER Francis Collins on His Vision of the Future of Medical Science HEADLINE FOR THE OUTSIDER NIH Director on His Vision of the Future of Medical Science
148. HEADLINE FOR THE INSIDER Good Housekeeping Gives Michelle Obama a Photoshop Facelift HEADLINE FOR THE OUTSIDER Michelle Obama Gets a Photoshop Facelift
149. HEADLINE FOR THE INSIDER Bob Bowman Shares 9 Secrets to Coaching World- Class Athletes HEADLINE FOR THE OUTSIDER Michael Phelps’s Longtime Coach Shares 9 Secrets to Train World- Class Athletes
150. HEADLINE FOR THE INSIDER Unilever May Acquire the Honest Company HEADLINE FOR THE OUTSIDER The Company That Bought Dollar Shave Club Is Now in Talks to Buy Jessica Alba’s Baby-Care Start-Up
151. HEADLINE FOR THE INSIDER Meet Dawn Ostroff, Spotify’s Chief Content Officer HEADLINE FOR THE OUTSIDER Meet the Woman Who Got Joe Rogan and Michelle Obama to Spotify
152. Or Social-Media Optimization
153. HEADLINE FOR PEOPLE The Most Honest and Heartbreaking Reason to Leave Your Front Door Unlocked I’ve Ever Heard HEADLINE FOR FACEBOOK A Spoken-Word Poet Speaks About His Crippling OCD and How His Girlfriend Dumped Him
154. HEADLINE FOR PEOPLE 48 Reporters Asked This Guy the Same Dumb Question About Women. His Response? Absolutely Perfect HEADLINE FOR FACEBOOK Joss Whedon Complains About How Women Are Treated in the Media
155. HEADLINE FOR PEOPLE A Bunch of Young Geniuses Just Made a Corrupt Corporation Freak Out Big Time. Time for Round Two HEADLINE FOR GOOGLE Youth Advocacy Organization Cam- paigns to Prevent Xcel Energy From Undoing Municipalization of the Boulder Power Grid
156. Headline for Google Pornhub Insights: How a Porn Site Milks Its Own Traffic Data for Publicity Headline for People How Pornhub Milks Its Own Traffic Data Headline for Facebook Sex site Pornhub has figured out a brilliant way to get free publicity.
157. A Caveat
158. FACEBOOK 7 Ways to Make Your Kitchen As Stunning As Gwyneth Paltrow’s PINTEREST 7 DIY Tricks to Redecorate Your Kitchen on a Budget
159. Ask Yourself These 2 Questions Always
160. Should you write your headline first or last? Question #1
161. “Until you can come up with a headline, chances are you are going to end up like me, with all the hard work behind you and this small sign before you, demonstrating as clear as a Bahamian bay that the greater purpose was never framed and fixed.” —Mike Long
162. Would I share this article if I saw only its headline? Question #2
163. How About a Little Comic Relief?
165. NEWS Italian Explorer, Christopher Colum- bus, Discovers New World THE NEW YORK POST COLUM-BUST: Explorer Fails to Find New Passage to Asia
166. NEWS Italian Explorer, Christopher Colum- bus, Discovers New World SLATE Columbus Just Found an Entirely New Continent. Here’s Why We Shouldn’t Colonize It
167. NEWS Italian Explorer, Christopher Colum- bus, Discovers New World BUZZFEED 27 Sea Dragons That Are Sad They Didn’t Eat Christopher Columbus
168. NEWS Italian Explorer, Christopher Colum- bus, Discovers New World THE DRUDGE REPORT Teenage Natives Go on Rampage During Columbus Visit
169. Books
170. ORIGINAL Ulysses LISTICLE 13 Things to Do in Dublin While Your Wife Is Cheating on You
171. ORIGINAL The Sun Also Rises LISTICLE 7 Signs You’re Definitely in the Friend Zone
172. ORIGINAL Romeo and Juliet LISTICLE 8 Ways Your Family Keeps You From Seeing Your Crush
173. ORIGINAL Green Eggs and Ham LISTICLE 10 Reasons Picky Eaters Are the Worst
174. ORIGINAL Hamlet LISTICLE 2 Reasons Your Uncle Is the Worst
176. ORIGINAL Charlie and the Chocolate Factory REVISION Crazy Guy Runs an Insane Chocolate Plant. You Won’t Believe What Happens to the Kids When They Eat the Candy!
177. ORIGINAL The Curious Case of Benjamin Button REVISION This Man Looks Younger Every Day. Doctors Hate Him
178. ORIGINAL E.T. the Extra- Terrestrial REVISION This Little Homesick Extra-Terrestrial Will Restore Your Faith in Humanity
179. ORIGINAL Forrest Gump REVISION This Mentally Challenged Man Will Break Your Heart in 10 Minutes!
180. ORIGINAL Weekend at Bernie’s REVISION 2 Guys Partied With a Corpse for 2 Days Until Someone Noticed
181. ORIGINAL Seven REVISION You Won’t Believe What’s in the Box
182. ORIGINAL Star Wars REVISION Did Luke Really Kiss His Sister? The Inside Story
183. ORIGINAL Inception REVISION Are You Dreaming Right Now? Here’s an Amazing Trick to Make Sure Your Thoughts Aren’t Being Stolen
184. ORIGINAL 50 Shades of Gray REVISION Is Your Man Creepy, Rapey or Sexy? 50 Ways to Tell
185. ORIGINAL Batman REVISION This Kid’s Parents Are Killed. You Won’t Believe What He Does Next
187. 1916 “Physicist Dad” Turns His Attention to Gravity, and You Won’t Believe What He Finds In 1916, Albert Einstein, a father of two, published his theory of general relativity.
188. 1928 This 1 Weird Mold Kills All Germs In 1928, Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin.
189. 1948 5 Insane Plans for Feeding West Berlin You Won’t Believe Are Real In 1948, the Soviet Union established the Berlin Blockade, which prevented food and other critical supplies from reaching occupied Berlin. In response, Western forces organized the Berlin Airlift.
190. 1969 This Is the Most Important Photo of an Astronaut You’ll See All Day In 1969, Apollo 11 perform- ed the first manned lunar landing.
191. Let’s Talk About Those Counter- arguments
192. “Millions of readers are lured by sensational headlines, only to be disappointed to find a superficial dispatch with no new information, dashed off by a harried journalist tasked with producing three stories a day.” —Steven Levy Lipstick on a Pig
193. “Upworthy posts don’t go viral because people click — Upworthy posts go viral because people share. ‘Clickbait’ is a totally viable way to get a bunch of initial views. But it doesn’t create viral content. By far the most important factor in getting people to share a post is the actual quality of the content. To share, they have to love what they see.” —Upworthy Insider Rebuttal
194. “There is hyperbole and the occasional withholding comment, and then there is the pulling at your bleeding heartstrings with the subtlety of a monster truck.” —Lexi Nisita Cheap Thrill
195. “What special virtue is there in letting great videos, articles, and images fall into the internet’s abyss simply because nobody thought of the right combination of words to unlock their audience?” —Eli Pariser Rebuttal
196. “Today’s headlines may appear gimmicky, and no doubt some still are. But when a gimmick endures after the novelty wears off — when it proves resilient to the backlash and to changing tastes and algorithms and market conditions — eventually it’s no longer a gimmick.” —Will Oremus Rebuttal
197. Clickbait is such a scourge that Facebook has changed its newsfeed algorithm half a dozen times to reduce the prominence of these deceptive headlines. Everyone Hates Them
198. “When readers find themselves hating a headline picked by a testing audience and shared by 10 million people, whose tastes are we really objecting to — Upworthy’s or ours?” —Eli Pariser Rebuttal
199. “The problem is that clickbait headlines tend to get lots of clicks. So should Facebook alter its behavior based on what people do, or based on what they say they want?” —Mathew Ingram Rebuttal #3
200. Your Turn!
201. JonathanRickPresentations.com