This, That, and the Other

While Dr. Tanya, who hosts Blogging Insights, is on a hiatus, Sadje thought that she could host discussions about our experiences and expectations regarding blogging on Blogging Platform.

Today’s topic is about clickbait. Sadje says…

“Clickbait” is a heading or title of the post, that implies something which entices the reader to click on it to read. The title or heading is often misleading but ensures that the reader’s attention is engaged and they want to read the article/post!

Okay, there’s a lot to unpack here. Sadje wrote, “When I was writing in response to any challenge or prompt, I’d use the name of that challenge as the title for my post. A very good friend and blogger, Mason, pointed out to me that this gave the erroneous impression that I was reblogging the prompt post. It also resulted in all my responses to that weekly challenge having similar titles. He advised me to title my post in a manner that invited curiosity on the behalf of the reader.”

I disagree with Mason. I always put the name of the challenge, as I did today for my response to this prompt from Sadje and as I do for all of her other prompts. I want people to know that my post is in response to another blogger’s prompt. The only time I don’t do that is when I’m responding to multiple one-word prompts in a single post. But hey, whatever floats your boat.

Sadje also asks…

While choosing the title of your post, do you try to make it interesting enough that the reader wants to read the post?

The title of most posts I write is the last thing I come up with just before publishing. Why? Well sometimes, especially when I’m writing flash fiction, the post I’m writing can take some unusual twists and turns from where I thought it would be heading. So when I finish drafting what I think will be my final draft, I will reread the post and determine the best title. I do try to make the title interesting enough to entice the reader, but I don’t create a misleading title just to get clicks.

Well, that’s not 100% true. I did title a post back in 2018 “My First Vagina.” It was about my experience when I was about seven years old and a girl offered to show me her vagina. I thought the title I chose was, in fact, descriptive of the content of my post, but I also thought the title might result in some curiosity clicks.

But other than that….