“What type of pasta are you?” “10 telltale signs you stress out too much, #4 will surprise you.” “You need this video of a cat playing with its tail!” Why is it that we’re so easily drawn to these things in comparison to things that are more thought provoking? I’m not saying clickbait things are the bane of all existence, it just feels like people only gravitate toward articles/listicles/quizzes/links like that instead of taking some time and thinking about what either their peers or just other human beings in general have to say about something important to them and most likely other people as well.
A good friend of mine once told me that “writing is the most formal and concise expression of thought.” While I’m sure only a fraction of the people I’ve come in contact with while being a content creator for the Lycoming College Odyssey team are studied writers, that doesn’t change their mentality of producing the best work they can in their articles. Our goal is to share our thoughts, feelings, and experiences to connect with our community and leave room for a healthy and insightful dialogue with that connection. But how are we supposed to connect if we’re only looking at things like BuzzFeed posts and quizzes all the time? Just take time and expand your palette to see what your friends and peers have to say.
This being said, I’m not against giving in to the simple temptations of just taking a random quiz to figure out what eating utensil you are or reading about the common struggles of people from a certain place or people that all go to the same school. They can be quite enjoyable and a good way to destress after a long day. I just try to balance those kinds of posts with posts where I read people’s opinions about either current issues or their experiences and see how I can relate or what my own thoughts in regards to that are.
Now that I’ve defended clickbait articles, let’s talk about what makes them so appealing. Honestly, I’m not 100% sure, but it probably is a weird mixture of a desire to enjoy some simplicity and avoid the terrors of the real world as well as just a facet of our curious nature as humans. Whether this is the case or not, there is definitely something that makes click-bait so appealing.
As a fellow human being, I encourage you to figure out what kind of pasta you are, but I also encourage you to read someone’s thoughts on the current political climate, or read an open letter to a family member that may have been extremely supportive, or not very supportive in a trying time. Expand your thoughts and emotions and also enjoy cat videos because cats are amazing, fluffy demons. Take what you’ve learned here and see what other thoughts and feelings you can expose yourself to and see how it affects your understanding of not only your friends, but the entire global community.
