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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Spotlight Advanced. I'm Megan Nolette.

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<v Speaker 2>And I'm Colin Lowva. Spotlight uses a special English method

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<v Speaker 2>of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand no

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<v Speaker 2>matter where in the world they live. Doctors hate him

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<v Speaker 2>because of this one strange trick.

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<v Speaker 1>Look beautiful in these five simple steps.

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<v Speaker 2>Seven common pet owner mistakes that could turn deadly.

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<v Speaker 1>More than likely. These sentences seem familiar. Stories with names

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<v Speaker 1>like these are all over the Internet. These stories promise

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<v Speaker 1>a lot. They suggest clicking on them will solve everything,

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<v Speaker 1>But often the websites on the other end are unhelpful.

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<v Speaker 1>They have nothing to do with what they promised. They

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<v Speaker 1>may lead to dangerous websites. They are clickbait.

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<v Speaker 2>As troubling as these misleading stories can be, they do

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<v Speaker 2>exist for a reason. Some clickbait exists to gain money.

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<v Speaker 2>Some clickbait brings people to new sites. These stories take

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<v Speaker 2>advantage of what experts call the curiosity gap to attract

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<v Speaker 2>people's attention. The simple formula these stories use is designed

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<v Speaker 2>to make people read or watch. But where did clickbait

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<v Speaker 2>come from? And what happens when everything becomes clickbait? Today's

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<v Speaker 2>Spotlight hopes to answer some of these questions.

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<v Speaker 1>Clickbait has been around since the early years of the Internet,

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<v Speaker 1>but the ideas behind clickbait have been around for much longer.

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<v Speaker 1>It is similar to yellow or tabloid journalism. This kind

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<v Speaker 1>of reporting started in the eighteen hundreds. Newspaper sellers understood

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<v Speaker 1>that they could sell more papers if their stories were striking.

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<v Speaker 1>Writers began to make up surprising stories, or they would

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<v Speaker 1>report on things in the most extreme way possible. Truth

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<v Speaker 1>did not matter if the story sold.

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<v Speaker 2>Clickbait operates in a similar way, but the way people

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<v Speaker 2>make money on the Internet is different than selling newspapers.

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<v Speaker 2>Most websites make money through advertisements. These images or videos

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<v Speaker 2>try to sell products to visitors. The more people see

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<v Speaker 2>advertisements on their page, the more money websites get. Some

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<v Speaker 2>advertisers pay by the amount of time people spend on

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<v Speaker 2>a web page, but most advertisers pay each time someone

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<v Speaker 2>visits the page.

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<v Speaker 1>This business model has many advantages for Internet content creators.

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<v Speaker 1>One person can make a lot of money if something

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<v Speaker 1>they make is popular. Videos that are said to go

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<v Speaker 1>viral get clicked on millions of times. Each of these

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<v Speaker 1>clicks means more money for its creator's work. Often part

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<v Speaker 1>of this work is making themselves stand out. Damian Radcliffe

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<v Speaker 1>is a journalism teacher at the University of Oregon. He

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<v Speaker 1>told the British Broadcasting Corporation or BBC, some people see

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<v Speaker 1>this as a somewhat dirty business model.

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<v Speaker 3>I did not share their opinion.

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<v Speaker 1>It is just a digital reality.

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<v Speaker 2>Sadly, most experts agree that this kind of business does

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<v Speaker 2>not encourage truth telling. It is often easier for creators

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<v Speaker 2>on social media to post without worrying about the facts.

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<v Speaker 2>Sometimes creators post information that is incorrect. The information is

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<v Speaker 2>usually shocking because it has little basis in reality. Readers

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<v Speaker 2>may even know this, but they will click because the

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<v Speaker 2>information looks interesting. Carlos Diaz Ruis is a teacher at

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<v Speaker 2>Hankin University in Finland. He told The Conversation.

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<v Speaker 3>There is a financial reason for websites to create more

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<v Speaker 3>online use. Any content, true or not, that receives views, likes,

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<v Speaker 3>and comments is highly valued.

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<v Speaker 1>One of the most dangerous results of misinformation is in

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<v Speaker 1>the political area. Sometimes this kind of clickbait comes from

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<v Speaker 1>political actors, but just as often it comes from people

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<v Speaker 1>hoping to make a profit. This bad information has real

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<v Speaker 1>world effects. It may change the way that people see

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<v Speaker 1>the world it may frighten It may even cause people

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<v Speaker 1>to believe in things that simply are not true.

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<v Speaker 2>One example of political misinformation comes from Southeast Asia. In

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<v Speaker 2>twenty twenty two, violent clashes between China and the Philippines

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<v Speaker 2>broke out in the South China Sea. Soon after, misinformation

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<v Speaker 2>about the conflict appeared on social media sites. Many posts

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<v Speaker 2>made the fighting seem worse than it was. In one post,

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<v Speaker 2>a social media user shared a picture of British soldiers

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<v Speaker 2>leaving Afghanistan, but the user made it seem like they

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<v Speaker 2>were soldiers from the United States. The posts said these

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<v Speaker 2>soldiers were coming to invade.

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<v Speaker 1>These posts had real world effects. They frightened people in

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<v Speaker 1>both countries. The conflict seemed like it would become a war.

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<v Speaker 1>The Ajen France Press or AFP, is a news organization

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<v Speaker 1>based in France. In twenty twenty four, it showed that

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<v Speaker 1>most of these posts did not come from any government. Instead,

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<v Speaker 1>they came from people uninvolved with the situation.

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<v Speaker 2>One member of an organized in Thailand spoke with the AFP.

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<v Speaker 2>His organization created many false posts about the conflict. He

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<v Speaker 2>said that they knew very little about the politics of

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<v Speaker 2>the area. Instead, they created posts that would spread widely,

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<v Speaker 2>each post could make them twenty to seventy US dollars.

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<v Speaker 1>Not all clickbait is this harmful. At best, creating a

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<v Speaker 1>shocking looking story means people will read it. It may

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<v Speaker 1>be a good way to attract people's attention to something true.

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<v Speaker 1>But at its worst, clickbait is deceptive. It makes people

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<v Speaker 1>question what they know to be true. It may cause

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<v Speaker 1>fear about events that did not happen.

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<v Speaker 2>Even with these problems, clickbait will probably be around for

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<v Speaker 2>a long time. People are interested in shocking things. There

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<v Speaker 2>will be no reason for people to stop as long

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<v Speaker 2>as a story can make money through a click.

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<v Speaker 1>This is where media literacy comes in. This is the

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<v Speaker 1>idea that a person can learn how to see what

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<v Speaker 1>news is true and what is not. A person who

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<v Speaker 1>is skilled in media literacy watches where their information comes from.

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<v Speaker 1>They test shocking news against other news reports to test

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<v Speaker 1>whether they confirm the information they understand, to watch what

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<v Speaker 1>they read.

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<v Speaker 2>These skills are difficult to develop. It often takes years,

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<v Speaker 2>but in today's increasingly interconnected world, these skills are more

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<v Speaker 2>important than ever. Understanding clibit does not just help protect

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<v Speaker 2>people from falsehood. It does not just protect from advertisements.

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<v Speaker 2>Media literacy helps people to be better citizens in a

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<v Speaker 2>world that is increasingly online.

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<v Speaker 1>Has clickbait ever fooled you? What about a misleading story?

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<v Speaker 1>We would like to hear about your experiences. You can

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<v Speaker 1>leave a comment on our website at www dot Spotlight

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<v Speaker 1>English dot com. You can also find us on YouTube, Facebook, TikTok,

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<v Speaker 1>and x. You can also get our programs delivered directly

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<v Speaker 1>to your Android or Apple device through our free official

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<v Speaker 1>Spotlight English app.

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<v Speaker 2>The writer and producer of this program was Dan Christman.

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<v Speaker 2>The voices you heard were from the United States and

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<v Speaker 2>the United Kingdom. Or quotes were adapted for this program

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<v Speaker 2>and voiced by Spotlight. This program is called Click on

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<v Speaker 2>this video.

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<v Speaker 1>We hope you can join us again for the next

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<v Speaker 1>Spotlight program. Goodbye,