Marisa

Adult-y SpongeBob and… (thinking)

 Posted by on Mon, 3/18 at 7:47pm  genre translation prewriting  No Responses »
Mar 182019
 

SpongeBob SquarePants –> Actually an adult cartoon?

I work with children up to age 12 and we regularly watch movies and cartoons during one portion of our day. Growing up I was always allowed to watch SpongeBob and my parents never had an issue with it. However, I noticed recently at work when we would watch a cartoon with the kids, some of them told us they are not allowed to watch SpongeBob because their parents tell them it is inappropriate (I was shocked because I didn’t understand why… until I really thought about it). SpongeBob lives in “Bikini Bottom”, there are characters named “Mr. Krabs” and “Sandy Cheeks” who live in bikini bottom, the newspaper for the town is called the “Bikini Bottoms Examiner” and I’m sure there are many more adult hints that people overlook or miss. It’s very strange when you think about it, so I wonder if the cartoon was meant to be an adult one in which case it would be easy to show how this could be true.

–> still thinking of my second idea..

 

Disappointing, Unfulfilled Promises of Clickbait (Proposal Revised)

 Posted by on Thu, 2/28 at 11:17am  Uncategorized  No Responses »
Feb 282019
 

Entertaining is a perfect term used to describe the titles of clickbait. The titles often include over exciting language to excite the reader’s curiosity, and lure them in to click on the content whether it be an advertisement, commercial, or video such as on YouTube. For example, Facebook advertisements are notorious for containing clickbait. An advertisement is titled, “3 secret tips to lose those extra pounds. Click to find out!”. This definitely makes the reader curious as to what the tips are, leading them to click on it. What is not entertaining is the way clickbait over promises and under delivers; it is extremely disappointing. Even with the above example, a less intense use of clickbait, the actual tips end up being things that most people already know, thus the reader is very disappointed. Clickbait is exactly how it sounds, it is bait to lure a reader in like a little fish and then snatch them up.

To gain a better understanding of the tactics clickbait uses to draw the reader in, I will examine three overarching strategies used. The first being pathos based titles, tugging at the readers emotions and making them feel a certain type of way, the second being fear induced clickbait instilling a sense of fear and wonder, and the third strategy being dramatic and over exciting language used in the titles. All three of these strategies are used regularly by “clickbaiter’s” to gain that view or click. I also would like to examine what the writer gains from using clickbait. Sure, they gain a click or a view, but how do those totals benefit them. Money? Popularity? More subscribers? Overall, through examining the tactics clickbait uses we will be able to better understand how these tactics excite the readers curiosity, leading to drawing them into the product, advertisement, or video. In the end clickbait seems appealing and exciting, but the majority of the time it is too good to be true.

Subject/POS – Click Bait

 Posted by on Tue, 2/19 at 2:42pm  subject-POS  No Responses »
Feb 192019
 

A.)

  • Subject: Advertisement for “magic” weight loss pill
    • POS: Makes people believe this pill will really make them lose a bunch of weight; false claims; over promises, under delivers
  • Subject: Over dramatic and over exciting video titles (“Click to see a man hug a wild lion!”)… the man never hugs a wild lion.
    • POS: Over excites viewers; again over promises, and under delivers
  • Subject: Fear induced click bait… “Is your partner cheating on you? Take this short quiz to find out.”
    • POS: Makes people click on these dumb links to take a quiz that has no real significance on if or if not your partner would be cheating on you; also over promises and under delivers by making the reader think this “quiz” will tell them if their partner is faithful, when it really just generates a yes or no random response.

B.) Overarching subject/POS:

  • False claims and over exciting language over promises and under delivers to the reader

C.) Question/Prompt:

  • What tactics or strategies do online advertisers for ads and/or videos, use to instill false hope in viewers?

Technically Defined Click Bait

 Posted by on Wed, 2/13 at 1:06pm  technical definition  No Responses »
Feb 132019
 

In many online videos, online advertisements, and commercials, the term clickbait is something that draws the consumer (reader) in and grabs their attention, getting them to click on or view the product. Clickbait over-promises and under-delivers to the consumer in that the clickbait itself is usually over dramatized.  Clickbait is different from any other normal advertisement title in the way that it provides and excessively dramatic or interesting title in order to gain more views/clicks. Normal titles for ads or videos are truthful and do not over-promise, but in turn gets them less views. Normally, a consumer would see an advertisement, video, commercial, whatever it may be and if it interests them they will view it or click on it. However, with clickbait, the consumer is like a fish in the water falling for bait. The consumer thinks the “bait” looks promising and looks at the ad or video, just be disappointed in the end.

Click Bait continued (Heuristic #2)

 Posted by on Tue, 2/5 at 10:17pm  underappreciated heuristic #2  No Responses »
Feb 052019
 
  1. What contentis typically included or excluded? How is the content treated? What sorts of examples are used? What counts as evidence (personal testimony, facts, etc.)?
  • Typically, the content included is anything from a crazy story, to a holy grail product, to an entertainment piece. However, all of these contents will usually share a common theme which is over exaggeration. Click bait exaggerates or completely goes away from the topic in order to draw the audience in

2. What rhetorical appealsare used? What appeals to logos, pathos, and ethos appear?

  • I have found that any and all rhetorical appeals can be used in click bait
  • Ethos: “This face wash is a MUST have. It is recommended by numerous dermatologists, click the link to shop our products!” (This seems like it is believable because dermatologists “recommend it, but there is no actual proof… clickbait to get you to buy the face wash or the other products)
  • Pathos: “A child gets eaten alive by three puppies, watch what happens next!” (in reality the video was three puppies attacking the child with licks and hugs)
  • Logos: “The best fitting jeans you’ll every buy! Comfortable, long lasting, and amazing fit! (this appeals to logic, it makes sense to buy jeans with all of these features and draws the reader into checking out the jeans)

3. How are texts in the genresstructured? What are their parts, and how are they organized?

  • With click bait we focus on the title because that is what ends up being exaggerated and crazy. The title will have something that seems like it could be true, but a lot of times it sounds outrageous or too crazy to be true which is what makes the reader click on it.

4. In what format are texts of this genre presented? What layout or appearance is common? How long/big is a typical text in this genre?

  • Typically one or two sentences with click bait. The rest of the story will come once you click on the link or ad or whatever it may be

5. What types of “sentences”do texts in the genre typically use? How long are they? Are they simple or complex, passive or active? Are the sentences varied? Do they share a certain style?

  • The sentences in the title of click bait are not longer than normally 1 or 2 sentences and are almost always active and engaging, getting you to click on it.

6. What diction is most common? What types of words (or symbols, images, etc.) are most frequent? Is a type of jargon used? Is slang used? How would you describe a typical writer’s tone?

  • The diction used is normally very dramatic words such as crazy, unbelievable, insane, nuts, etc. and phrases such as “you won’t believe it”, “this is crazy”, “see what happens next” etc. Also, the titles are sometimes in capital letters and/or include exclamation points to get your attention

 

Analyze What These Patterns Reveal About the Situation and Scene

  1. What do these patterns reveal about the genre, its situation, and the people who use it?
  • Click bait reveals how gullible some people can be, or how naïve and unaware people can be. But click bait also serves as entertainment too
  1. What do participants have to know or believe to understand or appreciate the genre?
  • They have to believe that what they are clicking on is too good to be true, or not true at all. That is the whole reason people click on “click bait” because they don’t believe what they are reading
  1. Who is invited into the genre, and who is excluded??
  • I would say no one is really excluded unless there is a person who doesn’t go on the internet, shop, or watch tv.
  1. What roles for writers and readers does it encourage or discourage?
  • For the reader, it encourages you to believe everything you see and hear. Click baiters want you to believe what they are telling you. For the writer, it encourages using whatever tactics possible to get a view or make a sale
  1. What can you learn about the actions being performed through the genre by observing its language patterns?
  • From observing the patterns of the dramatic words and phrases in different types of click bait, we learn about the actions that are almost always the same which is brining empty or false promises to the reader

 

  1. How is the subject of the genre treated? What content is considered most important? What content (topics or details) is ignored?
  • I find that when I read click bait titles, I focus on the main word or phrase that is drawing the attention such as “You won’t believe it!” and then automatically click on it to see what it’s about rather than reading the whole title. By doing this the content in the title is sometimes ignored

 

  1. What values, beliefs, goals, and assumptions are revealed through the genre’s patterns?
  • The general beliefs and values revealed through the patterns of click bait wouldn’t be anything too specific. I think the patterns of click bait tend to be crazy, seemingly unbelievable statements that lure the reader in and attempt to gain something. The only main goal from all of the “writers” of click bait, would be too gain a view, make a sale, or whatever they can gain from the reader clicking on their product.

 

  1. What actions does the genre enable? What actions does the genre constrain??
  • The genre enables the reader to make sure not to believe everything you see or read or hear. This is because most of the time click bait is so far exaggerated from the truth that people think “This can’t be true” but there is a part of them that wants to know for sure, so they click on it anyways.

 

Click Bait

 Posted by on Sun, 2/3 at 8:50pm  underappreciated heuristic #1  2 Responses »
Feb 032019
 

 

  1. Identify your tentative “underappreciated” genre (or subgenre)

Click bait… I’ve noticed that click bait is everywhere, not just in things like YouTube videos. Click bait is even incorporated in news articles and stories. Even crazy store discounts such as “Entire store 50% off”, and then when you go in the store it ends up being most things 50% off, but not all. Also, weight loss “magic” supplements that say you’ll lose 20 pounds in one week, or something not realistic, just to make you buy their product. Click bait is literally everywhere.

  1. What is interesting to you about this genre? Or, why might it be significant or otherwise worth paying attention to?

We often don’t realize how much we are lured into a thing or a product because of click bait and almost false promises. It would be interesting to understand how companies and products and things are so good at doing this type of thing, and what makes us as humans believe it.

  1. Tentatively, define/describe your corpus (collection of texts/examples)

There are so many examples I can use. YouTube videos, news stories, store ads, product ads, commercials, car sales, etc. All of these things somehow incorporate click bait and make their product or thing seem so much more amazing than it really is.

  1. Provide links (and/or titles) of five samples. (Try to gather samples from more than one “place” [or type] in order to obtain a diverse and accurate representation of the genre. For now, choose samples without significant deviations).
    1. https://www.ranker.com/list/clickbait/jacob-shelton– this link shows some examples of just plain stupid click bait, but they actually draw people in
    2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHi2ivnwDBs 
    3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns3b3KS8R_0– these two links are from a famous YouTuber who is known for her click bait, her video titles are never actually what happens
    4. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=7&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiH147SqZPgAhVNj1kKHaEwA2QQFjAGegQICRAT&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.healthline.com%2Fnutrition%2Flose-10-pounds-in-one-week&usg=AOvVaw3UMwRr2mXs1vnTCxz05jY3– this one seems believable since it is from a health website, but it would be very hard to lose 10 pounds in one week…
    5. https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjf27CxqpPgAhWqwFkKHULXBE0QjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fplayingintheworldgame.com%2Fcategory%2Fadvertising%2Fpage%2F7%2F&psig=AOvVaw3TavAeZ6zQsljMxiNPIlHy&ust=1548862974892353– these are pictures examples of more dumb clickbait that actually makes people want to see if it’s true

Describe the Context

  1. Setting: Where (in what context or medium) does the genre appear? How and when is it used? With what other genres does this genre interact? How?

This genre appears everywhere, but I would say mostly either on the internet, TV, or store fronts. It is used all the time even when we don’t realize it. We may be super fascinated with something and lured into it thinking the product or thing is awesome, when it is actually just clickbait and then the thing ends up being disappointing. This may interact with other genres like advertisements, maybe… I’m not too sure.

 

  1. Subject: What topics, issues, ideas, etc. are common to this genre? When people use this genre, what are they communicating about?

As far as YouTube click bait topics can be anything and everything from “I danced with a tiger”, to “I robbed a bank with my BFF…” YouTube gets crazy. Then there are specific topics like weight loss, news articles, even car sales I noticed used click bait in a sense, saying a car is $15,000 out the door blah blah.. but then its oh depending on your credit and then there’s tax and this fee and that fee… When people use click bait they, or the product, or the store, are communicating a sense of need for attention I believe.

  1. Writers: Who writes the texts in this genre? Are multiple writers possible? What roles do they perform? What characteristics must writers of this genre possess? Under what circumstances do writers write the genre (e.g., in teams, on a computer, in a rush, for their profession? for fun?)?

Anyone can be the writer for this genre. It could be a YouTube star, a news anchor, websites that put ads out on places like Facebook, store owners, etc. The characteristics include over dramatization, attention, outrageous ideas, things like that. People write these types of things in order to get a reaction and to draw people in for whatever their individual purpose may be. For a YouTuber it would be to get views, for a store it would be to make a sale; each writer would have their own reason.

  1. Readers: Who reads the texts in this genre? Is there more than one type of reader for this genre? What roles do they perform? What characteristics must readers of this genre possess? Under what circumstances do readers read the genre (e.g., at their leisure, on the run, in waiting rooms)?

The reader depends on the writer in this case. For a store the reader would be someone walking past the store looking for a good sale, for a car sale it would be a person interested in buying a car, on Facebook it would be all Facebook users. Readers would read this type of genre with the purpose of finding out if the so called “click bait” is true. Is that car really $15,000, is that ad really true, is that sale really 50% off…

  1. Exigency/Purpose(s): Why do writers write this genre, and why do readers read it? What purposes does the genre fulfill for the people who use it?

Writers write this genre with the hopes of luring in a customer or reader, and readers read this genre or participate in this genre, with hopes of getting something out of it. Getting a good laugh out of the YouTube video, getting a good deal on the sale, losing weight with the “magic pill”. Each specific example has its own fulfillment to the reader.