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Comment by alx__ | Hacker News Reader

Oh, it's a non-story, but the headline is clickbait they couldn't pass up

What's clickbait-y about it? "Cost of ocean shipping doing exactly what we expected" doesn't compel me to click.

...I think you just answered your own question, no?

But "plunging by 60% this year" is exactly what most informed people expected shipping rates to do. Therefore, the headline is not clickbait-y.

Clickbait-y titles are those that use wording to make something mundane sound much more interesting or important. The fact that this is what most informed people expected shipping rates to do is exactly why it's clickbait-y. Similarly, most informed people expect an immense nuclear fireball to light up San Francisco tomorrow but titling your weather forecast that way would be clickbait.

> use wording to make something mundane sound much more interesting or important.

Yes, but that doesn't apply here. Straight up matter of fact statements, like the one used in this title, is as mundane and uninteresting as is possible. The only thing that could garner less interest would be to permanently cut off all communication with others. The topic itself carries some interest, but the headline doesn't add to it.

"This one weird trick allows you to save 60% on ocean freight. International shippers hate him." would have been clickbait-y.

Yes it does. The use of the word plunge is very much not matter of fact, and connotes that the decrease is faster and/or greater than would normally be expected. Again, nuclear fireball is a perfectly accurate description of the sun, but what matters is the first thing that pops into someone's mind when they hear it described that way. The title could have easily been rephrased to be mundane and matter of fact, for example as "Shipping rates decreased 60% year over year as industry moves past pandemic"

That you might be able to make it even more clickbait-y does not make the current headline not-clickbait.

> The use of the word plunge is very much not matter of fact

No. The word has a well defined meaning in an economic context and is used regularly per that definition. You can't get any more matter of fact. If it was something like "Ocean shipping rates have jumped off a cliff without a parachute towards its impending fiery death this year" you'd have a stronger case.

> and connotes that the decrease is faster and/or greater than would normally be expected.

No. It only connotes that it happened quickly. There is no association to expectation colloquially or by definition. A 60% decline in eight months is fast compared to historical norms regardless of whether or not it was expected. That the decline was fast is worthwhile information to communicate.

> Again, nuclear fireball is a perfectly accurate description of the sun

Accurate, but abnormal usage. This is incomparable to the common usage of plunge. A better analogy would be the headline: "Sun to light up San Francisco tomorrow". To "light up" could mean to set on fire. But, given the clear context and regular usage of the words, it's a stretch to think people would be tricked into clicking the link because they think SF will be ablaze.

> "Shipping rates decreased 60% year over year as industry moves past pandemic"

Thing is, had you been compelled to read the article you would have known that shipping rates decreased by more than 73% year over year. Given that the headline didn't compel you to read the article we have further evidence of it not being clickbait.

Its making quite a splash!

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