High Entropy Titles: A Hacker News Vexation
high entropy titles?
there are very few aspects of this orange website that I have an issue with; however, there's one very specific - and subtle - form of clickbait that's incredibly common here: to demonstrate an example, I'll call it "high entropy titling"[1]. this is much less obvious than typical clickbait, as it aims to manipulate a far more discerning audience than average. whether it's a shared strategy people knowingly follow, or simple convergence, I do not know
what is it?
the way it typically appears is as title containing a sentence, phrase or arrangement of words unusual enough that you have to significantly slow down to understand it, but concise and interesting enough that you don't immediately block it out
I'm not going to call out any specific examples, but it's an extremely common style and if you go to the front page at any given moment, you should be able to find at least one example
why is it irritating? okay, I'll admit, it's not exactly the worst thing ever: it's no f"{famous_x} has done {y} and everyone is saying {z}" or any of the other identikit moronic tabloid headlines, but it's still a trick and clearly inferior to something concise and descriptive. it also smacks of trying to be clever. if you've got a great article, then - hopefully - it should stand on its own without trying to manipulate anyone into reading it
on the other hand? I would imagine a significant portion of these titles are accidental, which I obviously can't muster any vexation for. but even if it is deliberate, is it such a bad thing? there's nothing inherently wrong with having to think a little harder to understand a headline, but intent matters. if someone sets out to influence my behaviour, then I don't think it's wrong to be suspicious of that
[1] - or if we're being clear with our words, a "deliberately slightly confusing title"
have you ever noticed this? have you ever knowingly - or unknowingly - used this style? if so, is it something you thought of yourself? if not, is it something you heard about or observed? where? perhaps you feel I'm overreacting or misconstruing: why do you think that? happy to hear any opinions
>ChatGPT: "High Entropy Titles: A Vexation"