Journalism is going down the drain these days. Fast. Nothing new.
As being “social” moves from the Like, Tweet, and G+ buttons to more integrated “your friend read this article recently”, I expect to see even worse posts, news feeds and general babble that captures your attention with catchy titles and gives you a bad taste after reading. I call it the YouTube Title effect – “The best…,” The Greatest Catch ever…”, “10 secrets how to…”, and so on, which only serve to push the material to the top of the results page and serve you a false identity of being worthy for your time. One of the latest examples?
7 Tips to Wake Up and Get You Out of Bed Fast
The Washington Post’s Social Reader piece lacks the ingredients to engage the reader, to put it mildly. Not to mention the weird title positioning, the content of this article is a joke. It seems that somebody put together a hard-to-justify laundry list that is supposed to be easy to read, at the same time taking you the the page where you see enough impressions and ads. Being misled by the fact that a few of my friends “read” this article, I also fell for this trap. Good materials cannot always be the quality of Foreign Affairs, The Economist and the likes. But they should not be insulting the reader’s intelligence, the way the said article does.
7 Crucial Tips for Solid Sleep
Just to prove my point that a lot of today’s writers print for mileage, I decided to do a writing exercise (like the one you are reading now) of a general, 5-min-youtube-title-no-research topic, such some good practices to keep you sound asleep. Here it goes:
1. Try to go to bed at the same time of the day every day. It will help your bio clock and make your body accustomed to sleep at after this specific hour of the day.
2. Do not eat after 7 pm. You might find this surprising (really), but food digestion causes sleep problems.
3. Exercise regularly, or at least 3 times a week. It will put enough oxygen in your body.
4. Do not watch television 30 minutes before going to bed. It will allow your brain to relax from a an exhausting day and help you get in the zone.
5. Get some fresh air in your room and sleep at lower temperatures.
6. Avoid caffeine consumption after 4 pm (now, now – this sounds very academic. Let’s be blunt: Quit drinking coffee).
7. Stop reading bullshit articles that state the obvious, like the list you just finished.
Anyhow and anyway. I am really looking for some quality posts, even if it is paid content. After all, good work should be rewarded. However, media cajoling me to read what my friends mistakenly read just to attract enough eyeballs on the Social Reader page is seriously questioning the ideology of a world “more open and connected.”
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