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Graduate Student Salman Khawar Uncovers the Secrets of Clickbait Journalism

  • by Richard W Huskey

Quick Summary

  • UC Davis graduate student Salman Khawar's research reveals the top features of clickbait journalism and their impact on social media engagement, highlighting differences between digital-native and legacy news outlets.

UC Davis communication graduate student Salman Khawar has co-authored an important new study exploring the features of clickbait journalism and its effectiveness in driving online engagement. Published in Digital Journalism, the study identified ten distinct characteristics of clickbait—such as hyperbole, hashtags, and emojis—and found that digital-native news outlets like BuzzFeed and Huffington Post are significantly more likely to use these tactics than legacy outlets like the Los Angeles Times. The findings reveal how clickbait influences user interaction on social media and raise important questions about its impact on journalistic ethics. Read the full article at the UC Davis Letters and Sciences Magazine.