Is this clickbait?
The timer starts when you answer the first one · keys: ← yes · → no
If a 30 year old you resists clicking on 5% of clickbait, you'd reclaim 73 hours of your life.
You
If everyone resisted the same... 5%, the world would reclaim 900,000 years of human life, every year.
Assumes 80% of what you open withholds its answer, 60% of those clicks are pure loss, and 15 seconds foraging each time. The humanity panel holds daily hours online at the global average of 6.5 rather than following your own slider, since it models everyone rather than 5.4 billion copies of you.
A clickbait headline names a subject but withholds its resolution, opening a gap between what you know and what you want to know. Closing that gap feels urgent, so you click. The withheld answer is then placed far down the page, and the scrolling and scanning to reach it, past ad after ad, is the payoff for the publisher: every second you spend foraging is another ad impression sold.
“You won’t believe what happened next”
Curiosity gap“This one change fixed everything”
Withheld answer“17 photos that stopped me cold”
Listicle tease“People are furious about this decision”
Outrage bait“Doctors don’t want you to know this”
Shock claim“Council approves new bike lanes on Main Street”
Not clickbait“Study links 10-minute walks to lower blood pressure”
Not clickbait“New train line opens between downtown and the airport”
Not clickbait