A man orders a sandwich. What he received was a blog about those types of articles.
You've seen a headline like this. It's pretty much all Facebook has become. People posting articles with ridiculous, goading titles that make others click on them.
twitter @nathanmacintosh
"A woman looks at a snake. What she saw in it's dead eyes made her switch to Geico."
"A man opens his phone bill. What he saw under 'Balance Due' made him rock hard."
These articles are posted everyday, people click, and what happens next, will rock your whole face to your core and back up to your head then off again to the floor.
What usually happens is the article is supposed to see a situation in a different light. Snakes aren't that bad, have human feelings, and can turn you on. You never know what you'll find in the mail. That type of thing. People get sad, or happy, or inspired by the story. They are always supposed to have some kind of point. Some sort of life lesson that you will pick up at the end of the story. You're supposed to click, and change how you look at the world.
"Wow. I always hated opening my phone bill. I mean, it's just more money I have to throw away. But this one made a guy rock hard? From now on, I'll be excited to open them!"
What really happens? Is that someone, somewhere makes money from the ads that are posted on this story. You click on it, someone gets paid. Which is why they are written to get you to open them. It works. If someone comes up to you and is very vague about something, you'd want to know more about the situation.
"Hey, I ordered a rum and coke from this bar. What they gave me opened my mind up to unimaginable things."
(Person walks away)
"Woa. I was going to get a rum and coke. What the hell did he get? Sex on the beach? Tom Collins? DMT? I gotta ask him."
What usually happens is the article is supposed to see a situation in a different light. Snakes aren't that bad, have human feelings, and can turn you on. You never know what you'll find in the mail. That type of thing. People get sad, or happy, or inspired by the story. They are always supposed to have some kind of point. Some sort of life lesson that you will pick up at the end of the story. You're supposed to click, and change how you look at the world.
"Wow. I always hated opening my phone bill. I mean, it's just more money I have to throw away. But this one made a guy rock hard? From now on, I'll be excited to open them!"
What really happens? Is that someone, somewhere makes money from the ads that are posted on this story. You click on it, someone gets paid. Which is why they are written to get you to open them. It works. If someone comes up to you and is very vague about something, you'd want to know more about the situation.
"Hey, I ordered a rum and coke from this bar. What they gave me opened my mind up to unimaginable things."
(Person walks away)
"Woa. I was going to get a rum and coke. What the hell did he get? Sex on the beach? Tom Collins? DMT? I gotta ask him."
It's not just these types of articles that make us click. There are articles that instantly make people angry, and so they click to read more. "Man kicks ice cream cone into kids face". "Bus driver won't let old woman on the bus". "Second graders thrown off of a cliff because they couldn't find Dakota on a map". People will post these articles and comment underneath to let you know how angry they are.
"'Man strangles dog with live cat.' How the hell could he do that?! This is awful. Do you hear me, cat rope strangler! I hate you! I hope a fifty foot cat chokes YOU!"
An article about a woman who beat her kids with a bike that's on fire will be posted. She lives in Sasquatch, Kentucky or wherever the hell, and we'll get pissed that this woman lit this ten speed on fire and started playing tee ball with her kids. We shouldn't care at all.
Why do I say we shouldn't care? Because honestly, I don't believe that all of these articles are real. There's no way. Am I an article doctor? No. But there's no way some of these aren't just meant to get you outraged so that you click. Why would there be a news story about a racist letter a woman wrote? I saw an article that was 'Woman writes letter to her neighbour that she should have her autistic son put down". Real thing? I don't believe it. And again, even if it is, the woman's an idiot, who cares? She's not the president. She doesn't have any power. A letter at your door like that is just a written out YouTube comment.
"I would love to post that her autistic son scares the hell out of me and should die, but she doesn't have a video of him online. Wait! People used to write letters when they wanted to comment. To my pen and paper!"
"I would love to post that her autistic son scares the hell out of me and should die, but she doesn't have a video of him online. Wait! People used to write letters when they wanted to comment. To my pen and paper!"
I think a lot of this stuff is wrestling. It's made up to make us angry. Wrestlers do this constantly. Get people riled up to buy pay per views and to buy tickets to live events. Cool. Not a problem. They are selling a show. When writers do it, there is no 'show'. There is an article. Still, if they want to make us angry, put some show behind it. Write it like a wrestling promo.
"Let me tell you something, brother! When this man in Oklahoma kicked a dog, dude, he did it with all of the force of the Hulkamaniacs, man! He said his prayers, ate his vitamins, and really leaned into this kick, dude. That dog started barking, man, yelping in pain. This Sunday, when animal and man are forced into the squared circle for a rematch, brother, who knows who will come out on top! Will dog kick man? Will man bite dog? This Sunday, live at the Pontiac Silver dome, it's Ruff-venge, dude!"
I don't think these articles are real either because there's no resolution at all. No follow up. What happened to the woman and that stupid letter? Where did the guy who was putting seventy eight year old, and ONLY seventy eight year old women, in the Boston Crab until their spines cracked go to? Usually, news stories have resolutions.
'We found the suspect. Man who was putting a live turkey in his ass and then going to the grocery store? Yep. Caught him. No more 'gobble gobble' and 'wobble wobble' for this man.'
Unless we see follow ups to crazy headlines, we shouldn't get upset. Until then, the story could just be a way to get you to click.
"Let me tell you something, brother! When this man in Oklahoma kicked a dog, dude, he did it with all of the force of the Hulkamaniacs, man! He said his prayers, ate his vitamins, and really leaned into this kick, dude. That dog started barking, man, yelping in pain. This Sunday, when animal and man are forced into the squared circle for a rematch, brother, who knows who will come out on top! Will dog kick man? Will man bite dog? This Sunday, live at the Pontiac Silver dome, it's Ruff-venge, dude!"
I don't think these articles are real either because there's no resolution at all. No follow up. What happened to the woman and that stupid letter? Where did the guy who was putting seventy eight year old, and ONLY seventy eight year old women, in the Boston Crab until their spines cracked go to? Usually, news stories have resolutions.
'We found the suspect. Man who was putting a live turkey in his ass and then going to the grocery store? Yep. Caught him. No more 'gobble gobble' and 'wobble wobble' for this man.'
Unless we see follow ups to crazy headlines, we shouldn't get upset. Until then, the story could just be a way to get you to click.
twitter @nathanmacintosh
6 Ways to Get Your Loser Self Out Of Your House.
The world really seems to likes lists. Just about all articles now
have become lists. In every paper, every
magazine, on every site where something can be written, you'll find
lists. Most of them are about ridiculous things.
Twitter @nathanmacintosh
'7
ways you know you're eating a sandwich', '12 ways to get into a
parking spot', '47 people you have met in the dairy aisle', '13.5
things that only happen to people with straight hair', '75 ways to
approach the girl at the bar who already told you that she won't give
you her number and to please leave her alone'.
Just
lists. Everywhere! For some reason they also insult you at times.
People who write a list that is subjective will make fun of you for
not agreeing with them.
"If
you don't like number 4 on my Top 21 bosses from Megaman list you are
an idiot! This isn't opinion. This is fact! What are you , stupid?
You don't think that Snakeman is the 4th greatest Megaman boss of all
time?! Well, just blow me, bud!"
People seems to like these, so I
figured I would give people a bit of what they want. I've written a
list article about a ridiculous thing and insulted you throughout.
"6
ways to get your loser self out of your house."
1.
Throw
your computer threw a wall because that's what's keeping you inside.
Sure,
you want to go outside, but you've fallen into a worm hole on
YouTube. You started out listening to your favourite rapper. Then,
some how, you found yourself watching 'drive-thru fight' videos.
"I'll just watch one more man slam a woman’s head of the
drive-thru window for not giving him his nuggets, THEN I'll go
outside" you say, but four hours go by. You've watched so many,
you've started to agree with all of the maniacs who dragon kick
sixteen year old kids wearing headsets making four dollars an hour.
Then these get boring, so some crazy way, you find yourself on
'biggest pimple' videos. How'd this happen? You were about to go
outside! It's your damn computer! You can do anything on it. Watch
naked people do naked things, learn a new language, or just stream
that movie that you can't get to see because you won't leave your
house. Solution? Throw your computer threw a wall. There you go,
stupid! Pick it up, and huck it at a wall! Sure it cost a bunch of
money, but's it's taking your soul! What would you do if you were in
the Mortal Kombat tournament and Shang Tsung was stealing your
essence? You'd uppercut him and finish him by cutting him in half?
Same thing. Finish your computer!
2.
Put
all of the snacks you keep buying outside of your house.
You
keep going to the kitchen for chips, cookies, popsicles. I don't know
what you buy, dummy. That's you! Couch to fridge, couch to fridge and
back again. There's no outside here! Solution? Take a cooler outside
and fill it with your dirt food. Boom! Now every time you want Triple
Chunk Chocolate Chip cookies and that Cheeseburger Flavoured Fanta,
you actually have to take your stupid self out into a world where
people can yell at you and bugs can bite you. Now look at you! The
guy across the street who you've always hated just called you a piece
of garbage and you're running from bees, but you're OUTSIDE! That's
the whole point of this article, so... suck it!
3.
Oh,
you're looking for an alternative to the door? Go out the window!
Look,
EVERYONE uses doors. Everybody! Even the coolest of the cool use
their stupid hands to turn a doorknob and swing a piece of wood out
of their way. Kanye, Jay-Z, Bill Clinton, Jason Statham. All of these
hacks use doors. Laaaaaammmmmmeeee! You want to be cool, you have to
stand out, and why not stand out while also getting the hell out of
your house! Time to crawl out a window like a boss. Sure, it'll look
at first like you're climbing out of a window like a boss who just
found out that his company is going under and doesn't want to face
any of his employees, but hey, what do those losers know!? You're a
trend setter. Soon, ALL of the cool people will use the window.
"Door?
Please. I'm somebody. Roll the window of the car down and I'll shimmy
in like I'm sneaking back into my moms house when I was sixteen
after a night of drinking”.
You
live above the second floor? Great! Not only do you get to climb out
of your window, you also get to see if a sheet makes a good
parachute. Here's hoping.
4.
Can't
get out of your house? Get evicted!
So,
you're looking for a way out of your house. You can't find a good
enough reason. I mean, INside you have air conditioning, every
Leprechaun on NetFlix, and your collection of bottle caps. You can't
get out of the house! Well, just stop paying rent. That's right, stop
paying it! You can't be in a house if you don't have one. You stop
paying rent, your landlord will kick you out. Maybe he's kind of a
coward so he won't do it, but he'll call the cops and they'll throw
you and your junk onto the street like Uncle Phil throwing Jazzy
Jeff. There you go. You've done it! Now you are living on the street!
No more fighting to get outside. It's your house!
5.
Set
it on fire.
Do
YOU like being in a house that's on fire? Unless you are Ghost Rider,
probably not. Can't seem to get motivated enough to get up off the
couch and hit the gym? Simply take a bill that you didn't want to pay
anyway, light if off of the stove and throw it onto the recycling
you've been meaning to take out. Boom! Now you have a raging inferno
in your kitchen that will spread through out the house quickly if you
spray some WD-40 on it. Boom! House is on fire. You have to get out
or you're going to die. You did it! You're outside. Now go to the
gym, and try not to think about all of your belongings being engulfed
in flames. Probably for the best anyway. You had WAY too many
cardigans.
6.
Just
get out, bud!
Yeah,
just get the hell out of your house! I mean, what's stopping you? You
know those things you have underneath you? Or dangling from a chair
while you stare out a window wondering what happened to your
cigarettes? They're called legs! They are used to move from place to
place. Just stand on em, and kick them out in front of each other.
That's it! Put some shoes on them as well if you plan on going into
any establishment at all. You don't have legs that work? Well, you
probably have crutches, or a cane, or a wheelchair that does. You
have stairs and no one is around to help you down? Just throw
yourself down them and crawl for the door! Man, do I have to figure
out everything for you?
Twitter @nathanmacintosh