Media: Stop Using The Childfree For Clickbait!

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Media: Stop Using The Childfree For Clickbait!

"Clickbait is a text or a thumbnail link that is designed to attract attention and to entice users to follow that link and read, view, or listen to the linked piece of online content, with a defining characteristic of being deceptive, typically sensationalized or misleading."

People interested in the childfree lifestyle will devour as much information on the topic as possible.  When a new article, blog, video, or podcast drops – it is typically picked up quickly and spread through the network of childfree sites and groups.  The same can be said for people interested in the parenting lifestyle.

Unfortunately, this makes us easy targets for clickbait or overly sensationalized information weaponizing the childfree lifestyle for the sake of getting one more like, share, or site hit.

 

 

So seeing an Article Titled, “Oprah Winfrey Had Such a Passive-Aggressive Response to Gayle King Welcoming Her First Child” is going to drive the search engine algorithms crazy given their celebrity status.  Oprah is revered by many in both the childfree and parenting worlds.

Upon reading that title, one would be lead to believe the article will delve deep into the topic of a person who does not have a child making a parent feel belittled. 

It all began with a post on the site Oprah Daily.  A very small snippet of the video/article was then embellished for the sake of pitting the childfree v/s parents.

The exact quote from Oprah is, “Yeah, I actually thought the friendship [between her and Gayle King] would wane with children but no. But it didn’t happen.”

That’s it…nothing stated there is “passive aggressive”.  It is a very clear statement of concern that she was worried a child would change the dynamic of their relationship.  Going further into the article, the actual passive aggressive instance is discussed with a t-shirt Oprah wore to King’s house that stated, “Husbands come and go. Friends last forever.”

In an effort to latch on to anything Oprah, Kristyn Burtt (a pmc-editorial-manager) with SheKnows.com decided to do a hackjob story on the original article.  Why, you might ask?  Look no further than the source. 

The About Us section of SheKnows states, “SheKnows is the #momlife expert. We’re an inclusive community for parents, and we recognize the challenges that living a full, vibrant, busy mom-life presents while also acknowledging the good stuff.” 

So…yeah…they are attempting to ruffle the feathers of their own followers (moms) against those without a child for the sake of clickbait and advertising.  Promoting an “us v/s them” mentality where there is no basis to do so.

It must have worked as the story trended on the front page of Yahoo.com

Just the latest effort to try to villainize those without a child.  Hey, it is understandable…there’s bills to get paid.  Integrity be damned.  The irony is that we have to link to the article for verification.  You can take our word for it or click if you must.  Correct us if we are wrong.

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