https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-023-01538-4
"Online media is important for society in informing and shaping opinions, hence
raising the question of what drives online news consumption. Here we analyse
the causal effect of negative and emotional words on news consumption using a
large online dataset of viral news stories. Specifically, we conducted our
analyses using a series of randomized controlled trials (N = 22,743). Our
dataset comprises ~105,000 different variations of news stories from
Upworthy.com that generated ∼5.7 million clicks across more than 370 million
overall impressions. Although positive words were slightly more prevalent than
negative words, we found that negative words in news headlines increased
consumption rates (and positive words decreased consumption rates). For a
headline of average length, each additional negative word increased the
click-through rate by 2.3%. Our results contribute to a better understanding of
why users engage with online media."
Via
Fix the News:
<
https://fixthenews.com/good-news-malaria-india-tolerance-africa-deforestation-brazil/>
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
