Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Lying clickbait: Celebrity meth addicts, plastic surgery nightmares

Lying clickbait comes in different shapes and sizes. And the lies they tell range from little ones to whoppers.
What follows are some recent examples.
When clickbait contains an incorrect photo or headline, you could chalk it up to a researcher making an error. But more likely it is someone trying to exploit the curiosity gap for clicks, resulting in more ad revenue.
A recent Taboola article titled “23 photos of Kate Middleton that will make your jaw drop” used a photo of the princess next to a picture of model and socialite Tamara Ecclestone (see above). They’re both British and attractive brunettes, but the similarities pretty much end there.



This next one is a twofer.
One article is titled “Celebs who died and no one said a word” and features a picture of actress Sara Gilbert, who is still alive, along with a photo of a reported meth addict named Kari.
The accompanying article is titled “11 celebrities who committed suicide” and features a picture of singer Susan Boyle, who is alive.




Another Taboola article, titled “12 celebs who are unrecognizable after plastic surgery,” featured side-by-side photos of a young Meg Ryan and reality TV star Elsa Patton. The clickbait article implies they are before-and-after photos.




A clickbait article by Adblade titled “Walmart photos that should never have been captured” uses a picture of a busty lady who’s obviously at the airport and not the discount retailer.



These next two are the latest examples of movie photos being passed off as historical shots. Two Clickbait articles promising images of the Titanic sinking use pictures from James Cameron’s 1997 film “Titanic.” One of the articles touts “Heartbreaking images of the Titanic taken by a passenger’s camera.” Yeah, right.





A Taboola article titled “It’s hard to believe these stars are single” uses a photo of actress Margot Robbie, who got married in December 2016. There are lots of attractive single celebrities. Why use a photo of one that’s married?



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