Séamas O'Reilly: The clickbait business — and its taunting, teasing condescension

"There are fewer moneymaking ads and more weirdly compelling taunts about how to do everyday things. I speak, naturally, of “you’ve been doing this wrong your entire life”."

You Won't Believe How This One Weird iStock Image Headlines The Article - Sub-Editors Are Confused!

The things I get recommended on social media have changed over the years. For a long time, it was the usual stuff. Cheap flights, weird gadgets, and scattergun retreads of my Amazon purchases.

You know the type of thing; you buy one backpack and for weeks afterwards you’re advertised other, similar backpacks, and very often the exact same backpack you’ve just bought. I’ve never quite understood this.