During 2022, articles labeled as "clickbait" were published in large numbers by online media in Kosovo.
"Clickbait" articles are those texts whose title has no basis in the content of the following text that aim to attract the attention of the reader or even the consumer with a sensational title by promising content that does not actually exist.
Usually these articles are created primarily out of financial interest, that is, due to increased readability aimed solely at clicks, which can be converted into profit for the content producer.
Hibrid.info has been preparing monthly misinformation reports since July 2022.
In the percentage of rating categories during July, the "clickbait" rating ranked second with 19%.
“Clickbait” ratings have mainly been given to those misinforming articles that have mainly used social topics such as “withdrawal of 30 percent from Trust”, “price hike”, “visa liberalization” and similar. In these cases, the publishers of these articles are dubious portals. In these types of articles, the author has used old news with a made-up title. (see here July report)
In August, articles rated as "clickbait" ranked this category in first place with 25%.
The content of the articles that dominated the subcategory was about various areas, such as black news, social schemes, monkeypox and other misinformation content about political issues, including about northern Kosovo with the claim that serious events are taking place in that part of the country. (see here August report)
During September, articles rated as "clickbait" ranked second in the misinformation category at 22%.
In this evaluation category, various articles have been published on social schemes and financial-economic assistance, price increases, visas, the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia with political and economic content. What these articles have in common is that their content is unclear in most cases with the tendency to increase clicks and readability by the media that publish such articles by putting sensational headlines for the audience. (see here September report)
In October, compared to other months, "clickbait" had the highest percentage, taking first place in the ratings category with 33%.
During October, misinformation articles were published in this category on various topics, from political ones, such as northern Kosovo, the possibility of an attack on Kosovo by Serbia, visa liberalization, to economic issues such as energy, inflation, oil prices, as well as other topics such as sports, religion, etc. Articles within this rating category were published by local media and dubious media, the origin of which is unknown. (see here October report)
While in November, the "clickbait" rating maintained its primacy in the category of ratings with the most articles, a total of 31%.
Within this assessment category, during the month of November, misinforming articles were published mainly in the field of politics and security, such as the recognition of Kosovo, national unification, the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, regional developments, etc. Some of the articles in this category were published by local media, while the majority were published by dubious media. (see here November report)