As I flit back and forth between all these different voices1, it’s important that I make people take me seriously2. And so far, that hasn’t happened3.
Despite all the mystery I enjoy creating about myself4, I do sometimes long for a signal that I can give out to indicate that — what I am saying is true. Not just true for me5, but true for you too. True6 for everyone!
I’m no stranger to shifting styles7, so what’s the harm in adding another?
I, respectfully8, introduce true for you style. You’re reading it right now! That’s certainly true9.
Truth means being right10, and being right is important11. In the marketplace of ideas12, it’s clear that the—
Let’s talk about clickbait.
Clickbait is when you trick the user into clicking your thing by promising one thing, but then giving a different thing. If they click, they take the bait, and you’ve gained a “view”. Congratulations.
There are many reasons why you might want someone to view your work. For example, you might want your work to reach people. On the other hand, you might want your work to reach people.
In the industry we call this impact, and we try to avoid it as much as we can.
But wait! Clickbait can sometimes make your work reach less people. It can reach the wrong people, or it can put people off.
Alternatively, it can put off the right people1314, and reach an audience that normally wouldn’t engage with that field.
There’s a huge misconception that clickbait is only about views. It certainly can be. But it can also be used as a medium in and of itself.
Everything we create is within a context. Everything we make has the subtext of what’s already out there in that field’s collective body of work. And clickbait is just another tool in your palette that you can use (or not) to varying effect.
With code, it’s all about execution. Everyone is transmitting their work and words with the hope of making something happen. Otherwise, there would be no point15.
And there’s no hiding from that. It’s not a bad thing. It’s not a cold thing. It’s a good thing! It’s an acknowledgement that we’re trying to make the world better.
Therefore, the question of whether to use “clickbait” or not is a matter of “implementation”. Does it successfully achieve what you want it to achieve?
As we have discussed at length, certain mediums are better at expressing certain things.
Computers are good at expressing a feeling of direct manipulation and responsiveness, and no other artform can do this. And I quote, without comment, from the great Bret Victor: “this responsiveness is not something we’ve ever had in a visual art medium before.”16
So we must ask, what is the native artform of clickbait? Like Bret, I’m not talking about what is commonly done with clickbait. I’m talking about what can be done with clickbait.
I would say that clickbait can express17 a certain level of rebellion and surrealism18 that no other—
Is clickbait the right word for my work?
Multiple people have told me that my videos have a “clickbait” feeling to them. And I can see what they mean behind some of them192021. But that’s not how I usually think of it.
I think… in other mediums, we’d just say that “the film has some twists”, but I suppose… I post my films on youtube, so those twists get called “clickbait”.
In some ways, I try to avoid clickbait as much as I can. I make sure that the thumbnails are actually thumbnails, except for one video in particular that has a non-thumbnail thumbnail as a silly joke callback.
I think that… when people talk about my work as being “clickbait”, what they actually mean is that it’s “provocative”. So now we can start this blog post for real.
What does it mean to be provocative?
It’s when you “poke the bear”, trying to get a reaction.
If you kindly ask a bear to speak, it won’t do it. But if you poke it, it certainly will.
Some people (with larger, more prestigious platforms than me) don’t need to poke. Their words carry more weight. And I used to think that I should try to build up a voice like that.
But as time went on, I realised and discovered certain things that made me change course. Here they are.
If I had continued life as a straight-passing man, maybe I’d be more happy staying safe, and unprovocative. Or more likely, I wouldn’t have the same fearlessness I now have about “mixing the personal” with my own work.
All my work is deeply personal and political, and much of that doesn’t call for respectability — it actively rejects it23.
Here in the London coding scene, a new event venue has recently popped up, spewing all sorts of vile anti-trans, anti-tolerance rubbish. And it has put on some mainstream events already. If we just sit back and stay respectful, then these things will be allowed to continue, and they’ll get worse.
I think that some people would say to me that all of these things are separate, and unconnected. One could argue that “those hateful people are one thing” but “that doesn’t mean you should be provocative at other times2425”. And I guess that’s where we disagree.
I do think that these things are all connected — these fields are blended. To me, there is no “art” and “science” and “politics” and “research” and “philosophy” and “trying to go to the loo” — there is only “work” — and “work” is what I do.
So I will continue to get across my same provocative and rebellious message in all the fields I take part in, whether people like it or not.
Any questions? Do we have time for questions?
Back to the wikiblogarden.
I’m currently writing this one and I haven’t finished it yet. ↩