This is the first time I've seen an article on the front page of Hacker News that has the phrase “here are” in the title.
I’ve noticed over the last few years this trend to add a superfluous “here is” or “here are” to a headline. Doing so add absolutely zero information, e.g., from the top three current Duck Duck Go search results for “here are”:
1. “Here Are All the Major Concerts Canceled Due to Coronavirus” – could just be “All the Major Concerts Canceled Due to Coronavirus”
2. “Coronavirus: Here Are 10 Misconceptions Being Spread” – this listicle could simply be titled “Coronavirus: 10 Misconceptions Being Spread” or “10 Coronavirus Misconceptions Being Spread”
3. “Have Children? Here Are 3 Tax Credits You Need to Know” – this listicle could be “Have Children? 3 Tax Credits You Need to Know”
In two of the above cases, it’s also not just the headline but the text body also. I get the psychology behind listicles (and other clickbait phrases such as ”you need to know”) but I don’t understand the rationale for inserting these two wholly superfluous words that neither inform the reader nor embellish the prose.
It’s had the opposite effect on me and I now have an internal heuristic of associating this practice with low quality information and I rarely – if ever – click on such links. Going by the comments on this article, it seems I was right in this case but surely, that’s the opposite of what the publishers intend.
I’ve noticed over the last few years this trend to add a superfluous “here is” or “here are” to a headline. Doing so add absolutely zero information, e.g., from the top three current Duck Duck Go search results for “here are”:
1. “Here Are All the Major Concerts Canceled Due to Coronavirus” – could just be “All the Major Concerts Canceled Due to Coronavirus”
2. “Coronavirus: Here Are 10 Misconceptions Being Spread” – this listicle could simply be titled “Coronavirus: 10 Misconceptions Being Spread” or “10 Coronavirus Misconceptions Being Spread”
3. “Have Children? Here Are 3 Tax Credits You Need to Know” – this listicle could be “Have Children? 3 Tax Credits You Need to Know”
In two of the above cases, it’s also not just the headline but the text body also. I get the psychology behind listicles (and other clickbait phrases such as ”you need to know”) but I don’t understand the rationale for inserting these two wholly superfluous words that neither inform the reader nor embellish the prose.
It’s had the opposite effect on me and I now have an internal heuristic of associating this practice with low quality information and I rarely – if ever – click on such links. Going by the comments on this article, it seems I was right in this case but surely, that’s the opposite of what the publishers intend.