Wasn’t it just Tuesday that the Macalope was chiding Business Insider for its master link-baiting? Well, here on Wednesday, the publication’s outdone itself. Again.
The piece (as always, no link) is titled “Here Are Some Of The Crazy Things Apple Fanboys Believe That Aren’t Actually True.” And (waiiiiit forrrr iiiiit…)…
…it’s a ten-page slideshow.
You know, when “Web journalism” is one day brought before a wrathful God to answer for its crimes against humanity, this may well be exhibit #1. Does anyone need further proof that Business Insider is not writing for anything but clicks from angry Apple fans?
The entire piece can be accurately described as “content-free”; Business Insider’s Matt Lynley has created a veritable corn field full of straw men that he then lights on fire because, well, they sure do burn purty, don’t they?
The last item on the list is simply “Apple fanboys will believe just about anything they read.” Wait, how is that one of the “Crazy Things Apple Fanboys Believe That Aren’t Actually True”? Others include “Apple computers are immune to viruses and malware” and “Apple devices don’t crash.” None of them are true, of course. OK, yes, you could find one commenter somewhere who believes each of the items on this list, just like you could find a commenter somewhere who believes any other crazy crap. Like “Business Insider is a respectable news site.”
But it’s not really worth bothering to reply to the items on this list, because no group of enthusiasts of any subject could be held to that standard of perfection. This list is more accurately a list of crazy things people think we believe.
It’s easy to blame Business Insider. It’s also accurate, because jerkbags like Lynley and his boss obviously care nothing about accuracy or writing anything of value—they’re just interested in garnering page views. But it takes two to link-bait. Yes, dear readers, part of the fault lies not in the stars, but in ourselves. And when the Macalope says “stars” in this instance he more means whimsical drawings by Kurt Vonnegut that look like stars. (Warning: crude joke by one of the greatest literary minds of the 20th century.)
This isn’t complicated. The Macalope likes to give the benefit of the doubt to the serial jerks he takes to task. Maybe they really believe what they’re saying. Maybe they don’t know any better. But Blodget and Business Insider have made their intentions pretty clear. And by linking to Business Insider, even to say “Get a load of these whimsical drawings by Kurt Vonnegut!”, we drive traffic to them. Which is what they want in the first place. The more traffic we drive to them, the more ridiculous crap they have to come up with. How long can this go on before they just start showing up drunk at our workplaces, trying to take a swing at us?
For them, for us: Stop. Linking. To. Business. Insider.
Only you can end the cycle of abuse.
Because they apparently won’t.
[Editors’ Note: In addition to being a mythical beast, the Macalope is not an employee of Macworld. As a result, the Macalope is always free to criticize any media organization. Even ours.]