Monday Buzz: Tell a Story with a Solution Headline

Readers love solutions.

Solutions Journalism Network  (opens in a new tab) partnered with The Huffington Post to test out what kind of headlines gain more traction: those with, or without, a solution tease.

The experiment shows people are more apt to click on solution-based headlines, although researchers from the Engaging News Project, which helped fund the study, say the difference wasn’t  (opens in a new tab) sizable: The solutions headline garnered more page views 56% of the time, while the non-solutions headline attracted more clicks 40% of the time.

“On balance, solutions headlines yield more clicks than non-solutions headlines – but the difference is modest and many other factors also affect the number of clicks received by each headline,” researchers Natalie Jomini Stroud, Ph.D., and Alex Curry said in the report.

Clicks were boosted when “mysterious” groups or locations not identified in the headlines piqued peoples’ interest. Speaking to the reader by including “you” didn’t necessarily prompt clicks, nor did adding the word “simple” to solutions shared in headlines.

Take a look at the full report  (opens in a new tab) [PDF] here.

Tweet of the Day

PETA re-release Prince’s pro-vegan song ‘Animal Kingdom’ https://t.co/nqxOPU2YBS  (opens in a new tab) pic.twitter.com/oWl57bSmpd  (opens in a new tab)

— NME (@NME) June 5, 2016  (opens in a new tab)

Prince’s birthday is tomorrow, June 7, and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is honoring  (opens in a new tab) the late pop star’s vegan lifestyle by re-releasing “Animal Kingdom.”

Prince recorded and gave the pro-vegan anthem to PETA in 1999 to mark its 20th anniversary. And the group is making it evergreen content by pairing it with  (opens in a new tab) a “veg pledge” for fans to go vegan every year on Prince’s birthday. (Stream or download the song for free at the PETA website  (opens in a new tab).)

Other Links for Your Day

Failure stings. Being overly self-critical when reflecting on a failure during a job interview may cost you the position, but you can benefit from putting a positive spin on mistakes. Lifehacker contributor Kristin Wong, citing writer Kat Boogaard  (opens in a new tab), explains that it is critical to consider the lessons you learned from an effort that didn’t work out.

Chat messaging is taking over. No, we’re not talking about AOL Instant Messenger, though some people still use that. New chat apps are challenging internet browser and social network power, Chris Moore explains on CMSWire  (opens in a new tab).

Muhammad Ali is a legend. He passed away on Friday, and in honor of his life, Inc.’s Peter Economy shared several of his quotes  (opens in a new tab) to motivate us all in our life goals.