Headline: Canadian Lu Dort, two others ejected after Thunder-Spurs scuffle
https://www.sportsnet.ca/nba/article/canadian-lu-dort-two-others-ejected-after-thunder-spurs-scuffle
This headline resonated with me because it informed me of something I didn’t know about, just enough to know something happened, but not clearly. I wanted more information on what happened during the game to get these 3 people ejected and who the other two people were, which is a working example of the curiosity gap.[i] The headline provided a perfect teaser of what happened during that game for me to want more knowledge, I had decided to skip the game because the spurs are one of the worst teams in the league but the way this headline presented the game made it seems very exciting. This headline also resonated with me because it brought me the details fast, I likely would’ve continued to scroll if I had to read anything more before getting to the point. In hindsight, I was definitely hooked in three seconds, demonstrating the effectiveness of getting down to it quickly. I personally follow the OKC Thunder because of their two Canadian players, one being Lu Dort. There is an audience for people like myself which this headline calls to directly, hitting that key point for us at the very beginning. This headline being just over 60 characters is an added reason to why its so captivating for me, making me aware that Lu Dort and two others got ejected was just enough info for me to need more.[ii] This directness not only helps people’s ability to quickly skim the title but it also helps for SEO purposes, fitting in the optimal length range for popular sites. The final piece which made this headline get my attention is the strong verbs, making it feel like 3 people were just ejected from a game and this is must-know information. Overall the verbs help to create urgency in the circumstance, reading it still makes it feel like this just happened.
[i] Briscoe, W6 Headline Secrets, Slide 7
[ii] Briscoe, W6 Class Discussion
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