This is a subject that cuts deep for me, because of where I got my start and the multitude of jobs I’ve had. If you’ve spent much time on social media, you’ve probably noticed that there’s a lot of garbage on it. Not only that, but there’s a lot of garbage that draws in a lot of eyeballs.
And unfortunately, that’s because of A.I. websites pushing clickbait and feeding off rage. Even more unfortunately, sports is one of the biggest offenders of A.I. clickbait rage.
On Sunday, I came across yet another offender: a Facebook post claiming that the Las Vegas Raiders had faced punishment from the National Football League for refusing to make a post for Pride Month, and coach Pete Carroll’s response to Roger Goodell.
Predictably, the comments were filled with transphobes and homophobes applauding Carroll for this supposed stance. Just as predictably, the story was completely untrue.
Yes, that is the Raiders doing exactly what the piece claimed that the NFL was punishing them for not doing. There were eight teams that chose not to make a Pride Month post, but the Raiders were not one of them. So the main point of the post was based on a lie, the first and biggest problem.
Knowing the Details
The second was another fairly obvious problem with A.I. clickbait rage: the bots couldn’t have picked a worse team to claim was guilty of opting out of Pride Month.
Over the past year, I’ve learned a lot about the Raiders’ history of diversity and inclusion from my friend Jem. Jem is a wealth of information about her beloved Raiders, and if you haven’t seen her content before, you should absolutely check it out. Even if you’re not a fan of the Raiders, which I am not, she offers so much information that anyone interested in football history can get a lot from her content.
Anyway, one of the things I’ve learned from Jem is how diversity and inclusion have been as integral to the Raiders’ brand as their iconic silver and black. They hired the NFL’s first Black head coach in Art Shell. They hired the NFL’s first female CEO in Amy Trask.
Most importantly to this topic, the Raiders were the first team in NFL history to have an openly gay player on the field in a regular season game.
Carl Nassib remains the only openly gay player to see the field in an NFL regular season game. (Michael Sam got drafted as an openly gay player, but never played outside of preseason.) And he did that for the Raiders in 2022 and the Buccaneers in 2023. More importantly, it was with the Raiders when Nassib felt supported enough to come out of the closet.
This speaks to the Raiders’ culture. They would never fail to acknowledge Pride Month because rejecting Pride Month would go against everything they have always stood for as a franchise. And knowing the Raiders’ culture and history would have made clear within seconds that this story was fabricated.
Shoddy Content
Finally, the piece itself was a joke. The opening paragraph referred to Pete Carroll as still coaching the Seattle Seahawks. Given that the piece was about the Raiders, that’s kind of a glaring oversight.
But this is what happens with A.I. clickbait rage pieces. The details are irrelevant. The facts are irrelevant. The content is poor at best.
Keep in mind: this is NOT the same as an honest mistake. It used to be that legacy media was the most trusted option, while other sites were the Wild West. With the rise of Substack and the decline of newspapers, that has changed. But credibility is still a writer’s capital.
When someone like Matt Lombardo or Craig Meyer or Griffin Olah or myself gets things wrong, we admit it and try to do better next time. We’re human. It's going to happen. But we own up to our mistakes and fix them whenever we can. And that’s because we care about the content we produce.
A.I. clickbait rage isn’t like that. If they get it wrong, they’re on to the next piece. That’s one reason why the Mark Twain saying “A lie will fly around the whole world while the truth is getting its boots on” exists. Sites that lie don’t waste time trying to be accurate.
How Can We Fight Back?
The best thing we can do with A.I. clickbait rage is to recognize when we’re being lied to online. Once we do, the best thing to do is refuse to engage.
Unfortunately, people don’t usually go online to learn. When you correct them, they’ll instead double down on the inaccurate claim. They don’t want to educate themselves; they want to confirm their own biases.
So what can we do?
Look at the source. Is it trustworthy? A Substack writer or a legacy media member who has been posting for years is probably credible. A random site that you’ve never heard of probably isn’t.
Look at the claim being made. Does it make sense? Or is it meant to be controversial? If the piece is claiming an athlete or coach or team did something that conflicts their known values, it’s probably A.I. clickbait rage.
Use the true/false testing strategy. You might remember this from elementary and middle school: if any part of the statement is false, the entire statement must be false. For clickbait, use a modified version: if any of the details in the piece are false, there’s a good chance the whole thing is false.
Don’t engage the trolls. Once you know a piece is false, it doesn’t do you any good to correct a troll or bot. Just block the account and move on.
Support writers and sites that earn your trust. Having the support of your readers allows you to do more with your site and your work. If you can support someone whose work you enjoy, it makes a big difference.
A.I. clickbait rage isn’t going away anytime soon. But we can lessen its impact by focusing on what matters instead of the newest rage-baiting trend. Knowing what to look for and what doesn’t make sense makes a big difference.
