From the Editor’s Desk: Misleading (Premium)

Last week, I saw a tech story about iPhone 15 Pro owners experiencing screen burn-in issues. As the owner of one of these expensive devices, I was understandably concerned about this problem and so I read further. And I discovered that an upcoming system update, iOS 17.1 would fix this problem, as it’s not really burn-in but rather a “screen retention issue,” a software problem that mimics burn-in (which is a physical problem and not solvable once it happens).

And then it happened. The next day, I saw multiple headlines in my tech feed indicating that iOS 17.1 had arrived. “iOS 17.1 changes iPhone 15 Pro Action Button behavior.” “iOS 17.1 fixes various iPhone 15 problems — but not this annoying bug.” “iOS 17.1 Allows AirDrop Transfers to Continue Over Cellular on iPhone.” And others. So, I did the obvious: I picked up my iPhone and navigated into the Software Update interface in Settings with the intention of installing this update immediately.

There was just one problem: Apple had not released iOS 17.1. Instead, iOS 17.0.3 was still the latest version, and that’s what was installed on my iPhone. “iOS is up to date,” it told me.

So, I went back and reexamined those headlines. Was I missing something?

Yes and no. Those headlines were purposefully written to be misleading. When I opened each, I saw that iOS 17.1 was still being beta-tested and would hopefully be released soon. This is information that should have been in the headlines, a change that would not impact whether I or any other reader would click into the articles. For example, “iOS 17.1 to change iPhone 15 Pro Action Button behavior” is no less clear or interesting than “iOS 17.1 changes iPhone 15 Pro Action Button behavior.”

Misleading headlines are a huge problem in personal technology, just as they are elsewhere. And while I could regale you with tales of the misleading health and nutrition headlines I see, for example, in the mainstream press, I’d like to confine this conversation to what matters most to me right now. Our world. Personal technology. And there are many offenders.

The worst that I see, by far, is Neowin. And because this site’s headlines pop up in my tech feed so often, I am treated to an incommensurate number of poorly written headlines each day. I can forgive bad writing; we all have those horrible moments of typewritten confusion. What I cannot forgive is writing that deliberately misleads. And when it comes to headlines, there is no site quite like Neowin in my tech feed. I have spent months and months trying to passive-aggressively convince them to stop writing these headlines by mocking them on Twitter. But they are as immune to that as they are to writing accurately. And I’ve had it.

Here are the most recent examples as I write this.

Windows 11 Subsystem for Android updated with graphics improvements and more. As with my iPhone example above, this suggests that this WSA update is generally available, but this update is only available to Windows Insiders. This is Neowin’s biggest and most common sin, confusing readers by implying or outright stating that some update is generally available when in fact it’s just being tested by Insiders right now.

Windows 11 build 25977 now lets you install network drivers during the initial setup (OOBE). Another example of the same problem: “Build 25977” is in the Insider Program, so this doesn’t impact actual Windows 11 users.

Windows 11 gets improved location permissions. This is the worst one from today. It just says Windows 11, which should remove all ambiguity: Windows 11 is a very specific thing, like a latte is a very specific thing, and that thing, in this case, is the operating system that real people are using out in the world, what I might call “stable” if I needed to clarify. However, these “improved location permissions” are not available in Windows 11. They are being tested in the Canary channel of the Windows Insider Program, the place where Microsoft “previews platform changes that require longer lead time before getting released to customers.” So they’re as far from release as is possible and, worse, “some of the changes [Microsoft tries] out in the Canary Channel will never ship.” Including these improved location permissions. Obviously.

And those are just from one day. This site spews out these types of headlines every single day.

I hate doing this. There are real people behind this writing. Good people, I’m sure. But I am calling them out here because they are hurting their readers. As I pointed out on Twitter today, journalists, bloggers, and anyone else who writes news for a tech publication—for any publication really, but again, I’m trying to stay focused here—has one job to do:

Inform. Not mislead. Inform.

“You can help,” I wrote. “You can get out of the way. But you cannot get in the f’ing way. And that’s what misleading headlines do.”

Misleading headlines waste a reader’s time. For example, me checking my iPhone for that update or some poor fool wondering why the graphics improvements promised by that WSA update are not available on their production PC. We should be helping readers, not hurting them. That this is happening in an era of fake news and political misinformation makes this even more unconscionable. Have some standards, for crying out loud. Not journalistic standards, necessarily. Just respect for the people who read your content.

And before anyone raises the more traditional specter of “clickbait” headlines, I will point out something that’s perhaps not obvious to everyone. As a writer, I want people to read what I write. And crafting an enticing headline is part of the strategy to make that happen. The issue here is that what some believe to be “clickbait” headlines often are not that at all.

Consider for example the headline “Google’s Strict Anti-Spam Rules: What M365 Admins Need to Know!”, which Russell used for his most recent This Week in IT podcast. I came across a mean complaint in the comments claiming that this was “clickbait,” and not for the first time, I was reminded. Why on earth would I allow such a thing on my site?

Look, we can debate writing styles. Maybe you don’t like the use of exclamation points in a headline or whatever. (This doesn’t bother me.) But this is not a clickbait headline. It’s a catchy headline, for sure. It’s exactly the type of thing you see on YouTube these days, which, wait for it, is where these videos are hosted. But some clearly don’t understand what a clickbait headline even is. So I will define it for you.

A clickbait headline is a headline whose premise is not addressed—or, if the headline is a question, answered—by the underlying article (or, in this case, video). In other words, a clickbait headline tricks you into reading an article and then disappoints you by not providing the content that its headline promises. Russell’s headline is literally not clickbait because the discussion is literally about what Microsoft 365 administrators need to know. The headline is accurate. (And I summarily rejected the comment noted above.)

So what about these misleading headlines? Are they clickbait?

No. They’re not accurate, but they’re not technically clickbait either: “Windows 11 gets improved location permissions” isn’t even interesting let alone compelling enough to be called clickbait. But this kind of headline is ultimately the same problem as clickbait: The reader is tricked by the headline and is forced to read an article that offers different information from its headline. But misleading headlines aren’t just misleading, they’re pointless. At least there’s a strategy behind clickbait headlines. A horrible strategy, but a strategy nonetheless.

And seriously, how hard is it to write “Microsoft is testing improved location permissions for Windows 11” instead? Not hard at all. It’s no less compelling as a headline. It’s just a lot more accurate. It’s literally accurate.

Which is what we should demand.

I can forgive the occasional headline transgression or mistake, that’s fine, we’re all human. But I will not visit websites or blogs that engage in this behavior as a matter of course, and I will aggressively remove them from my tech feed so that I never see them again. As far as I’m concerned, life is too short for this nonsense.

I want to know what’s really happening. Doesn’t everyone?