ClickHole
ClickHole Logo
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| Motto | "Because all content deserves to go viral." |
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| Founded | June 12, 2014 |
| Purpose | To mock content shared on media sites. |
| Fields | Satire, clickbait, surreal humor |
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Official language
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English |
| Owner | The Onion Inc. |
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Key people
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Jermaine Affonso, editor |
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Staff
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30 members |
| Website | www.clickhole.com |
ClickHole is a satirical website from The Onion that parodies websites such as BuzzFeed and Upworthy. The clickbait parody site was launched on June 12, 2014. The creation of ClickHole comes in conjunction with The Onion's decision to stop its print edition, as the journal shifts its focus more toward the internet. According to ClickHole's senior editor, Jermaine Affonso, the website "is The Onion's response to click-bait content" and serves as "a parody of online media". Critics noted that, on a deeper level, ClickHole illustrates the shallow nature of content that is shared on social media as well as the desperation of media sites to share such content.
ClickHole aims to mock content posted on media sites, using satire, and tries to make its content sharable. According to its website, ClickHole wants "to make sure that all of [its] content panders to and misleads [its] readers just enough to make it go viral". In most of its posts, ClickHole tries to convey an underlying message, usually poking fun at social media users or societal behaviors. Despite the website's satirical intentions, ClickHole wants audience members to interpret its content as tongue-in-cheek.
The website aims to publish content frequently, setting a target of 7–10 new posts daily.
ClickHole publishes content in the form of articles, videos, quizzes, blogs, slideshows, and features.
Since being founded in June 2014, ClickHole has published parodies of nostalgic content, advice, motivational quotes, sport analysis, life hacks, fashion, and think-pieces (all of which mimic the style and tone of content posted by media sites such as Buzzfeed and Upworthy). Another popular feature is "oral histories" of TV shows, websites, and other usually very recent pop culture phenomena.
The ClickHole team meets frequently to brainstorm about new ideas and topics that can be written about. The team uses social media feeds as inspiration for topics to satirize, based on the clickbait that is shared most often. ClickHole ensures that its employees put detail into how each topic should be addressed from a satirical point of view, so that its ideas are conveyed successfully. It also was revealed that the team is still at a stage where it is experimenting with ideas to see what is best received by its audience.
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