HuffPost tests headline efficacy

The one above probably won’t win any awards

Harvard’s Nieman Journalism Lab is pointing out a very clever strategy the Huffington Post has used to discover which headlines get the best clicks.

It’s been A/B testing in realtime. Half the users see one headline, half see a different one. After a certain amount of time, the headline which has got the most clicks so far becomes the one that everyone else sees.

That’s smart.

Why would I want to be friends with a corporation?

Sentry Parental Controls has just asked to be my Facebook friend. And this irritates me.

I don’t add people I haven’t actually met, and I don’t know Sentry from the Horseguards, so the answer’s a big fat finger on the ‘ignore’ button. But I’m annoyed that they would just send a friend request, to me in my personal space, without so much as an additional message explaining anything about them or why they might be relevant to me.

Sentry are friend-spammers.

I’ve no problem with marketing, but they’ve got completely the wrong strategy here. I haven’t heard of them before, but my first contact with them has been negative, so it’s likely that my first contact will be my last.

Why would I want to be friends with a corporation? Can’t think of many reasons, although Macfans will be able to tell you, but I bet an iPod lover’s relationship with Apple started small and personal and on the buyers terms and subsequently grew into something more meaningful. Like real friendships in fact.

Or is this the way digital relationships happen now? I hope not.