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The evolution of online news headlines

Author

Listed:
  • Pietro Nickl

    (Max Planck Institute for Human Development
    Faculty of Life Sciences
    Max Planck School of Cognition)

  • Mehdi Moussaïd

    (Max Planck Institute for Human Development
    Mohammed VI Polytechnic University)

  • Philipp Lorenz-Spreen

    (Max Planck Institute for Human Development
    TUD Dresden University of Technology)

Abstract

As the written word has moved online, new technological affordances and pressures – such as accelerated cycles of production and consumption – have changed how news headlines are produced and selected. Previous literature has linked certain strategies (e.g., clickbait) and linguistic features (e.g., length, negativity) to the success of text online (e.g., clicks). We tracked changes in the prevalence of those features in a sample of ca. 40 million news headlines across the last two decades from English-language outlets worldwide, focusing on the period in which the headline format adapted to the online context. We drew from a broad set of lexical, syntactic and semantic features from the literature to find the signature of the transition to online formats in the journalistic output of the last two decades. Many – but not all – of these features have become more prevalent over time, such as length and negativity. This systematic shift appeared across news outlets from different countries, political leanings, and of different journalistic quality. This may indicate an adaptation to the new affordances and pressures of the digital, online environment, and raises questions for the design of online environments in the future.

Suggested Citation

  • Pietro Nickl & Mehdi Moussaïd & Philipp Lorenz-Spreen, 2025. "The evolution of online news headlines," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-13, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palcom:v:12:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-025-04514-7
    DOI: 10.1057/s41599-025-04514-7
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    References listed on IDEAS

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