Stop Writing Positive Articles:

What 1,000 Articles Reveal About Reader Engagement

Hey, what’s up, everyone? Ritz here, and today we’re diving into a topic that’s going to flip your content strategy on its head. We’re talking about why you should stop writing positive articles and what 1,000 articles reveal about reader engagement. Spoiler alert: negativity might just be your new best friend.

The Journey Begins

So, here’s the deal. As a business owner, I’ve got a lot on my plate — projects to manage, salaries to pay, and content to create. You know the drill. But I realized I was spending too much time working in my business rather than on it. That’s when I stumbled upon the world of AI in business. And let me tell you, it’s like discovering that your toaster can also make coffee. Mind-blowing, right?

The Experiment

I decided to put my engineering brain to work and dive into some data analysis. With the help of OpenAI’s o1-preview, I scraped over 1,000 articles to see what makes them tick. The goal? To find out how sentiment and emotional appeal in headlines affect reader engagement. And boy, did we find some interesting stuff.

Headline and Hook Analysis

First up, we looked at how different headline formats influence engagement. Headlines are like the front door to your article — if they’re not inviting, no one’s coming in. We analyzed formats like lists…