Pet peeve: the media's overuse of the phrase 'you need to know'

'You need to know.'  It's a simple phrase, but it's one that irritates me.

So many websites, Twitter accounts, Facebook pages and other kinds of social media use that phrase.

To begin with, it was catchy. '5 things you need to know about (________)'

Now?  The incessant overuse of this phrase has turned me off of it entirely.

It's kind of insulting --- probably because I see it so many times each day.

Don't tell me what I need to know.

Don't treat me like a child.

Don't try to educate me on what you think is important.

Don't try to tell me how to think, period.

Maybe just give me some info?  Let me decide if I 'need to know' it.


I mean, really, what do any of us need to know?  Probably not 5 to 10 things about a movie or about some singer's personal relationship or about the new season of a TV show.

I'm probably overthinking this simple statement but that's what I've ended up at after seeing it dozens of times a day: philosophizing about 4 little words.


It's a headline.  Nothing more.  Nothing less, but I'm asking those who come up with the headlines for social media pages and websites to do better.

Be more creative when brainstorming for the day.

The phrase that was once creative and catchy is now mundane and annoying.

That concludes my pet peeve rant.  I'm climbing down off my soapbox now.

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