Every Lure Has a Target: Learning to Notice the Hook

I recently took up fishing as a hobby. Two good friends invited me to join them for a day out on the lake. In preparation for the trip, I visited a store to purchase some lures. As a novice fisherman, I was astonished by the variety available. I had no idea where to begin.

The science behind fishing lures is more sophisticated than I initially realized. Fish do not experience a lure only through its colour or appearance. Many species use vision to detect movement, contrast, shape, and potential prey. They also have a sensory system called the lateral line, which allows them to detect changes in water movement and pressure around their bodies. This means that a lure can attract attention not only by looking like food, but also by moving through the water in a way that produces vibrations or disturbances associated with prey.

The effectiveness of these signals depends on the fish and the conditions. A lure that is highly visible in clear water may be less effective in murky water. Colors appear different as light changes with depth, and vibration may become more important when visibility is poor. Angling research has even found that the colors associated with successful catches can shift with water clarity and the type of material clouding the water.

This is why experienced anglers do not simply ask which lure is best. They ask which lure is best for this species, in this water, at this depth, under these conditions. The lure is designed around the sensory characteristics of the fish and the environment in which the encounter occurs.

Much of the content we encounter online is developed in a similar way. Thumbnails use expressive faces and bold words. Headlines create curiosity, urgency, outrage, or fear. Videos begin with rapid movement or a provocative claim. Notifications flash, vibrate, and appear at carefully chosen moments. These features are designed to interrupt what we are doing, capture our attention, and prompt us to click, watch, respond, or continue scrolling.

This does not mean that all online content is deceptive or harmful. A fishing lure is not necessarily a bad product. It may be carefully made, highly effective, and perfectly suited to its purpose. The more important question is whether we understand what that purpose is.

When I first stood in front of the wall of lures, I could see their colours, shapes, and packaging. But because I knew so little about fishing, I could not interpret what I was seeing. I did not know which fish they were designed to attract, what conditions they were intended for, or how they were supposed to move through the water. Without that knowledge, I was vulnerable to choosing whatever looked most appealing to me.

The same thing can happen online. We see the surface features of a post, video, or headline without necessarily understanding why those features were selected. We notice that something is interesting, exciting, alarming, or difficult to ignore, but we do not always stop to ask what response it is trying to produce or what it was designed to achieve.

This is especially important for children and adolescents. Young people are learning to navigate environments created by people with far more knowledge about attention, motivation, reward, and persuasion than they possess themselves. Their responses are often framed as problems of self-control or inattention:

Why did they click?

Why did they keep watching?

Why could they not put the phone down?

Why are they always so distracted?

These questions overlook the asymmetry of the situation. On one side is a developing person whose capacities for self-regulation, judgment, and critical appraisal are still maturing. Research on adolescent brain development shows that the executive functions involved in controlling attention, inhibiting impulses, and making deliberate decisions continue developing throughout adolescence. At the same time, frequent experience with digital technology does not automatically give young people the deeper critical skills needed to recognize how information, persuasion, tracking, and platform design shape what they encounter.

On the other side is a highly refined digital environment capable of monitoring patterns of engagement, identifying what attracts a particular user, and continually placing similar content in front of them. Features such as autoplay, endless feeds, notifications, personalized recommendations, and visible measures of social approval can make it easier to continue than to stop. Digital environments are continually learning which signals are most likely to produce another click, view, or response.

Condemning a fish for being attracted to a lure specifically designed to attract it is a little like condemning children and adolescents for responding to content specifically designed to capture and hold their attention.

Thankfully, humans are not driven by instinct alone. Children and adolescents can learn to recognize how their attention is being targeted. They can develop the knowledge and critical-thinking skills needed to pause before responding.

We do not need to make young people afraid of every piece of digital content. Nor should we teach them that everything online is manipulation. Instead, we can help them become more knowledgeable observers.  We can help them notice the hook — and we can ask alongside them: What emotion is this trying to create? What happened right before you clicked? Did the content deliver what it promised? Who benefits if you keep watching? 

These conversations are more useful when they are collaborative rather than accusatory. Rather than trying to catch young people making poor choices, we should help them recognize patterns they may not yet be able to see for themselves. Over time, questions first asked by an adult can become questions young people learn to ask internally.

These questions create a small but important space between the signal and the response. In that space, instinct no longer has to make the decision alone. Critical thought has an opportunity to enter.

As I become a more experienced fisherman, the wall of lures will probably become less confusing. I will begin to recognize patterns. I will understand which features matter, which are mostly decoration, and which lure is suited to the conditions in front of me.

Digital literacy develops in much the same way. It involves more than knowing how to operate a device or search for information. It includes understanding how online environments are designed, recognizing when our attention is being targeted, and deciding whether the invitation in front of us deserves a bite. A fish has no choice but to bite. Young people do — but only if someone has taught them to notice the line before they feel the hook.