I don't want to click. I really don't. I've been fooled before. Many times in fact, around 9am and 3pm each day I get suckered. So this time I'm resolute in my decision...and yet the question lingers: What if this story is the one? What if this story is as exciting as the headline promises? What if? What if..?

You know how the rest of the story goes, dear readers. And you probably also know that this business is getting out of hand. But what the hell are you gonna do? Well, we here at Swellnet know what we're gonna do...

...and thus we bring you the top 6 clickbaiting sites in surfdom.

1) The Inertia. Was it ever gonna go to anyone else? The surfing world's Huffington Post has posted some genuinely great stories since its inception, and some of the most audacious clickbaits yet seen. Terabytes of Alana Blanchard, gigabytes of twerking, megabytes of shark leads, and shitloads of Top Ten lists are the defining feature of surfing's definitive online community.

2) Surfing Life. Australia's Surfing Life, which used to be known as Australia's Surfing Life, but is now just Surfing Life which comes from Australia, has taken the bait so to speak. Following The Inertia's lead they've rejigged their editorial output. A two part story with a friend of a person who saw a shark encounter was a recent highlight, as was the list of places to get waves in Brazil. We wait with baited breath (ha!) for more of this output.

3) The ASP. While not strictly clickbait I've made an executive decsion to include them due to their social media campaign. Photos of the big day at Cloudbreak when the ASP cancelled the comp, photos of Backdoor that aren't Backdoor, lame motivational poster captions that shoot for an Arthur and Martha level of sophistication - and still fall short. 

4) Tracks. With a flash new website to fill Tracks have started putting everything in its right place. 'The 5 best unsponsored surfers', '5 surfing no-no's', '5 Teenagers that will redefine big wave surfing', and the rather vague '10 Tracks Surfing Facts'. It's all very ordered and organised, perpendicular and parallel. Comforting indeed.

5) STAB. Rather than a new sensation, shock tactics have long been STAB's raison d'etre. They ain't new to the big talkin' headline, and to be fair they've got the chutzpah to pull it off. But the internet is a hungry old beast and like others they're finding the best snack is a short run list with maybe a female arse as lead pic to, you know, bait the readers in.

6) The Inertia. Fuck it, I can't think of any other site worth mentioning so in they go again. 

There, it's done. But we all know where the blame really lies, don't we dear readers? Just as we get the pollies we deserve so do we get the stories we demand. The solution, however, is easier said than done: Just...don't...click...