NASA is almost constantly struggling for budget, they need every eyeball they can get

Shallow clickbait makes me less inclined to support the institution, not more.

At a minimum, there are tradeoffs involved.

Right and they need to get the general public interested in this stuff, not nerds on the nerdsite

I think clickbait gets clicks, but doesn't build favorable sentiment or interest. I think this is true for the general public as well.

To this end it might make sense for a company/website paid based on click through engagement, but you will notice that most of those institutions are generally despised by the public.

I don't think being annoyed by clickbait is unique to nerds or such a sophisticated concept that the General Public can't comprehend it.

It's not like when NASA comes up for Budget approval being known as the agency that creates shitty clickbait articles will help them. In fact, I think it is exactly the kind of brand that they wouldn't want to build

They don't get budget by clickbait. How do I even as a registered voter have anything to do with NASA at all? I don't vote on their budget. I've never been offered to vote on a funding package for them. I chose from maybe two candidates as my representative on various levels of government, and am beholden to whatever platform they come up with.

Believe it or not politicians come up with their platforms largely based on the interests and desires of their constituents.

If NASA gets more people reading and learning about space, maybe more people will think it's a priority. It's not exactly rocket science.

Maybe it will get more people thinking space is just about garbage clickbait, and a waste of time and money.

if clickbait didn't work, they wouldn't keep using it

How exactly do you think they model and validate the relationship between clickbait and budget allocation or public sentiment.

it's all about those clicks baby

They come up with their platforms based on donors and their advertisers. Advertisers set the narratives in public discourse that inform public opinion. Politicians know where their bread is buttered. If NASA wants more money they should consider doing more secret squirrel stuff like they’ve done in the past. Its why satellites were funded. Its why apollo was funded. Its why the shuttle was funded. Little academic exercises are only going to get so much money compared to how much is sloshing around in defense related spending. Unfortunately for them I’m sure much of this space defense money they might have gotten otherwise goes to space force and other agencies that weren’t around or operating in space in the 1960s.