I think what is happening is people are only understanding part of what true, effective linkbait is, or what my definition of the word is. I think for a proper detailed discussion of the topic of linkbait we have to stop using the term.

Strip things back a little to get some perspective.

It's about:
Getting attention
Creating an emtional reaction in the reader
Motivating the reader to link.

Being good at only two of those steps will mean you fail.

It's no different to getting a girl to go out with you.

Get her attention
Create an emotional response towards you
Motivate her to answer yes to you.

Absolutely the same principle.

We are talking about pre civilisation motivation. This is caveman stuff, deep down, noble savage type stuff.

Most people don't get that, they don't understand that they are dealing with something that has existed before human civilisation.

Talk about Digg and social media and stuff has nothing to do with it, I think you would agree.

So getting back to linkbait, I would argue that linkbait should not be good content, it should be fantastic content. The kind of content that makes you shout to your sleeping flatmate in the next room that he has to wake up and come and read.

It's the same with everything, if you don't give it enough time, if you don't study its constituent components, if you don't tear it apart to see how it works then you will never be able to implement it effectively.