Things That Can Statistically Kill You Next Week (for 15 to 35-Year-old Western Viewers) - eviltoast
  • JoshuaFalken@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    9
    ·
    2 months ago

    Unfortunately, when these types of titles draw views, this trend won’t be slowing down any time soon.

    I’d encourage people to look into the DeArrow extension, which replaces both clickbait titles (like how OP did on this post) and the thumbnail to remove the eye catching nature of the originals.

    One of the many mechanisms within the YouTube algorithm these days is a feature that allows creators to upload multiple thumbnails, and the system switches between them to see which one works better for which audience. From what I’ve heard, this thumbnail feature even leads to years old videos being ‘revived’ and pulling in additional ad revenue for the creator.

    That’s great for the creators, but it does have this side effect where the - let’s say quality - of thumbnails and titles is sliding in a less that ideal direction. Though this could be said of the platform, or even the internet, in general.

    • ironhydroxide@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      2 months ago

      Ah, I wondered why I’ve clicked on a video to then realize I’ve watched the whole thing already, and didn’t intend to again.

      • JoshuaFalken@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        2 months ago

        Perhaps that is one of the intended purposes - to trick people into thinking its a new video, so more ads are delivered by such mistakes.

        Some more analytically inclined creators have been aware of this musical thumbnail game long before YouTube implemented what I described. They would just do it manually before, or perhaps even had custom software to do it for them.

        I’m not aware of any option that allows creators to enter multiple titles in the same fashion as the thumbnail mechanism, though it wouldn’t surprise me. There have long been videos that dynamically change their titles based on video analytics. Perhaps most famously exemplified by Tom Scott.