• ORbituary@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        17·
        9 days ago

        Beast looks so fucking psychotic to me. Like, there’s something really unsettling about him, even when it’s not these stupid AI enhanced thumbnails. I wonder what percentage of the populace cannot see this? I feel like he’s going to be discovered as a murderer or have a dungeon with a bunch of people tied up one day.

        • Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de
          2·
          2 days ago

          i feel this way about the vast majority of capitalist slop, it’s genuinely profoundly unnerving and the idea that normal people see it and actively think it’s appealing makes me fucking terrified, it makes them feel like skinwalkers who’ll have The Thing sprout of out their flesh one day

  • Quetzalcutlass@lemmy.worldEnglish
    8·
    8 days ago

    May I recommend DeArrow by the same devs as SponsorBlock? It replaces clickbait thumbnails with either one chosen by the community or a screenshot from the middle of the video. It also replaces clickbait titles with more neutral and descriptive ones picked by the community.

    • sad_detective_man@sopuli.xyzOPEnglish
      4·
      8 days ago

      i dont personally need it but somebody probably will.

      I would want something similar if it stopped creators from changing thumbnails and video titles on the user-end every couple of weeks. That bothers me more than the youtube face.

      • Quetzalcutlass@lemmy.worldEnglish
        5·
        8 days ago

        That’s a YouTube thing, actually. Creators can give a video multiple titles and thumbnails and YouTube will automatically A/B test them to see which gets more clicks. If the video randomly switched, either you swapped tests (happens all the time with multiple devices) or the uploader picked a more successful (read: clickbaity) alternative.

        You can check for this by adding a video to the top of a playlist. The playlist header always uses the true thumbnail of the first video, so it’ll be different from the thumbnail in the video list if you’re not in the A group.

          • Quetzalcutlass@lemmy.worldEnglish
            4·
            8 days ago

            It’s both. The dumb faces and titles are unfortunately extremely effective at getting random clicks. The A/B testing is to find the more effective of a few options, which again will almost always be the worst sort of engagement bait.

            • Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de
              2·
              2 days ago

              i always find this funny because i’ve noticed myself only clicking on videos once someone changes the thumbnail in dearrow, most clickbait thumbnails and titles are literally less interesting to me than a dry description of what the video is about

              you’d think youtube could use the ability to show different thumbnails to different people so i’m not shown things that clearly actively makes some people not click on videos, but of course they are incapable of considering anything but appealing to the majority…

              • Quetzalcutlass@lemmy.worldEnglish
                1·
                2 days ago

                Give them time. Eventually enough of their engineers with integrity will leave the company, and micro-targeting users to maximize engagement will be on the table. They’re solidly in the “growth at any cost” mindset.

            • sad_detective_man@sopuli.xyzOPEnglish
              2·
              8 days ago

              okay. so that’s a niche bit of knowledge. do you make videos too or are you just a little obsessed with watching youtube like I am?

              • Quetzalcutlass@lemmy.worldEnglish
                2·
                8 days ago

                Some YouTuber I watch explained the system. I can’t remember exactly which one though.

                I think Linus Tech Tips also did a video on the system at some point, but I’m not subscribed so I couldn’t link to it.

    • sad_detective_man@sopuli.xyzOPEnglish
      8·
      9 days ago

      This is one of the few things I still remember about the show. I’m 80% sure it was when Gabriel traps the gang in a series of primetime television gags to try and scare them into going along with God’s biblical apocalypse prophecy. The mouth thing was some kind of fuckery he was doing to mess with them.

  • samus12345@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    51·
    8 days ago

    I hate it, too, but I can’t fault them for doing it because it gets them views. It’s people in general’s fault for being more likely to click.

  • cheeseburger@piefed.caEnglish
    3·
    8 days ago

    Not just youtubers, that’s how my little brother and all his friends still “smile” in every picture they’re in. They’re all millennials, so I think millenials invented it, especially since they were the ones who blew up on YouTube to begin with. Now they’re passing it on the the Zoomers and beyond!