this post was submitted on 16 Jul 2023
3087 points (99.9% liked)

Technology

59574 readers
3041 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.


Our Rules


  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related content.
  3. Be excellent to each another!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed

Approved Bots


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] Acid@startrek.website 108 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Really good extension, I've added it to my browser.

While some creators like Linus have said they dislike the clickbaity titles and thumbnails but they have to do it due to engagement that's simply because the younger generations are the ones engaging with that content. As an older person I'd rather just have a to the point description of what I'm going to get.

[–] Flaky@iusearchlinux.fyi 44 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I might get it for the titles alone. The clickbaity thumbnails don't really bother me, but I'd like to have a good title at least.

[–] Acid@startrek.website 21 points 1 year ago

Yeah the titles are actually a huge draw for me.

I'm going to set the fallback thumbnail to the original instead of a random thumbnail. The randomly generated thumbnails are too out of context to be useful.

[–] setsneedtofeed@lemmy.world 37 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

I don’t think it can be said to conclusively be an age issue. I assure you that many Boomers and older Xers love clickbait titles.

It’s a more granular demographic than just age.

[–] JeffCraig@citizensgaming.com 14 points 1 year ago

It's definitely an intelligent based issue, not necessarily age.

[–] Acid@startrek.website 3 points 1 year ago

Maybe but I can only go with my own anecdotal experience and It tends to be the younger audience more attracted to them.

Of course, I fully admit I may be completely wrong.

[–] Tanoh@lemmy.world 28 points 1 year ago (1 children)

There is a reason clickbait images and titles are used, they work. If they didn't work, no one would use them.

[–] eskimofry@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago (4 children)

You must think marketing is made of infallible geniuses. Just because it exists doesn't make it good.

[–] spacedancer@lemmy.world 19 points 1 year ago

They didn’t say it was good, just that it’s what works; that’s why it’s everywhere.

[–] Lumidaub@feddit.de 13 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Nobody said "good", but if it keeps existing, it works or at least isn't harmful. Bit like evolution.

[–] Rodeo@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Or there are people with an interest in keeping it that way.

I don't think there's any big conspiracy about YouTube titles, but let's not pretend thing like wealth inequality still exist because they're not harmful.

[–] Lumidaub@feddit.de 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

What "interest" would they have to keep it that way if it wasn't working?

Wealth inequality exists because it works for the people who have the power to control it. In a way, it's not harmful ENOUGH to change evolutionarily.

[–] Rodeo@lemmy.ca -1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Are you serious? You literally answered your own question with the very next sentence.

[–] Lumidaub@feddit.de 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

What? The original argument was "Just because it exists doesn’t make it good.", implying that it (click-bait thumbnails) doesn't necessarily work. To which I said that the fact that it exists means it works. To which you seemed to object by saying that there may be people who have an interest in it existing - like they want it to exist despite it actually not working. I'm confused about what it is you're saying.

[–] Rodeo@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You can go and read my comment again if you're confused. It's pretty clear that I was saying your original argument might apply to YouTube titles, but doesn't apply in many other parts of life.

[–] Lumidaub@feddit.de 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Since Youtube is what we were talking about, I see no reason to assume that wasn't what you were talking about. Also, I do think that the principle can be applied in most situations, some more easily, some less.

[–] Rodeo@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Me: "thing like wealth inequality"

You: "oh he must still be talking about YouTube!"

Please

[–] Lumidaub@feddit.de 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Your original comment said nothing about wealth inequality.

[–] Rodeo@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] Lumidaub@feddit.de 1 points 1 year ago

Wasn't you then, cool. It's been a while since this nonsense started. Even worse though, you brought up an entirely different thing out of nowhere. Have a nice life.

[–] HughJanus@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] PipedLinkBot@feddit.rocks 2 points 1 year ago

Here is an alternative Piped link(s): https://piped.video/watch?v=S2xHZPH5Sng

Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.

I'm open-source, check me out at GitHub.

[–] Pregnenolone@lemmy.world 1 points 11 months ago

Good is what generates money. If it works it’s good

[–] raltoid@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Don't forget that creators will release a video that you might want to watch later and then change the information.

You'll see a video you want to check tomorrow but not enough to add it to the "watch later". But when you check your subscriptions the next day it's been 12+ hours and they've changed the title and thumbnail to further game the algorithm.