Robert Reich doing that "Youtube Minstrel" face for his videos is the last straw. he may be having fun, but i draw the line with Youtube Minstrelsy.

he’s just fucking annoying.

@blogdiva

I’m not sure what a “YouTube minstrel face” looks like. ‍️

@KimberlyN @blogdiva

When they pose for the thumbnail with their mouth open and eyes popping out.

Just mugging it up.

This has been proven to increase engagement which I find deeply baffling.

This guy at the ants forum changed his thumbnails so every one was him going sort of "WHOA" to a photo of an ant and his views jumped. That's about when I stopped making ant videos. I don't get it.

@KimberlyN @blogdiva

People are much more likely to click on a video with a human face, ideally expressing extreme emotion. If there are other images that suggest a story or *mystery* even better.

This was true three years ago. I wonder if it is still true.

@futurebird
Ugh I hate this so much

Feels like an unpatched bug in the human wetware that is ruthlessly exploited by the YouTube recommender system

@KimberlyN @blogdiva

@trochee @KimberlyN @blogdiva

I have a plugin that replaces all thumbnails with random stills from the video. I just don't want to play the game. I don't want second guess if I'm being influenced or over correct. It also replaces the titles with simple user-submitted descriptions with the aim of removing click bait and hype.

The latter makes it much easier to find things I really want to see.

@futurebird
Ugh I hate this so much

Feels like an unpatched bug in the human wetware that is ruthlessly exploited by the YouTube recommender system

@KimberlyN @blogdiva

@futurebird Sponsorblock is another must-have! open-source, community-curated auto-skipping for sponsor ad reads.

Home

SponsorBlock is a crowdsourced browser extension to skip sponsor segments in YouTube videos.

(sponsor.ajay.app)

@futurebird Sponsorblock is another must-have! open-source, community-curated auto-skipping for sponsor ad reads.

Home

SponsorBlock is a crowdsourced browser extension to skip sponsor segments in YouTube videos.

(sponsor.ajay.app)

@dank

I adore sponsor block. I just showed it to my husband and it blew his mind.

@dank

I'm so deeply ad-blocked and click-bait blocked (and I don't really do things like Netflix or cable) that when I see an add on a screen on the subway I'm like a person from the past and horrified, scandalized, astonished, and generally much less able to cope than most people I think.

Because it's the only video ad I've seen all week ... maybe longer.

*clutching pearls*

"A motion picture advertisement! What is this nonsense!?"

@dank

"I was listening to my favorite video programme when the presenter proceeded to describe to me the benefits of a mail order service and it became aparent that this too was AN AD. Can you imagine?"

(when sponsor block fails... which happens maybe once a month. Mostly because I need to be the one to tag the start and end of the ad.)

@futurebird @dank
My son was three when he came across his first ad break. We happened to be watching The Simpsons on broadcast TV and when it got cut off he shouted "NO! NO!" and pointed at the TV demanding the show come back at once.

I feel like that when an ad makes it through.

@KimberlyN @blogdiva

When they pose for the thumbnail with their mouth open and eyes popping out.

Just mugging it up.

This has been proven to increase engagement which I find deeply baffling.

This guy at the ants forum changed his thumbnails so every one was him going sort of "WHOA" to a photo of an ant and his views jumped. That's about when I stopped making ant videos. I don't get it.

@futurebird @KimberlyN @blogdiva

I’ve said this before but…. A couple of months ago mr beast a/b tested his way to finding out that there's some incremental improvement in clickthrough rates in his videos if the thumbnail has him showing a toothy smile, and now any picture of him is just… that. It’s him, dead inside, making that toothy smiling face, unsolicited, at rest, even if the rest of his face can't muster the energy to cooperate.

This shit just … corrodes you. From the inside out.

@dank

I'm so deeply ad-blocked and click-bait blocked (and I don't really do things like Netflix or cable) that when I see an add on a screen on the subway I'm like a person from the past and horrified, scandalized, astonished, and generally much less able to cope than most people I think.

Because it's the only video ad I've seen all week ... maybe longer.

*clutching pearls*

"A motion picture advertisement! What is this nonsense!?"

@futurebird @KimberlyN @blogdiva

I’ve said this before but…. A couple of months ago mr beast a/b tested his way to finding out that there's some incremental improvement in clickthrough rates in his videos if the thumbnail has him showing a toothy smile, and now any picture of him is just… that. It’s him, dead inside, making that toothy smiling face, unsolicited, at rest, even if the rest of his face can't muster the energy to cooperate.

This shit just … corrodes you. From the inside out.

@trochee @KimberlyN @blogdiva

I have a plugin that replaces all thumbnails with random stills from the video. I just don't want to play the game. I don't want second guess if I'm being influenced or over correct. It also replaces the titles with simple user-submitted descriptions with the aim of removing click bait and hype.

The latter makes it much easier to find things I really want to see.

@futurebird @trochee @KimberlyN @blogdiva would you please tell us the name of the plug in? I would love this!