There are also various browser extensions to show you an image from the middle of the video instead of a thumbnail. I personally prefer that.
Comment on MegaLag - The Honey Scam is Worse Than I Thought
AWistfulNihilist@lemmy.world 2 days agoIt’s legit offputting, but when you’re on YouTube it makes sense to play that game. Following a thumbnail meta will get your video more engagement, they even allow A/B testing of thumbnails to find the best performing one. YT is as much a thumbnail platform as it is a video one, and I’m only being slightly hyperbolic.
wizardbeard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 days ago
Nythos@sh.itjust.works 2 days ago
The hate for the thumbnail for this video I don’t get, but there is some REALLY egregious thumbnails on YouTube sometimes
TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world 2 days ago
Yeah I kind of roll my eyes at it, but I get it. People have to earn a living and feed themselves, and they can’t do that without clicks.
And really, pulling a dumb face on a thumbnail is a hell of a lot more ethical in terms of driving engagement than some headlines you see that are so misleading they may as well be outright lies.