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DeArrow is an open source browser extension for crowdsourcing better titles and thumbnails on YouTube. (dearrow.ajay.app)

submitted 1 week ago by basilisa@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/technology@lemmy.world

90 comments fedilink hide all child comments

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/19421887

DeArrow is an open source browser extension for crowdsourcing better titles and thumbnails on YouTube. The goal is to make titles accurate and reduce sensationalism. No more arrows, ridiculous faces, and no more clickbait.

"Clickbait" isn't the exception anymore, it's becoming the norm. Many have even started going through their entire backlog, changing old titles and thumbnails to be more attention grabbing and vague.

It's no one's fault. It's a system that creates a race to the bottom.

DeArrow hopes to stop this cycle. It's time to return to a more peaceful experience.

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[–] Blackmist@feddit.uk 13 points 1 week ago (2 children)

When you browse Netflix, they use different thumbnails for the movies depending on the profile they've made for you. Even if it's as blatant as "white person from the movie"/"black person from the movie". If you ignore a movie for long enough, sometimes they even swap it out for a different image to trick you into watching it.

I'm amazed that YouTube doesn't try and do this somehow. Instead, every video somehow has the same stupid thumbnails of arrows, meaningless text and gormless faces, and I hate it.

But then I block all ads anyway, so it may be that they're actively trying to make me go away.

[–] DarkThoughts@fedia.io 9 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I'm amazed that YouTube doesn't try and do this somehow.

They do. They even give the creator statistics on which thumbnail generated more clicks (completely ignoring other factors so it's a misleading metric anyway).

[–] MrScottyTay@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

There's no active a/b testing though. The creators have to specifically change the thumbnail for everyone at once. From what I understand.

[–] echodot@feddit.uk 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

No they can a b test so some people will get one version and other people will get the other version and whichever version becomes the most popular is the version that everyone gets.

[–] MrScottyTay@sh.itjust.works 0 points 1 week ago

Ah cool

[–] helenslunch@feddit.nl 7 points 1 week ago (2 children)

They do exactly this. You've never seen the same video appear twice, and the second time it has a different title and thumbnail? That's how they figured out how effective clickbait is.

[–] SilentStorms@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 1 week ago

YouTube let's creators A/B test different thumbnails, but they can't upload a bunch of them to feed to different demographics or automatically cycle them like Netflix does. I'm sure that's coming though.

[–] Omniraptor@lemm.ee 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

To be fair it's not a mysterious "they", it's just an option available for channel owners to set alternative thumbnails and then check which does better. I don't think YouTube does this by itself if the uploader doesn't enable it

[–] helenslunch@feddit.nl 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

To be fair it's not a mysterious "they"

I thought it was pretty clear that "they" = YouTube...

[–] antmzo220@lemmy.ml 0 points 1 week ago (1 children)

It's not YouTube though, it's the YouTuber

[–] helenslunch@feddit.nl -3 points 1 week ago

The YouTuber can't do it without YouTube making it available