this post was submitted on 23 Jun 2023
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The creators of SponsorBlock did it again, now we can crowdsource better titles and thumbnails as well. I just tried it with LinusTechTips who is a worst offender when it comes to clickbait and its really great.

Compare without DeArrow

and with the extension

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[–] RadioRat@beehaw.org 35 points 1 year ago

Clickbait has this singular capacity to make one feel treated as a simple primate. Such a relieving comparison.

[–] SmugBedBug@lemmy.iswhereits.at 21 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

The removal of the custom thumbnail is refreshing. No more wired reactions with an arrow pointing at something.

I'm going to give this a try. The sponsorblock people have great ideas!

[–] Powderhorn@beehaw.org 20 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Holy shit! This is amazing! But how will I ever know what's REALLY IMPORTANT without ALL CAPS and a shitton of BANGS?!?!?!?!?!?!?

[–] st3ph3n@kbin.social 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Don't forget the USELESS FUCKING ARROWS.

[–] Powderhorn@beehaw.org 7 points 1 year ago

Unless it's pointing to a red circle.

[–] athalean@feddit.de 18 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I've already noticed a couple videos where the corrected title made me more interested in the video than the clickbait title. Hope this extension takes off!

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[–] bionicjoey@lemmy.ca 14 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

This made me realize how much I hate the YouTube metagame

[–] Sleeping@programming.dev 13 points 1 year ago (2 children)

If I still used YT's main front-end, this would've been great.

[–] e8d79@feddit.de 17 points 1 year ago (1 children)

SponsorBlock has been added to alternative frontends as well, so there is a good chance DeArrow will be ported.

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[–] BrikoX@vlemmy.net 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

What are you using? Freetube or something else?

[–] Sleeping@programming.dev 5 points 1 year ago

I'm using an Invidious instance.

[–] obsoulete@kbin.social 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I tried it. It works well. But, I don't think I will use it, because I usually know YouTubers to avoid when it comes to clickbaiting. Looking at you, Scotty Kilmer. :)

[–] ehrenschwan@feddit.de 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Given that SponsorBlock is in Youtube ReVanced, do you think this will be included in ReVanced in the Future?

[–] e8d79@feddit.de 5 points 1 year ago

Your best bet is to ask developers yourself.

[–] poudlardo@terefere.eu 10 points 1 year ago

Feels like we're back on youtube in its early form, more organic. great idea i'm downloading it

[–] Grimace@beehaw.org 9 points 1 year ago

It seems no matter how many channels I block there's always more annoying eyesore thumbnails, so this is fantastic.

[–] Kissaki@feddit.de 8 points 1 year ago (9 children)

This extension is free, forever, for anyone who installs it during the beta. Yes, that means there will be a paywall for new users only in the future, but I promise that there will still be a way to for people to get free access. Of course the extension will always remain fully open source, with a publicly downloadable database, just like SponsorBlock.

I'm a bit confused what this means / will mean. A paywall but also still alternative free access?

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[–] Holzkohlen@feddit.de 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

After Mastodon and Lemmy I think need a federated youtube alternative now too. Yes, I know PeerTube exists, I just need it to get a nice boost in attention just like the other got.

[–] ShittyKopper@lemmy.w.on-t.work 12 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Video hosting is way more resource intensive (and therefore expensive) than text and even the most image filled of Lemmy communities

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[–] unabatedshagie@kbin.social 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Awesome, it's like Clickbate Remover +.

If it works half as well as SponsorBlock I'll be a happy man.

[–] Thorny_Thicket@sopuli.xyz 5 points 1 year ago

I was genuinely surprised how well SponsorBlock works. I was assuming it to skip the sponsored sections only on accounts with millions of subscribers but in reality it almost never fails.

[–] Icarus@beehaw.org 7 points 1 year ago

I really like this, and I will probably use it, but I hate clickbate thumbnails with a passion and avoid them as much as I can.

[–] Sabakodgo@lemmy.fmhy.ml 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)
[–] Negative_Pair_5694@kbin.social 11 points 1 year ago

This one will additionally use user submitted titles and thumbnails when available instead of just random ones.

[–] Kissaki@feddit.de 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I don't see where I can submit titles on a video page?

For SponsorBlock there's a button in the video player toolbar.

The demo video shows a button on the video description title. But I don't see one (on a video that has no DeArrow data yet).

Are submissions not open yet?

/edit: Since my comment I've seen it on video pages a while later. Dunno if it was a technical issue, delay, account moderation, or video / channel specific or what.

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[–] Spudger@lemmy.sdf.org 6 points 1 year ago (2 children)

When it removes the entirety of LTT from YouTube it will worth a try. There isn't much in this world that makes me seethe but that plonker is one.

[–] randomperson@kbin.social 9 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I kinda like LTT materials, especially with Anthony but this extension is a godsend as I always hated their crappy thumbnails and titles.

[–] e8d79@feddit.de 13 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] randomperson@kbin.social 9 points 1 year ago

Thanks for the clarification. I wasn't aware of that.

[–] OonTaaKissa@kbin.social 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

LTT makes good videos that are hidden behind obnoxious thumbnails. I hate how it's sometimes impossible to tell what a video is about because the title is so vague, but I understand why they do it. He has a company to run, he has employees to pay. He has said multiple times that he doesn't like it, but it would be a stupid to not do it because a bright colored thumbnail with a face going :O gets way more views than anything else. Clickbait haters are such a small minority that it's worth doing because 95% of people don't care

[–] kent_eh@lemmy.ca 7 points 1 year ago

He has said multiple times that he doesn't like it, but it would be a stupid to not do it

Most youtubers don't like it, but the numbers don't lie: it works.

If your business model requires clicks and views, you are pretty much forced to do what is proven to work.

[–] rcoelho14@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

A few weeks ago they did a video about mech keyboards, without the face or clickbait title, and it was performing much worse after 3 days than even the daily video. The difference was in the hundreds of thousands of views.

Even now, it is one of the worst in terms of views from the past month (excluding the last 3 days, which will probably increase in views still) with 1.1M views, against the 2nd lowest which has 1.2M views, but it is a video about Mac gaming, and that isn't a particularly performing topic.

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[–] Onii-Chan@kbin.social 7 points 1 year ago (4 children)

I get that people can find him annoying, but that plonker's video on dashcams actually helped me make a properly informed choice that literally saved me hundreds of dollars AND ensured I got something that actually had higher fidelity recording than many devices multiple times its price.

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[–] XPost3000@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Honestly I'd probably be the type to be like "yeah I hate click bait!" Download this, and then stop watching videos entirely because they all look really boring

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[–] Eigengrau@kbin.social 5 points 1 year ago

Hope Newpipe Sponsorblock adds this ❗

[–] hellfire103@sopuli.xyz 4 points 1 year ago

Now THIS will be useful.

[–] NotAPenguin@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago

Oh nice, thank you for making this and Sponsorblock Ajay, what a great person.

[–] UlfarrOT@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Just out of curiosity, how do you determine what is and isn't clickbait?

[–] ChrisFhey@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I'd like to know this as well. The extension looks super interesting, but how does it determine what to replace the thumbnail and title with?

[–] raphael@lemmy.mararead.com 14 points 1 year ago

It uses user submitted titles and thumbnails if they are available. If not, it uses a random frame from the video as a thumbnail and applies some rules to the title (like no caps etc.).

For example a LTT video from yesterday:

Original title: 'Only YOU can fix GPU pricing... Here's how!'

Replaced title: 'How to find a good deal on a used GPU'

And about the thumbnails, just take a look on YouTube. In general I mean 😄

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[–] janus2@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 1 year ago

If this ever gets ported for NewPipe and/or LibreTube it'll be sensational

The fact that it exists makes me happy :]

[–] HaleyHalcyon@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)
[–] cultsuperstar@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago

The headline is a link to the DeAreow website as well. There are links there to the various browser extensions.

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