Seeing that always made me think that everything would be exaggerated, and the video was likely not worth my time; I also spend very little time on YouTube, so the two are probably related (namely that I don't like video-based content)
YouTube Face is clickbait, attaining human form
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Re: YouTube Face is clickbait, attaining human form
#12Ironically, theres a call for please like and share at the bottom.
On a side note, do those CTAs actually work? I have a hard time believing anyone reading one and thinking "I wasn't going to like/share/comment, but I am now because of this reminder!"
Re: YouTube Face is clickbait, attaining human form
#13I've always that human form clickbait could really only be attributed to walking through Amsterdam's red light district but this guy has a point! Interesting read. Side note is he coining the term "YouTube Face"? I've never heard that before...
Amsterdam's Red Light district has got nothin on Youtube. If you merged it with Shibuya or Times Square, maybe. But what I saw there a few years ago was downright demure in comparison to the clickbaity crap people try on YouTube.
Re: YouTube Face is clickbait, attaining human form
#14They really are effective, though. The conscious part of me is actually turned off by videos with these kinds of title images, but they still draw my attention and produce an impulse to click.
One day, I promise I will stop clicking on thumbnails that bait me with the promise of something vaguely sexual. One day. Maybe. I hope.
Re: YouTube Face is clickbait, attaining human form
#15Alternatively, it serves as a pretty good filter for content I will actively try to avoid. Playing a video and immediately hearing that "HEY GUYS" voice makes me click the back button instantly, and block the channel.
That and any video thumbnail with a red circle.
Re: YouTube Face is clickbait, attaining human form
#16Has anyone else noticed how much this min-maxing is effecting all different areas of the world? I played the last World of Warcraft expansion and got to the stage where I could start raiding (Blizzard is trying to make this easier to break into for casual players) and 95% of raiders only wanted to raid with those who had already done the raid before and had an item level higher than anything the raid drops!
I find this really frustrating in the arts and entertainment space - the bar for entry seems to be getting higher and higher because of these ultra competitive optimisations. I guess the difference now is that people view making video content on the internet as a career (or at least a way to make money) rather than just as a hobby.
Re: YouTube Face is clickbait, attaining human form
#17Ironically, theres a call for please like and share at the bottom.
hah, i'm pretty sure that's just an arch joke
Re: YouTube Face is clickbait, attaining human form
#18Reminds me of the 'Dreamworks Face' that you see on so many animated movie posters. ( http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DreamWorksFace )
Wow, it has a name. I have noticed that stupid expression is basically the cover of every kid's animated movie for the last decade.
Re: YouTube Face is clickbait, attaining human form
#19I did journalism in high school and in learning the art of page layout & design was taught that putting faces on stuff is always a good idea. People like faces. Faces draw readers in. It's sort of a universal idea that was inevitably going to end up applying to mediums like YouTube.
Also, I wouldn't say all of these are clickbait. The Needle Drop's videos are basically all just him making hilarious faces.
Re: YouTube Face is clickbait, attaining human form
#20I find it funny that the AVGN is featured; he's been making that face since before YouTube's been monetizing. He may be the originator of the phenomenon.
It used to be that in order to drive clicks you needed to have female cleavage in your thumbnail. One YouTuber (RadicalSoda) still includes an image of a cartoon woman showing generous cleavage in each of his videos, despite himself being the only person actually appearing in most of them.
And then there's YouTube voice. I don't even think I can imitate it but there's a distinctive cadence and inflection that YouTubers seem to have embraced. I once saw a ten-year-old use it in a toy-company-sponsored video. Yes, ten-year-old kid paid to hawk toys on YouTube instead of just playing with them or whatever. Then again, we have stories of some Hackernews hearing their 3-year-old use "don't forget to like and subscribe!" as a farewell.