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

submitted 2 months ago by [email protected] to c/technology

88 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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[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 months 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.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 months 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).

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months 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.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month 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.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago

Ah cool