Let's Talk About Clickbait (Rant)

IGP’s Views on Clickbait

IGP argues that “clickbait” is often used too loosely and should be distinguished from misleading bait-and-switch content. He defines clickbait broadly as content designed to attract attention and prompt a click by piquing curiosity. The tactic predates the internet and appears in headlines and advertising as well as online videos.

A Spectrum of Clickbait

IGP describes a range of examples:

• A vague title and thumbnail that withhold information to make viewers curious.
• A more transparent title that gives enough detail to identify the subject.
• Bait-and-switch content that promises something the video does not actually deliver.

He says the last kind is what viewers are usually most upset about.

YouTube’s Recommendations and Creator Incentives

IGP believes YouTube’s shift from a chronological subscription feed toward recommendations and suggested videos made attention-grabbing titles and thumbnails more important. Creators now need to compete for visibility, and those who rely only on subscribers seeing their uploads may lose views and income. He also notes that YouTube’s recommendation system rewards content that keeps people watching.

Viewers’ Role

IGP acknowledges that creators and the platform can exploit this system, but argues that viewers also contribute to the problem when they click without reading titles or interpreting thumbnails carefully. He recommends checking a creator’s track record and the context of a video, and not watching or rewarding content that genuinely misleads.

He says his own exaggerated titles and thumbnails are meant to attract attention rather than make false promises.

The Subnautica Thumbnail

As an example, IGP discusses criticism of a Subnautica video whose thumbnail included the Sunbeam ship. Some viewers assumed it showed the ship rescuing the player or depicted an alternate ending, although he says the title and thumbnail were not intended to promise that. He explains that he used concept art rather than a realistic in-game image to make the thumbnail less likely to be mistaken for an actual scene.

Presenter: IGP