Please Remember Your Promise to Compromise on Clickbait & Descriptive Titles

[SpookyCitrus]

Is it just me or is this just something very trivial to be concerned/stressed about? Who cares how they title or thumbnail the videos, if it works they're going to keep doing it. It's a business, whatever makes them more profitable they are going to. If you don't like it unsubscribe, and stop following them. There is no need to waste your time, give yourself stress, and be angry over something this stupid.

[lewdicrous]

1 hour ago, Blademaster91 said:

I understand LTT wants to grow, although asking for video titles that are more honest and maybe make the thumbnails more related to the video, I'm not sure it would hurt them much at all, would it help? Like i've seen complaints before of not being able to find a video because the title had little to do with what the video was about.

Linus himself said that they struggled internally when they tried to search for videos that they no longer have saved locally. Don't know if they opted to fix it by hoarding or whatever.

1 hour ago, Blademaster91 said:

I'm not saying anyone is wrong though, and I've heard Luke mention before the forum makes "nothing at all" but I've wondered if that was any exaggeration, I just assumed the ads or google search results at least had them break even on running the forum. An ad at the right of the page or at the bottom is hardly anything though compared to some tech sites.

If memory serves me right, the forum isn't profitable, but the ads and contributions are helping levitate some of the cost (not quite breaking even)

[Anomnomnomaly]

1 hour ago, aisle9 said:

 

Welcome to capitalism. Also, if you survived reading all of that and it made sense to you, can anyone really blame Linus for suffering burnout?

 

Nope... didn't survive reading that... gave up after a couple of paragraphs. 

 

 

The point of doing the vids is to create revenue... whether that's from direct advertising or sponsorship doesn't matter... What matters is that their current way of trying to earn revenue is annoying to a great deal of people... and that's bad for business. Because of thee clickbait and deceptive titles and trolling thumbnails... there's no way I'm going to support them by suffering through ads, or clicking sponsor links. It actually has the effect of pushing me AWAY from those sponsors and towards alternatives (if it's something I'm actually in the market for)... and those sponsor payments... kinda push up the prices of the products in question which pushes people towards cheaper alternatives that are just as good.

 

All I'm saying is that the way they do things, doesn't make me want to spend money on ltt merch or on anything from any of their sponsors... the quality of their vids has decreased dramatically (in terms of content, not production values) and I get the feeling that they've over reached drastically with excessive purchases like red cameras and an expanding staff count... They're producing very little in the way of decent content that appeals to me any more. It's not gonna make me consider using floatplane at all... I'll watch the odd video if I can be bothered but I actively avoid certain 'presenters' who I find annoying and childish... Give us more of the good ones who actually know what they're talking about and less of the kids who've been given access to the grown ups stuff and are simply playing at being grown ups... because that's how it feels with a lot of them... and I don't want to mention specific names as that would be unfair. Some one I find irritating may be another's first choice.

 

I can't help but feel they've stretched themselves far too thinly and things could come crashing down around them rather quickly and they won't be able to cope financially if sponsors and ad revenue slow down just a small amount.

[aisle9]

1 minute ago, Anomnomnomaly said:

 

Nope... didn't survive reading that... gave up after a couple of paragraphs. 

 

 

The point of doing the vids is to create revenue... whether that's from direct advertising or sponsorship doesn't matter... What matters is that their current way of trying to earn revenue is annoying to a great deal of people... and that's bad for business.

If they lose you but gain two more regular viewers in the process, is it really bad for business?

[Mr Nobody]

57 minutes ago, Tristerin said:

 

 

Next step for me is to unsubscribe to their YouTube channel, and not watch a single video and wash my hands of it.

Wow that'll show them.

[RonnieOP]

39 minutes ago, Blademaster91 said:

I understand LTT wants to grow, although asking for video titles that are more honest and maybe make the thumbnails more related to the video, I'm not sure it would hurt them much at all, would it help? 

But heres the thing.

 

They know that not everyone likes the way they title things. Tbh i think its fair to say they dont like doing it either from how they have talked about it in the past.

 

The fact that they still do it kinda proves that its the way it has to be done.

 

Youtube is a fickle bitch. If you dont play by the rules they set up then you are going to be left behind. A bad title that youtubes algorithm doesnt like for whatever reason can really mess up the number of views it gets. And as a business you cant operate at a loss.

[RonnieOP]

13 minutes ago, aisle9 said:

If they lose you but gain two more regular viewers in the process, is it really bad for business?

Not at all. Your doubling your customers everytime. If i toss a $20 in the trash and it makes me $40 in return im going to do that over and over 

 

And the number of people upset about the titles are a small small minority of the viewers 

[steelo]

On 2/15/2020 at 5:36 AM, HeyImLucious said:

A while ago Linus decided to reach a compromise with his audience, he'd still use the obnoxious thumbnails & titles because the current state of Youtube sadly favors that BUT he'd also include a - "what the video is actually about" identifier after the clickbait title so we can actually search for specific products/reviews/etc. While this solution isn't perfect, I was more than happy to have that compromise, and with Linus' promise I felt better about supporting the channel.

 

Commitment to that promise has been getting shakier over the past few months. Before it was just the odd 1 in 20 videos that didn't conform which is forgivable. But now, I fear that commitment is slipping even further:

Attached below is a simple screenshot of LTT's videos from today to about 3wk ago

Decided to use my amazing photoshop skills to make 3 symbols to show "title-promise" conformity.

Green check = perfectly serviceable, would be able to search & find with almost no hassle.

Orange dash = essentially clickbait purgatory. These aren't egregious offenses and with some annoyance & difficulty you could probably find a specific video if you were looking for it. Clearly room for improvement.

Red X = marking the spot for unambiguous clickbait. The titles serve no purpose other than to trick people into clicking by dangling a "ooOOOooo, what's in here I wonder?? HMMM?" thread hoping that random people will pounce at it.

 

I'm not including Linus' little Beat Saber because that's just a one-off fun video or the WAN shows because those encompass several topics and making a title that accurately portrays an hour worth of dynamic content isn't possible.

While I personally wish all this clickbait bs & obnoxious expression + overly saturated colors thumbnail trend would go away entirely, and I think its underhanded to exempt TechLinked from the whole "clickbait - actual title" paradigm. But I understand that doing this stuff helps LTT thrive in Youtube's little ecosystem. And I like Linus, been a fan since 2012, so I'm happy to see him succeed.

 

Whole point of this post is to just say "please keep your promise." When I only see 8 out of 19 titles in a 3wk span of videos that follow what Linus promised he'd do, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Feels like I've been lied to, and I have little interest in watching someone who makes me feel like that.

The best thing to do is just stop giving them traffic. Will it make much of a difference? No, but why should you continue indirectly contributing to a website you feel is breaking its own rules. Many posters are already giving you crap about your opinions...honestly, who cares. 

 

Regardless of what others say, do what you believe is the right thing. You be you.

[aisle9]

Just now, RonnieOP said:

Not at all. Your doubling your customers everytime. If i toss a $20 in the trash and it makes me $40 in return im going to do that over and over 

 

And the number of people upset about the titles are a small small minority of the viewers 

To your first point, you're telling me that I can throw $20 in the trash and get $40 back? Shut up and throw away my money!

 

To your second, yeah, bingo. This forum has 600,000 members, and it's had as many as 11,000 online at the same time. I'd bet the number of people here who actually make this forum a part of their daily life number no more than 1,000 right now, with large numbers of others finding their way here from a video or to ask a question. Because those 1,000-ish people are regularly interacting with LTT both through videos and through the forum, it's natural to expect that those 1,000 people will be more vocal, and that their opinions will be magnified here.

 

So you've got 1,000 people, some of whom are expressing unhappiness with this title thing, and one person who has said they'll leave. Fair enough, and if all 1,000 of us unsubscribed, LTT wouldn't notice. There are 10,299,000 other subs to take our place. If one person unsubscribes because they don't like a business practice that is 100% ethical and legal, cool story bro. There are 10,299,999 others out there that apparently don't care enough to unsubscribe--if they care at all.

 

LTT (and LMG) is a successful business. They got to be that way by doing things that make money. As long as the things they do to make money are ethical and legal, hey, if someone doesn't like those practices, they're welcome to leave. At the rate LTT's grown over the last few years, there will probably be 100 people who subscribe to take their place. Again, capitalism.

[Tristerin]

41 minutes ago, Mr Nobody said:

Wow that'll show them.

1 sub or 10 million subs, each one counts.  To each their own, if Im going to complain Im going to do something about it.  Since that's ACTUALLY doing something about it, yes...yes, it will show them.  Unsubscribes are not what Youtubers want.

 

Sounds like you are mad that I responded to a thread with my feelings on it.  Its going to be okay bro.

[RonnieOP]

1 hour ago, Tristerin said:

1 sub or 10 million subs, each one counts.  To each their own, if Im going to complain Im going to do something about it.  Since that's ACTUALLY doing something about it, yes...yes, it will show them.  Unsubscribes are not what Youtubers want.

 

Sounds like you are mad that I responded to a thread with my feelings on it.  Its going to be okay bro.

Each one does not count though.

 

It will show them something yes. But nit something anyone would see and care about.

 

If you ran a business with 10 million clients and you lost one. You wouldnt care. Nobody would care.

 

Thats like saying i have ten million dollars in my pocket and somewhere on the way home i lost a dollar. Your not going out and looking for that one dollar.

 

You do you. Im not trying to convince anyone to stay subbed or watch their videos. Do whatever you feel is best for you.

 

But dont try and act like your a martyr thats going to set off a revolution. What they are doing and the way they are doing it is bringing in many more then what they will lose. So its a no brainer to keep doing it.

 

 

[Tristerin]

42 minutes ago, RonnieOP said:

Each one does not count though.

 

It will show them something yes. But nit something anyone would see and care about.

 

If you ran a business with 10 million clients and you lost one. You wouldnt care. Nobody would care.

 

Thats like saying i have ten million dollars in my pocket and somewhere on the way home i lost a dollar. Your not going out and looking for that one dollar.

 

You do you. Im not trying to convince anyone to stay subbed or watch their videos. Do whatever you feel is best for you.

 

But dont try and act like your a martyr thats going to set off a revolution. What they are doing and the way they are doing it is bringing in many more then what they will lose. So its a no brainer to keep doing it.

 

 

I didn't try to act like shit, just said what I was going to do - seem yall have a problem with it, and I don't care.

 

One thing I notice on this forum, if you reply to an OP - everyone wants to talk to you about your opinion.  I didn't quote anyone, till quoted.  I didn't ask to have back and forth conversation about it.  You all do.  So with that being said - I don't care what you think about what I think.

 

So don't enjoy my replies?  Try to peg me as something, better be right, cause no one here was asking to be a martyr and by definition you are completely...and utterly, wrong.

[RonnieOP]

1 minute ago, Tristerin said:

I didn't try to act like shit, just said what I was going to do - seem yall have a problem with it, and I don't care.

 

One thing I notice on this forum, if you reply to an OP - everyone wants to talk to you about your opinion.  I didn't quote anyone, till quoted.  I didn't ask to have back and forth conversation about it.  You all do.  So with that being said - I don't care what you think about what I think.

 

So don't enjoy my replies?  Try to peg me as something, better be right, cause no one here was asking to be a martyr and by definition you are completely...and utterly, wrong.

I literally just said i dont have a problem with it....seems like you have a problem with reading 

 

Im not saying "you" as you specifically. Im talking about someone/anyone in general.  

 

You didnt ask for a back in forth? Bud you are posting on a public discussion forum. Not your diary. So if you dont like discussion i have no idea why you would join and post on a discussion forum.

 

[Tristerin]

1 hour ago, RonnieOP said:

I literally just said i dont have a problem with it....seems like you have a problem with reading 

 

Im not saying "you" as you specifically. Im talking about someone/anyone in general.  

 

You didnt ask for a back in forth? Bud you are posting on a public discussion forum. Not your diary. So if you dont like discussion i have no idea why you would join and post on a discussion forum.

 

When I quote someone, I invite a discussion.  When I open post a question on a forum, I invite discussion.  When I respond to an OP with my opinion on a matter, I am inviting a discussion with the OP.  I am open to a discussion with others, but that's when its an Open Discussion - not someone blasting an opinion like it shouldn't exist.

 

 

EDIT - its catalogued quite well in fact:

 

Me: Opinion

Mr Nobody: Wow that will show them 

Me: Dialogue about how it does affect them

You: No it wont

 

Pretty definitive.

 

 

 

 

[Anomnomnomaly]

5 hours ago, Tristerin said:

When I quote someone, I invite a discussion.  When I open post a question on a forum, I invite discussion.  When I respond to an OP with my opinion on a matter, I am inviting a discussion with the OP.  I am open to a discussion with others, but that's when its an Open Discussion - not someone blasting an opinion like it shouldn't exist.

 

 

EDIT - its catalogued quite well in fact:

 

Me: Opinion

Mr Nobody: Wow that will show them 

Me: Dialogue about how it does affect them

You: No it wont

 

Pretty definitive.

 

 

 

 

Just do what I did, put this particular troll on ignore. 

[lewdicrous]

8 hours ago, RonnieOP said:

If you ran a business with 10 million clients and you lost one. You wouldnt care. Nobody would care.

If you ran a business with 10 million subs and you barely break 3 million views/video, then you gotta ask yourself this, "what am I doing wrong?"

The highest viewed video in the past 4 weeks just reached 2.5 million views, so losing one here and there will make a dent, especially when you lose those who were your 'loyal subs' who watched +90% of your videos.

[Mr Nobody]

7 hours ago, Tristerin said:

 When I respond to an OP with my opinion on a matter, I am inviting a discussion with the OP.

 

Good luck with that.

[Mr Nobody]

1 hour ago, lewdicrous said:

If you ran a business with 10 million subs and you barely break 3 million views/video, then you gotta ask yourself this, "what am I doing wrong?"

The highest viewed video in the past 4 weeks just reached 2.5 million views, so losing one here and there will make a dent, especially when you lose those who were your 'loyal subs' who watched +90% of your videos.

If you are refusing to watch their videos just because you don't like the phrasing of the title or the thumbnail, then you are hardly a "loyal sub".

 

[GDRRiley]

Linus indirectly brought up why they do it in last weeks WAN show. LTT got hit hard early 2019 and did not grow or make as much as it previously had.it took almost a full year to reach back up to those levels.

They've had videos they want to make but know will slow the growth.

Those who want a more honest title go watch Short Circuit.

 

Do I think its right? semi, they keep growing as a company and they need money to do that.

[lewdicrous]

2 hours ago, Mr Nobody said:

If you are refusing to watch their videos just because you don't like the phrasing of the title or the thumbnail, then you are hardly a "loyal sub".

 

I refuse to watch their videos because they said one thing but did another.

A loyal sub isn't someone who accepts everything they do no matter if it's right or wrong.

They have been criticized for doing this for many months now.

Loyal fans are not the same as fanboys; if you lose the respect of your loyal fans then you lose the fans themselves, while fanboys will eat up everything you say as if nothing happened. 

[caldrin]

I dont really know what the fuss is about myself.. I watch the videos LTT puts out because they are entertaining and also provide some good info about products and so on at the same time.. hell I even watched the Mac stuff even tho I hate mac products haha.. but yeah I don't care if they have silly thumbnails or the titles don't describe exactly what is in the video 100%.. it really does not bother me and I am kind of surprised that people actually think its an issue. 

ah well.

[RonnieOP]

11 hours ago, lewdicrous said:

If you ran a business with 10 million subs and you barely break 3 million views/video, then you gotta ask yourself this, "what am I doing wrong?"

The highest viewed video in the past 4 weeks just reached 2.5 million views, so losing one here and there will make a dent, especially when you lose those who were your 'loyal subs' who watched +90% of your videos.

Thats pretty common.

 

Pewdipie has 105m subs and his views are in the 5-10m range if that.

 

 

[nox_]

2 minutes ago, RonnieOP said:

Thats pretty common.

 

Pewdipie has 105m subs and his views are in the 5-10m range if that.

 

 

He does not have a company and many employees as Linus does. Pewdiepie is much different animal compared to Linus, not comparable even imho.

[RonnieOP]

4 minutes ago, noxdeouroboros said:

He does not have a company and many employees as Linus does. Pewdiepie is much different animal compared to Linus, not comparable even imho.

That literally has nothing to do with the subject at hand. You brought up the sub to view ratio.

 

MKBHD has over 10 million subs and most his videos are in the 2-5 million range.

 

Losing one or two subs here and there doesnt matter. Not when they have gained 220k subs in the past month.

 

The numbers do not support your theory.

[nox_]

Just now, RonnieOP said:

That literally has nothing to do with the subject at hand. You brought up the sub to view ratio.

 

MKBHD has over 10 million subs and most his videos are in the 2-5 million range.

 

Losing one or two subs here and there doesnt matter. Not when they have gained 220k subs in the past month.

 

The numbers do not support your theory.

I didn't brought anything up, you did. I did not even participate in this discussion. Pay attention, then react and comment.