Clickbait and Crying Wolf

Seems I ruffled a few feathers with my latest video on my search for a new musical direction for album two.

Admittedly rather cheekily titled, ‘I Can’t Keep Doing This’, I got an immediate reaction – ranging from gently exasperated, to downright furious.

Clickbait, really, really annoys some people, even in the form of a tongue in cheek intro.

Comments ranged from ‘you’re better than this’, and ‘immediate unsubscribe’ to ‘I was going to come to your show, but you can forget it, and you’re so narcissistic you wouldn’t even notice an audience.’

Goodness me.

My personal definition of clickbait is old-school. You know the ‘you won’t believe what this celebrity looks like now’ or ‘one weird trick to lose weight doctors don’t want you to know’. That to me, is the definition.

I think titling a YouTube video with a somewhat intriguing message is just marketing. It is just how the game works, so don’t hate the player. (Although I think after this latest experience, I am pretty done with it.)

I understand that everyone has become a little tired of the sad-looking thumbnail that hints at the creator’s retirement, only to reveal it’s business as usual – it feels too akin to the boy who cried wolf. (Why cry wolf? Because it works.) 

Maybe I’m wrong, but I doubt anyone would scream at the author of a book or director of a film for their choice of non-literal title. (I mean, I don’t remember Reservoir Dogs featuring a single dog.)

I know the situations are different. Most of the time, you actively choose to watch a film or read a book, whereas many casual viewers of YouTube videos pick something intriguing from the home screen, and then feel manipulated and let down when it offers nothing of value. But it’s also true that if you’re IRL browsing in a shop, your attention is captured by a book’s cover, or the film’s poster. It’s not exactly the same thing, but it’s not dissimilar.

I think the bubbling undercurrent of anger at this issue is due to the much bigger problem of how the internet has traditionally been monetised – through advertising and attention, rather than subscriptions, and microtransactions. Things will no doubt get worse, before they get better. That’s why I’m trying to build a range of ways to communicate, like this newsletter, my Patreon or my Nebula platform, different models that allow a bit more nuance, with no need to fight for your attention.

I could go on – I would love to hear your take on the matter, as I’ll probably look at expanding this topic into a full video – one with an appropriate title…

Mary x

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