Chasing The Almighty Clicks!

YouTube as a platform has really changed over the years. It has went from the average hobbyist sharing passion projects to well edited studio quality content. One thing that hasn’t changed, however, is clickbait.

Now, not only do I produce videos for YouTube, I tend to watch a lot of it too. It’s my preferred medium for content. I very rarely turn on a TV. I do find, however, when I’m watching TV I at least know what I’m getting. On YouTube that isn’t always the case. To make matters worse, YouTube doesn’t care as long as you keep engaged on the platform. The clicks drive interaction and that matters.

For me, I’m just not a fan of it. I’ve actually tried it with a video here and there but I felt downright awful. Sadly, clickbait titles are rewarded it seems within the algorithm, similar to content that creates drama. Folks get engaged and often speak through comments which drives the algorithm even further.

All that said, I’m not going to knock someone for doing it. For many people, YouTube is a primary source of income and the clicks matter. It’s not for me, however, and I won’t be experimenting with it ever again.

While I strive to provide great editing and production values, at the end of the day I’m just the average hobbyist sharing passion projects like the old days.