The Clickbait YouTube Panic Brigade Is on a Roll Today

[QueerDuck]

12. The "Alternative" Media on YouTube has become the very beast it claims to fight.

You’re spot on. When a channel’s primary product is outrage, truth and accuracy don't just take a back seat... they’re thrown OUT of the moving car.

It’s a hilarious irony that the same people who scream about "mainstream media" being beholden to advertisers have nothing to say when their favorite YouTubers use the exact same playbook.

For all intents and purposes, these "pundits" are just corporate-lite. They’ve become the unpaid marketing department for the same manipulative tactics they claim to despise. Honestly, I’m tired of having my intelligence insulted by the "Content Factory" formula.

These thumbnail images are so predictable. If I see the Impact font, unnecessary exclamation points, a yellow arrow, or a red circle, I know I’m looking at a quality desert. It’s the visual equivalent of a "Going Out of Business" sign for journalistic integrity.

The Twelve-Minute Nothingburger: These creators treat their audience like goldfish, circling the same point and looping repetitive scripts just to hit the mid-roll ad threshold. They trade two minutes of actual news for ten minutes of filler, all to make sure YouTube can insert a commercial. Because the creators value retention time (ie: how long the viewer stays before getting bored and clicking away) they intentionally lead us on and withhold the "payoff" and telling us whatever the answer to the clickbait teaser of You'll Never Believe What Happens Next™

I had high hopes for many of these "independent" voices, but most have fallen into the clickbait trap. It’s a pity that the quality and value of these channels are being liquidated just to satisfy a click-through rate and ad payout goals.