View counts, upvotes, likes, favourites, retweets. Metrics play a bit part in how content is perceived. This extends to thumbnails and previews for video platforms.
I’ve started experimenting with removing as many visible metrics as possible, allowing myself to make my own judgement and perhaps find content that isn’t filtered to my own preconceptions and biases.
Take the below, just a random snippet of trending videos. I tend to avoid videos with “loud” thumbnails and titles, very high view counts or very old content (more useful for browsing the homepage than here).
By combining the DeArrow extension and an ad blocker all of the above have been removed. The thumbnails and titles look more boring but they’re accurate, the titles quietened down or replaced entirely.
No longer influenced by lowest common denominator tactics and personal biases I think I’m much more inclined to click these videos. In a way it reminds of the early days of the web.
I’ve extended this beyond YouTube. Removing the upvote counter and badges from Reddit, the badges from Twitch chat and the various counters from Twitter.
If I catch myself looking around the content for validation I use the ad blocker element picker to try and reduce these influences. It prevents internally justifying whether I agree or disagree with the vox populi, making it more relaxing to browse around the web.
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