*TLDR: *
The AI-generated thumbnail in an A/B test generated a huge backlash. First A/B test results show that the click rate was just 27%, so I removed it from the A/B test. In the end, it was a win-win situation, because all the hate comments boosted the reach and also filtered toxic users from this community.
Wow, those were some really interesting past hours, what an experience and I learned much along the way - let's look at the details.
*What happened?*
I release my monthly KSA Dev Updates video for February and, as always, I put 3 thumbnails into A/B test mode. But this time, I chose to put 1 of them with a nano banana generated one. Why? I wanted to tell a story, KSA got Linux builds and I wanted a kitten and Tux in space suites doing a high five. So my go-to step was to ask nano banana to do it and, in my opinion, it turned out really nice.
*Timeline*
After a few minutes, a fellow content creator messaged me on Reddit, warning me about the shitstorm that a AI generated image will be creating. At that point, I didn't expect much really. It's just a thumbnail, 1 of 3 in an A/B test, how bad could it be? So I went and did some other irl stuff and came back after 1 or 2 hours. And there it was, in ful swing. Reddit as well as YouTube were full of hate comments about this thumbnail. 2 or 3 comments addressed the actual content of the video and work that the great people at RocketWerkz have achieved through the month. All the rest, really hateful, nasty, unappropriate comments.
*Results*
This morning, the first A/B test results came it. Turns out, the generate thumbnail only generated 27% of the views - so, the worst of the 3 variants. I totally did not expect this. If you are watching YouTube content creators giving tips on how to succeed on the platform frequently, I surely would have expected that the generated image wins. So because of the high friction it creates, I removed the image from the A/B. Now only my 2 "normal" thumbnails are part of the test.
*Learnings*
I intentionally created this A/B test and I the data definitely speaks to me. The AI generated thumbnail just didn't perform well. Does that mean I won't use any in future anymore? No, if I think it fits and looks good and makes sense, I might use them in the future as well.
I did not expect that this A/B test would also turn into a social experiment so quickly. And I took my learnings from this social experiment. AI generated images bring up a quite special kind of people, the ones that have a lot of hate in them that needs to be directed somewhere. I tried to argue with them, but, as expected, it is not really possible, but what that also meant is that my video/post got a lot of interaction. And to the algorithms, interaction is interaction, doesn't matter if good or bad. People interact with your content, so it's got to be worth spreading to more people. In the end, it was a total win-win situation for me. The Reddit post and the YouTube video are my highest interacted pieces of content so far. Every hate comment made it more attractive to the algorithms. So thank you guys for this.
The other win: Those hateful people were threatening me with unsubscribing from my channel. And if you do not want to watch my content, please do so. We do not want such-minded people in this community. If you are not able to behave and be nice to the people in this community, please leave, it is your right to do so, so please make use of it. In the end, I gained more new, interested, subscribers than I lost subscribers that we don't want in the community anyway. So, absolute win-win.
Big thanks go out to Owlcatcher ( @zaphod8810 ). The second ever (non-gifted) channel member! Really appreciated and you definitely earned your place in my heart, the end credits in the videos and don't forget to join the Discord to join the member-only channels 😎
I am currently unable to stream (or even upload videos, good thing that I have scheduled some already) 😢 Thank you Vodafone for performing this awesome maintenance job 2 nights ago, you did really good 😂
We made it to 1000 subscribers! Thank you all so much! I'll try to keep doing what I'm doing and improve further. Space is big, there is a lot more to explore 😎 #1kcreator
Goddchen
*TLDR: *
The AI-generated thumbnail in an A/B test generated a huge backlash. First A/B test results show that the click rate was just 27%, so I removed it from the A/B test. In the end, it was a win-win situation, because all the hate comments boosted the reach and also filtered toxic users from this community.
Wow, those were some really interesting past hours, what an experience and I learned much along the way - let's look at the details.
*What happened?*
I release my monthly KSA Dev Updates video for February and, as always, I put 3 thumbnails into A/B test mode. But this time, I chose to put 1 of them with a nano banana generated one. Why? I wanted to tell a story, KSA got Linux builds and I wanted a kitten and Tux in space suites doing a high five. So my go-to step was to ask nano banana to do it and, in my opinion, it turned out really nice.
*Timeline*
After a few minutes, a fellow content creator messaged me on Reddit, warning me about the shitstorm that a AI generated image will be creating. At that point, I didn't expect much really. It's just a thumbnail, 1 of 3 in an A/B test, how bad could it be? So I went and did some other irl stuff and came back after 1 or 2 hours. And there it was, in ful swing. Reddit as well as YouTube were full of hate comments about this thumbnail. 2 or 3 comments addressed the actual content of the video and work that the great people at RocketWerkz have achieved through the month. All the rest, really hateful, nasty, unappropriate comments.
*Results*
This morning, the first A/B test results came it. Turns out, the generate thumbnail only generated 27% of the views - so, the worst of the 3 variants. I totally did not expect this. If you are watching YouTube content creators giving tips on how to succeed on the platform frequently, I surely would have expected that the generated image wins. So because of the high friction it creates, I removed the image from the A/B. Now only my 2 "normal" thumbnails are part of the test.
*Learnings*
I intentionally created this A/B test and I the data definitely speaks to me. The AI generated thumbnail just didn't perform well. Does that mean I won't use any in future anymore? No, if I think it fits and looks good and makes sense, I might use them in the future as well.
I did not expect that this A/B test would also turn into a social experiment so quickly. And I took my learnings from this social experiment. AI generated images bring up a quite special kind of people, the ones that have a lot of hate in them that needs to be directed somewhere. I tried to argue with them, but, as expected, it is not really possible, but what that also meant is that my video/post got a lot of interaction. And to the algorithms, interaction is interaction, doesn't matter if good or bad. People interact with your content, so it's got to be worth spreading to more people. In the end, it was a total win-win situation for me. The Reddit post and the YouTube video are my highest interacted pieces of content so far. Every hate comment made it more attractive to the algorithms. So thank you guys for this.
The other win: Those hateful people were threatening me with unsubscribing from my channel. And if you do not want to watch my content, please do so. We do not want such-minded people in this community. If you are not able to behave and be nice to the people in this community, please leave, it is your right to do so, so please make use of it. In the end, I gained more new, interested, subscribers than I lost subscribers that we don't want in the community anyway. So, absolute win-win.
1 week ago | [YT] | 11
View 13 replies
Goddchen
A question that is my head for a long time now: How do shorts and their long videos really relate?
1 month ago | [YT] | 6
View 13 replies
Goddchen
Merry Christmas to everyone who is celebrating it 😎🚀
1 month ago | [YT] | 31
View 5 replies
Goddchen
And that is all thanks to YOU! ♥️
3 months ago | [YT] | 17
View 7 replies
Goddchen
Big thanks go out to Owlcatcher ( @zaphod8810 ). The second ever (non-gifted) channel member! Really appreciated and you definitely earned your place in my heart, the end credits in the videos and don't forget to join the Discord to join the member-only channels 😎
4 months ago | [YT] | 4
View 0 replies
Goddchen
New channel avatar. This image was created on last year's Space Creator Day.
👍 or 👎?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHWkJ...
4 months ago | [YT] | 12
View 0 replies
Goddchen
New channel banner. How do you like it? If you look really closely over the Alps there, you can see me waving at the camera 😉
5 months ago | [YT] | 14
View 4 replies
Goddchen
I am currently unable to stream (or even upload videos, good thing that I have scheduled some already) 😢 Thank you Vodafone for performing this awesome maintenance job 2 nights ago, you did really good 😂
5 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 19
View 9 replies
Goddchen
We made it to 1000 subscribers! Thank you all so much! I'll try to keep doing what I'm doing and improve further. Space is big, there is a lot more to explore 😎 #1kcreator
7 months ago | [YT] | 7
View 0 replies
Goddchen
Should I upload KSA (Kitten Space Agency) developer update videos here directly when they are posted on their Discord?
8 months ago | [YT] | 6
View 3 replies
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