Michael PorterAug 9, 2024

(Since this is getting traction, a slight edit to add a reminder that we're using many different devices, platforms, and apps - This is my experience and YMMV, but you're a smart person, you can figure it out 👍🏻)

Hey Tooters - If you are linking to YouTube videos, don’t use the “Share” function in YouTube to generate the link. Copy and paste the URL from your address bar.

Using the “Share” function generates a generic preview in Mastodon, whereas cutting and pasting the actual URL gives a nice preview for the video, including the title.

The preview for my image below might be cropped in your browser, click to see the comparison.

#Communication #Mastodon #YouTube

Show threadGlowing Cat of the Nuclear Wastelands ☣
@MichaelPorter I think this is a problem across all fedi platforms, and it's a relatively recent development: any link that's a forward or passes through a service (like cloudflare or whatever, to verify the visitor is "human") seems to get cut off from the correct link previews now. I noticed it happening when I link my INPRNT shop too, but there doesn't appear to be a work around like on youtube, because it's a "human verification" service that's causing it, as opposed to just a url shortener forward.

I don't remember when it started happening, but it was certainly within the last couple to few months.
Aug 9, 2024 at 10:09pmWeb
Show threadMichael PorterAug 9, 2024
@deathkitten That matches my experience, too.
Show threadLukefromDCAug 21, 2024
@deathkitten @MichaelPorter Which is why I upload my videos directly into my Mastodon account rather than linking from the archive.org upload unless the file size is entirely too much.