(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

@MichaelPorter Oh! I wondered why youtube was advertising instead of giving a real preview. Thanks.

I hope they learn: it made me less likely to click through.

I will do this.

@deborahh I’m wondering if the behaviour is the same on the corporate social media sites - Threads, etc. I don’t have accounts there, so no way to test.

YouTube is owned by Google, and they aren’t currently running a social media app… Or are they? They seem to play with things for a while, and then kill them. Is Google run by cats? 😸