Shhh... MrBeast Spills The Beans: Do Closed-Mouth YouTube Thumbnails Result In Better Watch Times?

YouTube sensation Jimmy Donaldson, popularly known as MrBeast, has shared that his experiments with closed-mouth thumbnails on the platform yield longer watch times, challenging the conventional wisdom that open-mouthed expressions are the key to attracting viewers. 

What Happened: MrBeast, renowned for his philanthropic feats and jaw-dropping challenges, has brought YouTube thumbnails into the limelight by revealing an unexpected discovery. 

On Wednesday, the YouTuber took to X, formerly Twitter, and shared screenshots, and although they did not include specific watch time metrics, they consistently labeled the closed-mouth thumbnails as the victors. 

See Also: The Incredible Journey Of MrBeast: YouTube’s Reigning King

My mouth is now closed in all my thumbnails but the war has just begun. We must not rest until mouths are closed in everyone's thumbnails🫡

— MrBeast (@MrBeast) September 6, 2023

MrBeast attributed this revelation to YouTube’s A/B testing feature, a tool that became available to a select group of creators earlier this year. The feature empowers content creators to experiment with different thumbnails to determine which resonates most effectively with their audience.

Seems like it, here's more results. Now that I can actually A/B test thumbnails I don't have to guess and I just test and see what people want. My mouth would have closed years ago if I had this tool 😭 pic.twitter.com/KelQC9tDkf

— MrBeast (@MrBeast) September 6, 2023

Why It’s Important: Given Donaldson’s monumental influence on the YouTube landscape, this revelation will likely trigger a widespread shift in thumbnail strategies among content creators. 

The closed-mouth thumbnail trend, which challenges established norms, could soon become a new standard in YouTube’s dynamic content creation playbook.

Last month, MrBeast broke the 24-hour view record for a non-music video with his “7 Days Stranded at Sea” vlog, gaining over 46 million views in just 23 hours.

MrBeast is currently the most-subscribed independent creator on YouTube. At the time of writing, he had 181 million subscribers on the platform. 

In August, the popular YouTuber also challenged T-Series for a subscriber count face-off, reigniting an old rivalry that dates back to 2019 when the Indian music label dethroned PewDiePie as the most-subscribed channel on YouTube.

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