YOUTUBE: The Art of the Thumbnail

What’s in a YouTube thumbnail? It’s like a headline, but it’s not a headline. It’s like a magazine cover — or a tabloid cover. It’s a label. Sometimes, it’s a warning label.

That’s my assessment of the YouTube thumbnail. The potential reach on the megalithic platform is so extensive, you cannot predict who might be watching. Sometimes, however, you know.

I hear encouraging comments from one member of my audience for my short songs on the violin. He’s the father in a deeply religious homeschooling family that plays bluegrass together in praise.

That’s why the thumbnail for today’s piece — which discusses “The Drinking Song” from La Traviata — is a little over the top.

It matches the style of the opera — and it sends a signal to music-loving families that this piece might not be for everyone.