You’ve seen him. You've definitely seen him. He’s usually in a bright, high-contrast thumbnail on YouTube, eyes wide, jaw dropped, looking like he just witnessed the birth of a galaxy or a car crash in slow motion. We call it the "YouTube Face." But the phenomenon of the guy with open mouth isn't just some weird trend started by kids in their bedrooms. It’s a calculated, data-driven psychological hack that has fundamentally changed how we consume digital media.
It’s kinda weird when you think about it.
Why does a grown man acting surprised make us want to click a video about Minecraft or tax law? Honestly, it’s because our brains are hardwired for it. We are biological machines designed to prioritize emotional cues, and nothing screams "pay attention" louder than a look of pure, unadulterated shock.
The Clickbait Evolution: Why the Guy With Open Mouth Rules the Feed
Back in the early days of the internet, thumbnails were just random frames from the video. They were blurry. They were boring. Then, creators realized that the human face is the most powerful magnet on the planet. But not just any face. Specifically, a face displaying high-arousal emotions.
MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson) is basically the king of this. He has admitted in multiple interviews, including on the The Joe Rogan Experience, that his team spends hours—sometimes days—perfecting the thumbnail. They often test different versions to see which one gets a higher Click-Through Rate (CTR). Almost always, the version with the guy with open mouth wins. It conveys a sense of urgency and mystery. What did he see? Why is he making that face? You have to click to find out.
It’s Pavlovian.
We see the "O" shape of the mouth and our amygdala kicks into gear. This is the "surprise" expression, which in evolutionary terms, usually meant there was a predator or a windfall of food nearby. Even though we know, deep down, that the YouTuber is probably just reacting to a $10,000 pizza, the primitive part of our brain hasn't caught up to the digital age.
The Science of "High-Arousal" Visuals
Psychologists often talk about the "Valence-Arousal-Dominance" model. Surprise is a unique emotion because it has high arousal but can have either positive or negative valence. When you see a guy with open mouth, your brain can't immediately tell if the surprise is good or bad. This creates an "information gap."
George Loewenstein, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, pioneered the "Information Gap Theory." It suggests that curiosity is like an itch. When there’s a gap between what we know and what we want to know, it causes mental discomfort. To resolve that discomfort, we click. The open mouth is the ultimate visual question mark.
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- It triggers an immediate emotional response.
- It bypasses the logical brain.
- It promises a high-energy experience.
Is It Ruining the Internet?
Some people hate it. They really, really hate it. There’s a whole movement of users who use browser extensions like "Clickbait Remover for YouTube" which replaces the custom thumbnail with a random frame from the video. They’re tired of the exaggerated expressions. It feels dishonest. Kinda fake.
But the data doesn't lie.
If a creator stops using the guy with open mouth style, their views often plummet. It’s a race to the bottom of the attention economy. If everyone else is screaming visually, you can’t afford to whisper. This has led to what some call "aesthetic fatigue." When every single video in your feed features a person looking like they've seen a ghost, the effect starts to dull. You become desensitized.
Yet, even with the pushback, the trend persists because it works on new viewers. It's the "Billboard Effect." You might not like the loud, neon sign, but you definitely saw it.
The Technical Side of the "Gape"
It’s not just about opening your mouth. There’s a specific way to do it for maximum SEO and Discover performance.
- The Lighting: Creators use "Rembrandt lighting" or high-key setups to make sure the face is perfectly clear even on a tiny mobile screen.
- The Saturation: Colors are often pushed to 11. Skin tones are made warmer, and eyes are brightened.
- The Cutout: The guy with open mouth is usually cut out from the background with a thick white or yellow stroke (outline) to make him pop against the background.
Veritasium (Derek Muller) actually did a fantastic deep-dive into how thumbnails affect the spread of educational content. He found that even for "serious" science topics, a more "clickbaity" face led to significantly more people learning the actual science. It’s a trade-off. Do you want to be "dignified" and have 5,000 views, or do you want to look a bit silly and reach 5 million people?
For most, the choice is obvious.
Real Examples of the "Open Mouth" Impact
Look at the gaming community. Creators like Markiplier or Jacksepticeye were early adopters of the high-energy reaction face. It fits the "Let's Play" genre perfectly because the content is literally about reacting to things. However, we're now seeing this bleed into finance (Graham Stephan), tech reviews (Linus Tech Tips), and even cooking channels.
Linus Gabriel Sebastian of Linus Tech Tips has been very transparent about this. He’s mentioned that even if he personally finds the "shocked face" thumbnails cringey, his company employs dozens of people. He has a responsibility to use the tactics that keep the lights on. If the guy with open mouth pays the rent, the mouth stays open.
Cultural Impact and Memification
The "soyjak" meme is essentially a parody of this entire phenomenon. It mocks the perceived lack of masculinity or the "performative" nature of the shocked expression. It shows that the public is hyper-aware of the tactic. We know we're being manipulated, but like a moth to a flame, we still head toward the light.
Interestingly, this isn't just a Western thing.
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Across TikTok and Douyin in China, the "stunned" reaction is a universal language. It transcends borders. A guy with open mouth in a thumbnail in Brazil looks the same as one in Japan. It is perhaps the first truly global visual dialect of the 21st century.
How to Navigate the "Open Mouth" Era
If you're a creator, you can't just ignore this. But you can do it better.
- Don't fake the emotion entirely. If the video is actually boring, the "open mouth" will lead to a high bounce rate. People will click, realize they were lied to, and leave. This hurts your average view duration (AVD).
- Test different levels of intensity. Sometimes a "subtle" surprise works better for older audiences or professional niches.
- Focus on the eyes. The mouth is important, but "micro-expressions" in the eyes make the surprise look real versus "staged."
For the average viewer, the best thing you can do is be aware. Understand that the thumbnail is an advertisement, not a summary. When you see a guy with open mouth, take a half-second to read the title and check the channel name before letting your lizard brain take the wheel.
Actionable Steps for Better Digital Consumption
- Check the Duration: If a thumbnail looks hyper-exaggerated but the video is only 2 minutes long, it's likely a low-effort "click farm" piece.
- Use Subscriptions: Don't rely solely on the "Home" feed or "Discover" tab, which are driven by these high-arousal tactics. Go to your subscription feed where you've already vetted the creators for quality.
- Audit Your Own Clicks: Spend a week noticing which thumbnails you clicked on. You’ll probably find that the guy with open mouth got you more than you’d care to admit.
- Support Honest Design: Engage more with creators who use "clean" thumbnails. YouTube's algorithm follows the engagement. If we stop clicking the "gape," they'll stop making it.
The "YouTube Face" is a byproduct of a system that rewards attention above all else. It’s not necessarily "bad," but it is a reflection of how our biology interacts with modern algorithms. Whether you find it hilarious, annoying, or just a part of the background noise of 2026, the guy with open mouth is here to stay as long as our brains remain wired for surprise.
Next time you're scrolling, look for the "O." Now you know exactly why it's there.