How Cover Images Represent Video Content: A Case Study of Bilibili

Abstract

User generated videos are the most prevalent online products on social media platforms nowadays. In this context, thumbnails (or cover images) serve the important role of representing the video content and attracting viewers’ attention. In this study, we conducted a content analysis of cover images on the Bilibili video-sharing platform, the Chinese counterpart to YouTube, where content creators can upload videos and design their own cover images rather than using automatically generated thumbnails. We extracted four components – snapshot, background, text overlay, and face – that content creators use most often in cover images. We found that the use of different components and their combinations varies in cover images for videos of different duration. The study sheds light on human input into video representation and addresses a gap in the literature, as video thumbnails have previously been studied mainly as the output of automatic generation by algorithms.