Is this still a thing? (Patreon)

I still see this sort of thumbnail everywhere (creator interacting and looking shocked or scared in an over the top way you wouldn't in real life) and although I steer clear of ever clicking on something that is so forced and staged  (to me at least) I still see very large channels doing it and Im wondering if I am missing out on a trick here. Are the channels who do this being ironic, do they see it as being a bit camp and silly? Because I see all of them do it including the likes of TC and other notables I can't remember their names.

I take pride in making thumbnails that are more cinematic and sometimes spend hours on them using costly software but I wonder if me just doing something on a free app and spending a couple of minutes on it might bring me more clicks as it is a hidden code for the TRUE CRIME fraternity.

P.S

Im serious, being shadow banned aside, I do wonder what peoples expectations are when they are clicking through content because their is so much out their to choose from.