Getting the message out via viral video

[Akash Rastogi]

Actually I think its more because the NBA playoffs are going on and it depends what people have been searching for on youtube. "Championship" has a lot to do with it plus whatever tags you have. "Rebound" and "tournament" too.

I don't know how it happened but it is pretty cool either way!

[BigJ]

Trying to manufacture a "viral" video hardly ever ends up with a good result. I know that's not really the intention, though.

Be advised that on a global site like Youtube, exposing more of the internet to something, well, brings the internet in.

Every time a video gets non-FIRST views and is posted on Chief Delphi, people start talking/complaining about all the bad/silly/etc comments and dislikes left on the video. You have to ignore the greater internet to some extent.

[Gray Adams]

Originally Posted by BigJ

Trying to manufacture a "viral" video hardly ever ends up with a good result. I know that's not really the intention, though.

There is a method to the madness. http://techcrunch.com/2007/11/22/the...-viral-videos/

[gyroscopeRaptor]

Could you go into YouTube Analytics and post the graph that shows how long people stay on this video?

[Nick Lawrence]

The comments on this video are rather disheartening.

Sigh.

-Nick

[jspatz1]

I belive there is a growing problem on Youtube with automated spambots trolling new videos, leaving dislikes and comments. I had a simlar situation this season when I posted some match video, and in a few hours it had 25,000 hits, dozens of dislikes, and several obcene comments. There are commercial users of Youtube who do real business with their videos and get paid based on their number if views, etc., so I would think this kind of trolling would be a serious issue for Youtube.

[jvriezen]

Originally Posted by gyroscopeRaptor

Could you go into YouTube Analytics and post the graph that shows how long people stay on this video?

The retention graph has a gradual mostly linear drop off in viewing from 100% at the start of the video down to about 30% when you get to the last 30 seconds of the match, it jumps up a bit there to 36% right near the end.

[gyroscopeRaptor]

^ That result seems to confirm that standard match videos aren't enough for getting the word out. You would have to either show off a massive video (think HOT's high-scoring runs) or switch between angles often, probably both.

[jvriezen]

Originally Posted by gyroscopeRaptor

^ That result seems to confirm that standard match videos aren't enough for getting the word out. You would have to either show off a massive video (think HOT's high-scoring runs) or switch between angles often, probably both.

Not sure that would help much. I see a couple of problems-- First, the 'standard' way of posting a match video is to show just the match, and the final score. This is probably because that's how TheBlueAlliance has always wanted it, to minimize storage requirements. For "in the know" FIRSTers, that's all you need.

For someone who is totally new to FIRST (or maybe has seen a previous year's game but not the current one) A raw match only video has no context. They don't know the rules, the don't have an appreciation for what is a phenomenal performance, etc. A basketball game where the points scored per minute per team is around 20-40 pts is totally foreign. What is considered an overly high scoring match? Until you see a few, you don't know.

For the most part, all our match videos only really appeal to ourselves-- notice that whenever you show a match video to someone who hasn't heard about FIRST, you spend a bunch of the match explaining the game and pointing out which elements of the match are highlights and why. It's not self evident.

[Brandon_L]

I think it was more your choice of title & tags for the video. 50% of the comments on the video were along the lines of "I just saw 'championship' in the title...what did I just watch?"

No matter how it happened, linking to other videos that explain FIRST a bit more is really all you could do in this case.

[Bill_B]

Not that I'm trying pop your bubble, but I think it will be counted as a view just for having the page ref'd. Sorta like opening a door, peeking in, seeing nothing of interest in 2 seconds, and leaving without actually entering the room. I like the tag search explanation involving championship and basketball. Reminds me I ought to go back and check my CT regional machines video to see what's happened there in the last two months.