From makeup tutorials to reaction videos, YouTube has become a popular platform for expression of ideas and opinions. In 2011, YouTube registered more than 1 trillion visits and more than 800 million people visit YouTube every month and watch more than 3 billion hours of video material.
Our team analyzed several months of video trending data on YouTube to determine which determinants are most important in making a video achieve trending status. We focused on user interaction measurements, such as likes and comments, and video attributes, such as title and content type. My contribution to the project involves comments analysis. I found that across five different countries, there was a significant negative correlation between disabling comments and the probability of a video trending. I also found that there was a positive and exponential correlation between comments and views.
This project was completed under The First-Year Innovation and Research Experience (FIRE) program at the University of Maryland, College Park. Working with my teammates to create the final product definitely strengthened my collaboration and communication skills, and I have gained insightful knowledge on how to delegate and accomplish tasks in a timely manner. This project also taught me how to analyze large scale datasets using Google Sheets.