Thursday, July 26, 2012

Baffled By The Bots



When I posted this video from two weeks ago on YouTube, it was with a sense of embarrassment. The video wasn't very good, and doesn't do justice to Ms. Veloz and her talents. Nevertheless, I posted it, for the record.

To my surprise, the video was picked up on Twitter, and many of her fans watched it. Strangely, although one person noted the video being off-sync, no one seemed to dislike the video enough to give it a 'thumbs-down'. They just seemed happy to hear news from her summer tour.

And now, I have a number of new YouTube subscribers who don't seem to be human beings at all. They all joined YouTube on April 2nd, and they are each 22 years old. The new subscribers appear to be "bots", and they spend their days indiscriminately watching YouTube videos (with a particular penchant for watching business-marketing schlock that they probably watch a lot of at Guantanamo). The bots really like this video! The viewing statistics are really jumping for this video, and it's among the worst videos I've ever uploaded! What could it mean?

Which reminds me, Carla told me two months ago that these bots really exist. That's how people get such spectacular viewing statistics on YouTube, and it can make a big difference to a singer's career. I smiled at her and didn't believe a word she said. Guess I was wrong!

But what to do with the bots? Do they like to read blogs too? Maybe I've found my true audience?

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