Need your help with this youtube experiment - counting views

I'm trying to figure out how youtube counts views for embedded videos.  I would love your help.  (the video has cute chick content at the end as a reward for watching)

An embedded video looks like this



and a link to the video on youtube would look something like this.

Or like this





Because it's a secret video (you have to have the link to know it's there), I'll compare the results after a week or so and see if they respond to what youtube's analytics say.  

Youtube encourages embedding videos, but I've suspected for some time that they don't count the views very well.  This will be a big help not just for me, but also for other permies (like paul wheaton's youtube channel) looking to get the word out.

For those of you watching on youtube, does the comment with the link to the permies thread show?

Pastels are hard, but your chicken looks like the one in the book. I watched the video here on permies.

My son, looking at the chicken in the book, says, "That chicken looks cursed!"

My kids and I all agree, you did a great job drawing the chicken in the book... but book's chicken is an awful drawing. You did a fantastic job drawing an awful thing.

I almost wonder if a mixed media thing might be better? It's hard to try to draw a background after drawing the foreground. Maybe if the background was removed, or if you painted the background in watercolors and then drew the chicken in pastels, it would look better. It definitely looked better before you added the background. I've noticed that most of your chicken painting lack backgrounds, and they look great that way!

I also think it might work better for you to draw a picture of a real chicken, rather than a ridiculous book cartoon. The book cartoon isn't your style. You obviously have the ability to reproduce what you see, so maybe try reproducing a real chicken, rather than a funky cartoon chicken.

I think tutorials like the one in the book are meant for people who generalize what they see, not for people who's brains like to draw what they see. I think some people are good at having their brain's process what they see into a symbolic representation/caricature of what they see. Other peoples brains don't do that step of generalizing what they see, and do better at just drawing what they see.

Anyway, all that is to say, you did a great job using pastels. Maybe try drawing something realistic with them, before giving up on them?

r ranson wrote:For those of you watching on youtube, does the comment with the link to the permies thread show?

I clicked the embedded video here on permies and then clicked the "view on youtube" on the video. Then I finished watching it on youtube. I saw the link to the  permies thread.

So far, I watched the whole thing, here, on permies, and I love your lil' chook! Yep, those crumbly things are probably old, and definitely sub-par quality - definitely not a great art experience.

In a little while, I'll go watch on youtube, so I can check on the comment, and give it a like there, too! (I was just taking a quick break, now - I'll do that for my next one)

here are the results on day one - the survey has only been up for a couple of hours so far.

But I have to say, I didn't expect the results to be this different already.  

oh wow, this youtube metric is very different.  But it doesn't count towards the views or watchtime of the video.  

It could be the main analytics needs some time to catch up.  Maybe the results will be more congruent tomorrow.  

Watched fully, on both, liked, and commented on yt. That little chook is just too cute.

I watched the video on YouTube, gave it a thumbs up and then clicked on the more... to see what was there.

Went to the end about felled chickens and clicked on the Permies.con link and got to Nicole’s felted chicken store on Permies.

day 2 stats, about noon my time.  


It looks like youtube is catching up but still having trouble processing the view count.  

ps.  special thanks to the new subscribers!  You rock!

Just a note, I am using Ipad Pro:
watching the embedded link I was not successful in viewing the channel for a "like" or subscribe option.
watching the link that opens youtube I was able to see the channel, and 'like' option.

Watched the video here on Permies. Cool little video.
I'm very interested in seeing how this experiment turns out!

Cheers

-Justyn

UG!  Youtube had a glitch so the numbers reported for the 20th of Feb are an underestimate (it's also when I released my public video so ug!  No wonder it suddenly stopped getting views for no reason and is having trouble catching up.  anyway)

I think we have enough information to draw some conclusions.


1. embedded videos do count on YouTube analytics.  But it can take up to 48 hours for them to show properly.
2. The first 12 hours of publishing a video have a huge influence on how well it does on YouTube (short-term - long-term life of the video depends on so many other factors, but is easier if the initial growth is fast).  

So if the numbers aren't being counted right away for embedded videos, it's slowing potential growth.

That said, views that don't last 30 seconds hurt video growth, so embedding the videos could be used statically.  If the audience isn't the target audience, embed the video in that location so the lower watch time doesn't hurt the initial growth of the video.

3. (someone mentioned above) It's hard to like and comment if you are watching an embedded video.  These also help the video grow.



I suspect there are more conclusions, just not sure yet what they are.  

First and foremost I really am enjoying your videos.  Thank you for taking the time to do them. I watched the video in question on YouTube because, if my memory serves me correctly,  you were hoping to get a high count there.  My wonder is what happens if I watch part on permies and then decide to watch the video in its entirety on YouTube. Again, thank you for taking the time to film your journey.  Sincerely, Jeff

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