Can The View Count on Online Videos Be Trusted?

What Exactly Constitutes a View

Matt Lopez
Jul 10, 2017 · 2 min read

When it comes to online videos, one factor in determining their success are the amount of views the content received. That’s also, typically, one of the first things talked about when someones promoting an online video, “So-and-so’s new video was a success, it received millions of views!”

However, most don’t understand that a viewer doesn’t need to watch the whole video for it to count as a view. In fact, they usually don’t even have to watch ten seconds of the clip for it to count, which can give off a false sense of success. Of course, the amount of time it takes for a view to count as a view differs from platform to platform, but unfortunately they’re all relatively short.

When it comes to live video on Instagram Stories for example, a user only has to open the post for it to register as a view, same with Periscope and Instagram Live. Facebook Live is the only one out of the four that makes a user watch three seconds of a live video before it can be considered a view (and that’s still ridiculously short).

Picture Courtesy of Adaptly

Social Videos (videos posted on social media sites like Instagram, Facebook, etc) aren’t much better. For a view to count as a view on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram the video has to be watched for at least three seconds. YouTube requires the longest watching time at 30 seconds.

If a creator is being payed per view than the shorter the better, but if views are being used to determine the success of a video, than this measurement system is a bit flawed and can use a makeover.

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