Numbers can add up quickly.

Numbers are an important part of our lives and the internet.

We use numbers to keep track of items, assign value to items we produce, and much more, including measuring the effectiveness of a message on the internet.

Now, since you are reading this blog post, you probably know how to use the internet, and have watched videos on or from YouTube.

Did you know you contribute to a metric just by watching videos?

There are various metrics and numbers that are collected by websites and analyzed, but we'll focus on views of YouTube videos.


Each individual view of a video adds up to a tangible number that brands and individuals can use to gauge their success, popularity, reach, and other useful statistics.

Let's look at the video United Breaks Guitars.

Now, that may seem like a normal, kind of dorky song to find on YouTube. However, this was really the first video of its kind on the internet.

The main singer in the song is Dave Carroll. He was flying with United Airlines and his guitar was broken. 

United, which was used to one-way communication with its customers did not take Carroll's claims seriously and just ignored the whole situation.

After 9 months of this, Carroll created and uploaded this video in July 2006. After about a week, the video had over a million views. It was a viral sensation and was shared on Twitter, blogs, and even mainstream media.

Suddenly, United found itself with a problem. 

Instead of going away after some time, this customer's complaint and the way United handled it had exploded and was getting national attention.

Beyond having the vague idea that people around the world were watching this video, United was faced with a metric: the continually growing number of views highlighted just underneath the video on YouTube's website.

This number was a measurable guide showing how many times potential customers saw or replayed a reenactment of how United mishandled the baggage and consequent complaint. 

Today, over 15 million people have watched the United Break Guitars video and 85,000 individuals have liked it.

The number of views attached to a YouTube video is an important metric, especially when accompanied with shares, likes and dislikes, comments, and so on.

Don't underestimate the power of a number.

Off to contribute to YouTube metrics,

The Purple Writer