Understanding of Majority Opinion Formation in Online Environments Through Statistical Analysis of News, Documentary, and Comedy YouTube Channels

Abstract

Social networking services have been placed where people share opinions and information about various topics. These services allow users to express their opinions in direct (e.g., writing a comment or reply) and indirect ways (e.g., clicking a Like button). Based on commending, replying, and liking activities, users construct majority opinions in online environments. Previous studies examined perceptual and behavioral characteristics in the circumstance of majority opinions but only few of them provided how they differ depending on content types. Based on three different types of YouTube channels (news, documentary, and comedy), this study addresses how statistical properties of user opinions and majority opinions in online environments are presented differently depending on types of content. Based on the results of statistical analyses, we provide detailed properties of user activities in three types of YouTube channels and discuss several theoretical and practical implications.