YouTube Slam: Video duels and user voting
According to the official YouTube blog, YouTube Slam is a new video experiment created in partnership with Google Research.
YouTube Slam is the brainchild of the two teams, created with the express hope of 'weeding out' the lesser quality videos and making sure top uploads have a new avenue in which to become discovered and receive additional exposure.
(Source: ZDNet)
Eight years' worth of content is uploaded every day, which means that many who want to showcase their musical ability, dancing, or create a great animation series are less and less likely to be discovered.
On a weekly basis, YouTube staff will pick a round of videos that users can vote for through a simple system reminiscent of traditional gaming structures.
The Google research team have been working on ways to analyse videos in order to promote the ones that are better quality. Focusing on 'singing at home' uploads, the Google team used software methods to analyse audio and visual features. However, they wanted to expand this further, and the idea of using a 'voting game' to identify the talents that deserved showcases brought forth YouTube Slam.
The categories users can search to find and vote on what may become the latest viral sensation are currently 'music', 'bizarre', 'comedy', 'dance' and 'cute'.
The 'video duels' can settle which videos are more entertaining than others, and the winners of each 'Slam' get featured on a leader board.
The new voting game mechanics allow users to both predict the new favourite videos in order to score points, and see their scores pitted against other YouTube Slam gamers.
Apart from increasing the value and interaction levels of YouTube uploads, it may also be a way to reduce aimless searching and boost channel subscriber numbers.
If you're interested in creating the next sensation, why not take a look at the new YouTube creator playbook for some tips?
Related: