Analysis of patterns of use, production, and activity in kid YouTuber channels. A longitudinal study through three cultural contexts: United States, United Kingdom, and Spain

Abstract

This paper analyzes the data collected about 5,388 videos from the 15 leading channels from Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States focusing on toys and in which the protagonists are children under 14 years of age (2011– 2019). It aims to determine whether there are common patterns of use, production, and activity in videos by kid YouTubers. Specific software was developed to enable information to be gathered from the YouTube platform through the YouTube Data API by analyzing the date on which the video was published, length, number of visits, likes, dislikes, and visits/vote (visits/[likes+dislikes]). The main conclusions drawn are that a channel’s success is not dependent on a pattern or specific characteristics, although an impulse pattern has been detected; participation by children who consume content in the United States differs significantly from participation by those in Europe; and certain similarities based on video length and production frequency can be observed between channels.