50,000
Monday this week, Blind, a short film I made back in film school, crossed 50,000 views on YouTube. But I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t look into what that number actually means.
There are some spoilers below, so if you haven’t watched Blind before, go watch it. Besides, if you’re reading this, we are probably friends, which means you should’ve seen it before now anyway [insert fake guilt trip here].
So the fun little bits of info:
Blind was uploaded to YouTube in April 2013, and by the end of May 2014, only had 630 views. After that—for reasons I still don’t know—viewing numbers exploded. By the end of June it was up to 942, an increase of almost 50%. By the end of July it had more than doubled, with 2288 views.
From August 31st-December 20th of 2014, Blind was being viewed over 500 times each week. Views peaked the week of September 28th-October 4th, when it was viewed 773 times.
Since January 2015—with the exception of a three week period around the 2016 New Year—Blind is viewed at least 135 times a week. But the first week of January 2015 was also the last time it was viewed more than 500 times in a week.
Views for Blind have begun to slowly tick back upward. Since the start of 2017, Blind has been viewed at least 200 times per week.
83% of views are generated by YouTube’s suggested videos—the list of videos that appear beside the comments and at the end of a video.
While Blind has 50,000 views, the actual number of people who watched the full film is closer to 6500.
50% of viewers stopped watching by the 30 second mark.
Only 18% of viewers make it to the 3 minute mark.
Somewhere between 1500-2000 people stopped watching after she knocks the glass off the counter.
Only 13% of the audience, roughly 6500 viewers, will get through the sequence where she walks through the glass. But—assuming I’m reading the data correctly—approximately half of them will go back and rewatch the moment she knocks the glass off the counter.
That 13% will keep watching until the credits roll. Only 3% watch all the way through the credits.
Blind has 94 likes, and 21 dislikes. Or, if it was a Rotten Tomatoes score, an 82%. Blind is certified fresh!