YouTube comment moderation is great (and recommended) when videos go viral

My 9 year old’s YouTube response to President Obama’s speech to U.S. students yesterday has become quite popular around the world in the past 28 hours. At this writing, it has been viewed over 20,000 times and received the following daily honors. Note these are in 20 different countries, in addition to the United States. “Global stage” indeed.

#10 – Most Viewed (Today) – Education – Germany
#3 – Most Viewed (Today) – Education – Australia
#1 – Most Viewed (Today) – Education – Canada
#10 – Most Viewed (Today) – Education – United Kingdom
#2 – Most Viewed (Today) – Education – Ireland
#5 – Most Viewed (Today) – Education – India
#2 – Most Viewed (Today) – Education – New Zealand
#21 – Most Viewed (Today) – Education – Israel
#2 – Most Viewed (Today) – Education
#20 – Most Viewed (Today) – Education – Spain
#31 – Most Viewed (Today) – Education – Mexico
#14 – Most Viewed (Today) – Education – France
#19 – Most Viewed (Today) – Education – Japan
#9 – Most Viewed (Today) – Education – South Korea
#3 – Most Viewed (Today) – Education – Netherlands
#77 – Most Viewed (Today) – Education – Poland
#27 – Most Viewed (Today) – Education – Russia
#18 – Most Viewed (Today) – Education – Hong Kong
#30 – Most Viewed (Today) – Education – Taiwan
#11 – Most Viewed (Today) – Education – Czech Republic
#1 – Most Viewed (Today) – Education – Sweden
#11 – Top Favorited (Today) – Education
#4 – Top Rated (Today) – Education
#18 – Top Rated (This Week) – Education

The video also now has over 200 approved comments, but I am VERY glad I chose to turn ON comment moderation when we published it.

The vast majority of these comments, which HAVE come literally from around the world, have been EXTREMELY positive and supportive. Some, however, have not been and for that reason I’m glad to be moderating them. I covered up the profanity in the screenshot of comments in the moderation queue below. I’m deleting any comments that include profanity or are disparaging.

Some commenters were suspicious that earlier today, before I went to YouTube and realized we had so many comments to moderate, there were 13K+ views and just 1 approved comment.

Here are just a few of the very moving comments which the video has inspired to date, in addition to those left on our family learning blog.

From glynch21:

Sarah, I am in the 16th grade and that was one of my favorite parts too! Always remember that America is not about being Democrat or Republican. It is about forming your own opinions and being able to voice those opinions. Keep doing what you are doing and give your parents the same? message

From peacewillsetyoufree9:

This is so refreshing. Whether you are Republican or Democrat, it seems so important to me that this generation be involved in what is going on in our world from the very beginning, and seeing Pres. Obama’s speech is one way to acheive that. I’m in high school and I really wish that our principal had made the decision to have that available to? the students. Unfortunatly, he decide against that, but there is always YouTube:) Way to go, Sarah 🙂

From DigitalAquarius:

Faith in humanity + 9999999

Great work Sarah. Glad you got the message the president was trying to get across.

It truly was an inspiring? speech. Not to only students, but to everyone.

The main point I got out of it was that no matter what, each of us is capable of achieving anything, as long as we work hard and learn from our mistakes. No matter what happens, this country provides us with the opportunity to excel in whatever we want.

Hah, now the expectations are set. You better get back to us in 20 years with something _impressive_.
Just kidding, I wish you all the? best for the future.
Greetings from Norway.

From gfeck:

Great to hear your side. Unfortunately, many people will not speak kindly of Pres. Obama because he is of mixed race, specifically Afro- American, and that he is a Democrat. Narrow minded people see things in a narrow way. This is sad, we should all be open to new ideas and new thoughts, some will work and others won’t but we have to try something. I agree with the other comment, uplifting, empowering speech? AND you did a great job. Tell ALL the people who sit near you.

From PaulRayIsMe:

Sarah, I want to thank you for this video. There has been so much, ridiculous nonsense around President Obama’s speech by people afraid of the future and afraid of change. Your simple,? honest video has helped restore my confidence in the future, as long as it’s in the hands of smart, thoughtful, young people like you.

I just shared the above comments with Sarah. Quite edifying feedback for a 2 minute video shared online when you’re just 9 years old. 🙂 This is also a good case study in why comment moderation is a must on YouTube, particularly when sharing the work of young people.

Technorati Tags:
education, obama, response, school, speech, video, youtube, students

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On this day..

• Reflections on PD Hackathon 2023 – 2023
• Your “Normal” is Not Mine – 2019
• Hot Pot in Shanghai – 2011
• Here Come the iPads – Now What? iPad Deployment – 2011
• The Best Conference I Ever Attended… – 2011
• Wikis For The Collaborative Classroom – 2011
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• A Great Reason to Blog from the Classroom – 2010
• Over 17,000 views on YouTube in 24 hours – 2009
• Find a guest speaker via the MERLOT Virtual Speaker’s Bureau – 2008