Friday, April 15, 2011

Pass It On, Part 7: Africa

This week we will conclude our journey by taking a look at the spread of the Battlefield315 videos across Africa.

Africa is by far the least developed continent and supplies only a small share of the total traffic. Some third world countries provide more hits than all the countries of Africa combined. South Africa is the most active, accounting for almost half of the continent's hits. Egypt and Morocco are the other countries that stand out: Together with South Africa, they provide about three-quarters of Africa's traffic....

Monday, April 11, 2011

Friday, April 8, 2011

Pass It On, Part 6: The Pacific

This week we will take a look at the spread of the Battlefield315 videos across the islands of the Pacific.

Though its economy is still developing, Indonesia has supplied a fair amount of traffic due to its large population--the fourth-largest in the world. Japan is the only other country in the Pacific with a population over a hundred million; coupled with its advanced economy, it easily boasts the greatest number of hits (besides Australia). The big surprise of the Pacific is the high degree of traffic from the Philippines....

Friday, April 1, 2011

Pass It On, Part 5: Asian Mainland

This week we will take a look at the spread of the Battlefield315 videos across mainland Asia.

There is a surprisingly dense area of traffic around the Malay Peninsula: Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore together the supply the majority of hits from the Asian mainland. This is despite the presence of the world's two population giants, India and China. India supplies a fair amount of traffic, but not in proportion to its size. India lacks development; in China, the government is the root of the problem...

Friday, March 25, 2011

Pass It On, Part 4: Middle East

This week we will take a look at the spread of the Battlefield315 videos across the Middle East.

Note that YouTube's definition of the Middle East does not include anything in Africa or east of Iraq. Within the defined area, two countries stand above the rest: Israel, which supplies about a third of the total traffic, and Turkey, which accounts for about one-sixth. YouTube is able to supply data for all of the countries except for the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (also known as South Yemen). There is also no data from an area called simply the "Neutral Zone," which presumably refers to the undefined southern border of Saudi Arabia...

Friday, March 18, 2011

Pass It On, Part 3: Europe

This week we will take a look at the spread of the Battlefield315 videos across Europe.

As the videos are in English, it comes as no surprise that the United Kingdom supplies the most traffic in Europe. Globally, the UK is only behind the United States and Canada. Ireland is also an English-speaking country, but it does not provide a disproportionate number of hits. But Germany, Sweden, and (oddly) Romania do...

Friday, March 11, 2011

Pass It On, Part 2: Latin America

This week we will take a look at the spread of the Battlefield315 videos across South America, Central America, and the Caribbean.

YouTube is unable to collect data on French Guiana or the Falkland Islands, but the rest of South America has been reached. The majority of traffic comes from Brazil, by far the most populous country. Argentina is slightly smaller than Colombia, but provides a disproportionate number of hits...