Surge and drop off of YouTube views

 Your experience-seeing a surge of views in the first day or two after publishing videos (like quick chess games or daily Wordle solutions), followed by a sharp drop-off-is a common phenomenon on platforms like YouTube, especially with short-form or trending content345.

Why Views Spike and Then Stop

Algorithmic Exposure and Seed Audiences

  • When you upload a video, YouTube's algorithm initially promotes it to a "seed audience," typically your subscribers and viewers who have shown interest in similar content135.

  • If this seed audience engages well (high retention, likes, comments), the algorithm may push the video to a broader audience. However, if engagement is average or the topic is highly time-sensitive, the exposure often plateaus quickly5.

Trending and Time-Sensitive Content

  • Content like daily Wordle solutions or quick chess games is often tied to a specific day or moment. Most people interested in that day's puzzle or a particular chess game will watch it soon after it's posted.

  • After the initial period, the content becomes less relevant, so both the algorithm and viewers lose interest, causing views to stagnate34.

Shorts and Viral Spikes

  • For YouTube Shorts and similar formats, views often arrive in a concentrated burst when the video is temporarily featured on the Shorts shelf or in recommendations45.

  • Once the algorithm stops promoting the video-either because it has found a new trending topic or because the audience retention didn't meet a certain threshold-the views drop off rapidly, sometimes almost to zero45.

Key Takeaways

  • Initial Spike: The first surge comes from your subscribers and those actively searching for that day's content.

  • Algorithmic Testing: YouTube briefly tests your video with a wider audience. If it doesn't outperform similar content, promotion stops35.

  • Content Shelf-Life: Daily or event-based videos have a short window of relevance, so long-term growth is rare unless the video becomes evergreen or is picked up by search34.

  • Platform Norm: This pattern is normal-even larger channels see most views in the first 24–48 hours for time-sensitive videos34.

What Can You Do?

  • Optimize for Search: Use keywords in your title and description so your videos can still be found after the initial spike, especially if someone searches for past solutions or games.

  • Experiment with Timing: Try posting at different times to see if you can catch a larger initial audience5.

  • Create Evergreen Content: Mix in videos that aren't tied to a specific day or event, which can accumulate views over time.

In summary, the sharp drop-off in views after the first day or two is primarily due to how YouTube's algorithm promotes new, time-sensitive content and then quickly moves on to fresher or more engaging topics345. This is a widespread experience among creators, especially those producing daily or trending videos.

Citations:

  1. https://www.reddit.com/r/NewTubers/comments/v2mit0/a_lot_of_my_videos_get_one_big_spike_of_views/
  2. https://www.reddit.com/r/NewTubers/comments/1h1b58b/why_did_my_video_stop_gaining_views_after_spiking/
  3. https://www.reddit.com/r/NewTubers/comments/z2mhp8/instantaneous_spike_in_views_then_nothing_for/
  4. https://www.reddit.com/r/NewTubers/comments/m335mv/why_shorts_get_a_spike_in_views_and_then_stop/
  5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se02K1aRY0E
  6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBZYCo62iwc
  7. https://www.descript.com/blog/article/audience-retention-on-youtube
  8. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/17/upshot/wordle-bot-year-in-review.html
  9. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JqtLsF6DFA
  10. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3NjCYVRj4s
  11. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViYAEVn_d4o
  12. https://arxiv.org/html/2403.00454v1
  13. https://support.google.com/youtube/thread/299153599/my-video-didn-t-see-impression-after-400-450-views
  14. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctPSGorrkqQ
  15. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBZLU1FXhcI
  16. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30f_92DrTJM
  17. https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/1iwkczp/why_do_the_climb_the_ratings_ladder_videos_appear/
  18. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eg7-Aq0uG4
  19. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NC1MyrSzpr0
  20. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg_oAj0AEhU

Answer from Perplexity: pplx.ai/share

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