Social links vs. language barriers: decoding the global spread of streaming content

Abstract The development of the internet has allowed for the global distribution of content, redefining media communication and property structures through various streaming platforms. Previous studies successfully clarified the factors contributing to trends in each streaming service, yet the simil...

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Main Authors: Seoyoung Park, Sanghyeok Park, Taekho You, Jinhyuk Yun
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Springer Nature 2025-01-01
Series:Humanities & Social Sciences Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-04400-2
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author Seoyoung Park
Sanghyeok Park
Taekho You
Jinhyuk Yun
author_facet Seoyoung Park
Sanghyeok Park
Taekho You
Jinhyuk Yun
author_sort Seoyoung Park
collection DOAJ
description Abstract The development of the internet has allowed for the global distribution of content, redefining media communication and property structures through various streaming platforms. Previous studies successfully clarified the factors contributing to trends in each streaming service, yet the similarities and differences between platforms are commonly unexplored; moreover, the influence of social connections and cultural similarity is usually overlooked. We hereby examine the social aspects of three significant streaming services–Netflix, Spotify, and YouTube–with an emphasis on the dissemination of content across countries. Using two-year-long trending chart datasets, we find that streaming content can be divided into two types: video-oriented (Netflix) and audio-oriented (Spotify). This characteristic is differentiated by accounting for the significance of social connectedness and linguistic similarity: audio-oriented content travels via social links, but video-oriented content tends to spread throughout linguistically akin countries. Interestingly, user-generated contents, YouTube, exhibits a dual characteristic by integrating both visual and auditory characteristics, indicating the platform is evolving into unique medium rather than simply residing a midpoint between video and audio media.
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issn 2662-9992
language English
publishDate 2025-01-01
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series Humanities & Social Sciences Communications
spelling doaj-art-ea61a4b5089e487ca89d6d0f30cc205c2025-01-26T12:20:25ZengSpringer NatureHumanities & Social Sciences Communications2662-99922025-01-0112111010.1057/s41599-025-04400-2Social links vs. language barriers: decoding the global spread of streaming contentSeoyoung Park0Sanghyeok Park1Taekho You2Jinhyuk Yun3School of AI Convergence, Soongsil UniversityDepartment of Intelligent Semiconductors, Soongsil UniversityInstitute for Social Data Science, Pohang University of Science and TechnologySchool of AI Convergence, Soongsil UniversityAbstract The development of the internet has allowed for the global distribution of content, redefining media communication and property structures through various streaming platforms. Previous studies successfully clarified the factors contributing to trends in each streaming service, yet the similarities and differences between platforms are commonly unexplored; moreover, the influence of social connections and cultural similarity is usually overlooked. We hereby examine the social aspects of three significant streaming services–Netflix, Spotify, and YouTube–with an emphasis on the dissemination of content across countries. Using two-year-long trending chart datasets, we find that streaming content can be divided into two types: video-oriented (Netflix) and audio-oriented (Spotify). This characteristic is differentiated by accounting for the significance of social connectedness and linguistic similarity: audio-oriented content travels via social links, but video-oriented content tends to spread throughout linguistically akin countries. Interestingly, user-generated contents, YouTube, exhibits a dual characteristic by integrating both visual and auditory characteristics, indicating the platform is evolving into unique medium rather than simply residing a midpoint between video and audio media.https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-04400-2
spellingShingle Seoyoung Park
Sanghyeok Park
Taekho You
Jinhyuk Yun
Social links vs. language barriers: decoding the global spread of streaming content
Humanities & Social Sciences Communications
title Social links vs. language barriers: decoding the global spread of streaming content
title_full Social links vs. language barriers: decoding the global spread of streaming content
title_fullStr Social links vs. language barriers: decoding the global spread of streaming content
title_full_unstemmed Social links vs. language barriers: decoding the global spread of streaming content
title_short Social links vs. language barriers: decoding the global spread of streaming content
title_sort social links vs language barriers decoding the global spread of streaming content
url https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-04400-2
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AT jinhyukyun sociallinksvslanguagebarriersdecodingtheglobalspreadofstreamingcontent