PHL gov’t among world’s top YouTube users

Philippine government offices around the world are now using the social media platform as a tool to engage with their constituents, making the Philippines one of the top YouTube users among governments in the world.

A recent study by a global public relations firm on how world leaders utilize YouTube as communication platform showed that the Philippine government’s YouTube channel is one of most active users of the video-sharing platform.

The World Leaders on YouTube study was conducted by Burson-Marsteller, a global based communications and public relations firm.

“The extensive use of YouTube by world leaders emphasizes the growing power video content is playing in the communications field and the increasing shift in efforts to get messages across to audiences around the world. Video is now a central component of any successful communications campaign,” said Burson-Marsteller Worldwide Chief Executive Officer Donald Baer.

According to the Study, nearly 77 percent of the governments worldwide have an official YouTube channel. Majority of these public figures actively use the platform, posting nearly 200,000 videos to date.

Out of 193 member countries of United Nations, 148 have their official YouTube channels.

The Philippines’ Presidential Broadcast Staff Channel or the RTVM Malacañang on YouTube ranked second in the most active leaders on YouTube, with over 8,200 number of videos uploaded as of now. It trailed behind the government of Colombia which has 8,696 videos.

Meanwhile, the study found out that the White House and United States President Barack Obama use the video sharing tool the most among to engage with people.

The White House also leads the most engaged ranking, with 3.5 million engagements, which include likes, comments, and dislikes on certain videos.

Obama, on the other hand, has 2.2 million interactions and Modi has 600,000.

The official channel of the White House has close to 700,000 subscribers while Obama has 530,000 subscribers to his channel.

Indian Prime Minister Narenda Mondi is third in terms of number of subscribers, with 300,000 active viewers.

Obama’s channel, on the other hand, has the most views with 300,397,770.

“This study illustrates that governments are ready to communicate across all the key social media platforms,” Burson-Marsteller CEO for Europe, Africa and Middle East, Jeremy Galbraith said.

The study is a followup on Burson-Marsteller’s annual study Twimplomacy, which analyzes how world leaders use Twitter. The firm is expanding their study to include other social media platforms as well. — Kiersnerr Gerwin Tacadena/LBG, GMA News