Why the Number of O's In LOL Matter On YouTube

karthikmns writes "It turns out that Google uses the number of o's in a lol to weigh how funny a video is. In a blog post Google explains how they came up with an algorithm to gauge a video's comedic potential. So if you want to watch funnier videos, make sure to add some extra o's or help them by visiting their Comedy Slam and voting."

Comments

Amazing

[gmuslera]

From the people that used extra o's in Goooooogle to signal that there are more pages of search results.

I suppose that for certain people, adding o's is the plain text approach to add stars

Re:Amazing

[Golddess]

Excellent post! Would read again! AAAAAAAAAA++++++++

Of course it matters

[Anonymous Coward]

If you're over the age of 13 and you use more than one "O", you should kill yourself.

Re:Of course it matters

[UninformedCoward]

If you're over the age of 13 and still use "LOL", you should kill yourself.

Re:so

[DemoLiter3]

Not much. On Slashdot, only the number of digits in your user ID matters, you 7-digit noob.

What *does* LOOL mean?

[91degrees]

So, we have loool, lolololol and lollll. The acronyms seem to break. Especially the first one.

Laugh Out Out Out Loud, Laugh Out Loud Out Loud Out Loud Out Loud, and Laugh Out Loud Loud Loud Loud Loud.

I suppose the middle one could be Laugh Out Loud Out Laugh Out Loud Out Laugh, or possibly the recursive Lololol Out Loud (where Lololol is Lolol Out Loud and Lolol is Lol Out Loud),

Re:What *does* LOOL mean?

[camperdave]

I think it's bager, badger, badger, badger...

Re:so

[stjobe]

I'll fill in the 5-digit spot; waiting for the 4-digit reply.

Re:so

[MoOsEb0y]

4 digits as requested.

Re:LOOOOOOOOL!!!!

[Anrego]

I hope they are keeping in mind how low the bar is when studying YouTube comments.

Behind every terrifying comment on a youtube video is a member of the youtube audience. The very same audience this rating system is supposed to speak to.
I’ll accept that youtube comment section has such a bad rap that a lot of people who would make intelligent comments don’t bother, but I think in general youtube reminds us that there are a huge number of very unintelligent people out there and they probably make up the bulk of youtube viewership!

Re:What about alternative spellings ?

[MagicM]

Anybody who's anybody knows that the ultimate lol is the ROFLCOPTER.

Gmail Too

[SJHillman]

Google also measures the numbers of X's and O's in your emails to determine how much you love your mother.

Re:Gmail Too

[Sir Holo]

Mod this commenter up. A++++++! Will buy from again.

Re:so

[mooingyak]

3 digits. Not once, but twice! Beat that!

Length isn't everything...

[defnoz]

I think they've got the relationship wrong. The number of 'o's is inversely proportional to the IQ of the target audience.

Re:so

[stjobe]

UID 1 is CmdrTaco.

Re:I have only one thing to say to this

[mortonda]

LL

Directive 3?

[Spykk]

So google has developed artificial intelligence that is forced to read YouTube comments all day? I wonder how many lines of code it took to keep it from commiting suicide.

Re:Directive 3?

[w_dragon]

Assuming it's self-learning, after a few days of YouTube comments I'm not sure it would qualify as an 'intelligence' any more.

Is this actually...

[Jafafa Hots]

... a measure of how funny a video is, or actually a measure of how stupid its viewers are?

Wait, this is YouTube comments, right? I think I just answered my own question.

YouTube - the only place where a kitten video can ignite a verbal race riot.

Re:so

[Anonymous Coward]

EnsnTaco?

Same rule applied for football / soccer?

[dkleinsc]

The importance of a score is determined by the number of O's in "Gooooooooooooooooooooal!"

Re:so

[kdawson (3715)]

Hey guys - let me assure you- though Rob isn't on Slash Dot anymore he is still "with us in spirit". As a matter of fact he is right here in my living room naked, drugged out of his mind and chained to a brick colum. JUST KIDDING. ;)

-KD

Re:LOOOOOOOOL!!!!

[dissy]

Iâ(TM)ll accept that youtube comment section has such a bad rap that a lot of people who would make intelligent comments donâ(TM)t bother, but I think in general youtube reminds us that there are a huge number of very unintelligent people out there and they probably make up the bulk of youtube viewership!

There is a FireFox extension called YouTube Comment Snob.
I believe they have a version out for Chrome as well now.

It hides comments if they fail a certain number of rules:

* More than # spelling mistakes: The number of mistakes is customizable, and the extension uses Firefox's built-in spell checker.
* All capital letters
* No capital letters
* Doesn't start with a capital letter
* Excessive punctuation (!!!! ????)
* Excessive capitalization
* Profanity

Ever since I installed that add-on, set to "5 or more spelling mistakes and 4 or more rules fail", most video comment sections average out to 2-3% (That is: 2 or 3 out of every 100 comments) that I can still see.

It's almost as comical as the comments themselves, except at the end I don't want to slit my wrists as much.