Barack Obama Tops All World Leaders On YouTube

On the White House YouTube channel, the Obama administration has used video updates to push its policy goals among young constituents, but it isn’t the only national government spreading its message on the web. According to a new study from PR firm Burson-Marsteller, the foreign ministries of 148 United Nations member states — ranging from India to Malta — have their own YouTube channels.

Burson-Marsteller ranked all of the world leaders by their respective presences on YouTube, and whether that ranking is sorted by views, subscriptions, or engagements, Barack Obama’s personal channel and that of his White House claim the top two spots. The American president’s online video efforts are well-known; he has sat for interviews with YouTube stars and used his video appearances to promote heathcare.gov and other government initiatives. In a recent video, the White House used YouTube to introduce viewers to Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland.

Outside of the US, YouTube is utilized as a political tool in countries where the video site is popular. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for example, has accumulated 324,000 subscribers and 47 million views on his channel as YouTube experiences “breakneck growth” in South Asia. Mexico’s Enrique Peña Nieto has also built up his own channel, and he’s even experimented with Periscope as a means of interacting with his constituents.

Burson-Marsteller’s study has a lot more information in it, including research on the design of state-run destinations and a few paragraphs on the language preferences of individual channels. Check out the complete report here, and feel free to check out the videos that have been released by statespeople around the world. Burson-Marsteller specially notes this item from Jordan’s Queen Rania, the Maltese PM’s addition to the Ice Bucket Challenge, and several others.

Photo credit: Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson, via the White House website.