Coronavirus Social Video Stats: Yes, It’s The Main Topic People Are Talking About

Coronavirus conversations are everywhere right now, and that includes social video. Since March 1, over 539,000 videos having to do with coronavirus have been uploaded to social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube, according to video analytics firm Tubular Labs.

Those videos have since generated nearly 20 billion collective views, and the vast majority of views have actually come in the last week, as concern about the virus saw a sharp uptick in the United States following a growing number of cases and some famous individuals testing positive. Coronavirus videos have topped a billion views per day each day since March 12, and rose above 2 billion per day starting March 16.

Who’s generating those views is both surprising and expected, depending which names you’re focusing on. Mexican viral video company Badabun is actually the top creator of all coronavirus content, with 88 million video views total across multiple videos on Facebook since March 1. Fox News‘ Facebook page is second at 80.3 million, followed by CNN (Facebook, 48.9 million), NowThis Politics (Facebook, 47.5 million) and ABP News (Facebook, 47.5 million). LADbible is sixth with 45,2 million views on its Facebook page.

Top views come from several of those prominent creators, plus some additional (and familiar) names. The top 10 coronavirus-related videos below, since March 11:

1. 1. Badabun: Filtran audio que revela la verdad del coronavirus — 39.9 million views on Facebook
   2. Spiriman: JUVENTUD de España!! — 36.1 million, Facebook
   3. Idris Elba: This morning I tested positive for COVID 19 — 33.4 million, Twitter
   4. CBS News: If I get corona, I get corona — 29.7 million, Twitter
   5. Laura Clery: Perks of the coronavirus — 28.5 million, Twitter
   6. Gabriele Restivo: Anche #Agrigento #restaacasa. #Covid_19 — 28.3 million, Twitter
   7. Rep. Katie Porter: I did the math — 27 million, Twitter
   8. Fox News: President Donald J. Trump addresses the nation — 23 million, Facebook
   9. GeeVee: This is how NY gotta get on the train now — 22.1 million, Twitter
   10. Badabun: Información urgente que debes saber del coronavirus — 19 million, Facebook

Badabun has utilized its large platform (42.7 million subscribers on YouTube, 32 million followers on Facebook, 13 million on Instagram) for news and awareness about coronavirus, putting two videos among the 10 most-viewed. Gabriele Restivo‘s video of Italian residents making music amid the quarantine has been a bright spot in the outbreak, showing how people still manage to find positives in difficult situations. Idris Elba‘s video announcement that he’d tested positive for COVID-19 was watched by millions, accomplishing his goal of getting people aware of how to stay safe (and keep others safe too). U.S. Representative Katie Porter also earned millions of views making (and winning) the case for all coronavirus testing to be covered.

Of the top 20 creators of coronavirus videos since March 11, 15 are news organizations, including most of the major U.S. networks and some top cable news channels. However, just six of the top 30 videos were from news organizations. Interestingly, all of the top 30 individual videos were published on either Facebook or Twitter (though several YouTube creators do show up among the top 20). Since March 11, coronavirus videos have made up 6.2% of all videos published to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.