Google wants to quantify humor. Is this even possible? Google thinks that this is the funniest video on Youtube.

Sanketh Shetty, a Google Engineer, thinks it is as it explains how in his blog post as he explains it this way: “We focused on videos uploaded in the comedy category. We captured the uploader’s belief in the funniness of their video via features based on title, description and tags. Viewers’ reactions, in the form of comments, further validate a video’s comedic value,” he wrote.

This is where it gets interesting, as Google engineers tried to analyze what exactly makes a user comment indicative of a video being funny. “We noticed that viewers emphasize their reaction to funny videos in several ways: e.g. capitalization (LOL), elongation (loooooool), repetition (lolololol), exclamation (lolllll!!!!!), and combinations thereof. If a user uses an “loooooool” vs an “loool”, does it mean they were more amused,” asks Shetty.

Check out the Google SLAM leader board and comment if you think they are funny.

Recently, I came across the latest version of the Social Media Revolution on YouTube.  It is full of statistics of why Social Media is not simply a fad that will simply fad away in the near future.  I have often said that Social Media is fundamentally changing traditional marketing.  Historically, companies told consumers what to think about their brand.  Social Media has transformed that relationship into a two-way communication where companies not only tell consumers what to think but consumers respond in real-time with what they really think.  It truly is changing the the way we communicate.