Black History Month Videos Flourished on Facebook Last February

Although the celebration of black history was established in 1915, it didn’t become a month-long event until 1976 when President Gerald R. Ford urged Americans to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”

Black history is, of course, a hugely-broad topic discussed and explored across a number of genres online. But for this post, we looked at videos uploaded to Facebook and YouTube in 2018 that were tagged with #blackhistorymonth to identify the most-watched clips and creators. Here are some initial stats we found:

• There were 111M views of #blackhistorymonth tagged uploads to Facebook in February 2018.
• On YouTube, 10M views were generated for Black History Month in February 2018.
• YouTube uploads generated 4.4x the average platform engagement rate.
• There have been 427M total views for Black History Month-related content on Facebook.
• On YouTube, the total view count is 74.2M.

The most-watched Black History Month videos uploaded in February 2018 were:

1. Maya Angelou Poem: Still I Rise! In Honor of Black History Month – Rev. Derek Terry (22.9M)
2. Hazel Scott – “Takin’ A Chance” – Dust-to-Digital (8.1M)
3. Black History Month: Breaking News – Because of Them We Can (6.4M)
4. This Black History Month Mashup Tho – Cameron J Henderson (6.3M)
5. How they go try to play us during Black History month? – The Tasha Mac Page (4.2M)

Black History Month honors the contributions of African Americans to U.S. history and culture, and the most-viewed upload to the main social video channels in February 2018 reflects that. With 22.9M views and 1.3M likes, comments, and shares, “Maya Angelou Poem: Still I Rise!” — published by pastor, social justice activist, and community leader Rev. Derek Terry — is a powerful reading by the author herself of a poem published in 1978. It both acknowledges and celebrates the role that self-esteem and self-determination have in the role of an individual to overcome horrendous obstacles society has thrown at them.

Maya Angelou Poem: Still I Rise! In Honor of Black History Month let us remember to Still Rise! Thank you Mother Maya Angelou for your witness and ministry!

Posted by Rev. Derek Terry on Tuesday, 13 February 2018

Black History Month Videos Earned 111M Views on Facebook Last February

In February 2018, uploads to Facebook that featured Black History Month content generated 111M video views. Of those views, 54.8M were for influencer Pages, 38.9M views for videos uploaded by media and entertainment publishers, and 6.5M views for brands. The influencer uploads attracted 5.2x the platform average in terms of engagement. In terms of video duration, 48.4M views were generated by uploads that lasted between 2 and 5 minutes. The top 10 creators on Facebook for Black History Month videos in February 2018 were:

1. Rev. Derek Terry (22.9M)
2. Dust-to-Digital (8.1M)
3. Because of Them We Can (6.4)
4. The Tasha Mac Page (4.2M)
5. NBA (3.9M)
6. BET (3.6M)
7. Set Apart & Chosen (2.3M)
8. The Root (2.2M)
9. The View (1.6M)
10. Mind of Jamal (1.5M)

In terms of properties that uploaded Black History Month videos to Facebook in February 2018, the NBA generated the most views with 4.5M. During that month, the sports league partnered with Nike on a special Black History Month warm-up shirt that was adopted and worn by all NBA teams. The shirt featured words chosen by current NBA players to symbolise the influence of black culture of the game of basketball and society, and included Justice, Love, Equality, and Empower. The NBA’s most-viewed Facebook video of the campaign generated 2.6M views as it celebrated the league’s first African-American coach, Bill Russell:

Black History Month: Doc Thanks Bill Russell

As the NBA celebrates Black History month, L.A. Clippers coach Doc Rivers honors Bill Russell — the NBA's first African-American coach — for paving the way. #NBAVoices

Posted by NBA on Friday, 9 February 2018

1. NBA (4.5M)
2. Viacom (4.3M)
3. BET (3.6M)
4. The Walt Disney Company (3.2M)
5. Disney Media Networks (3.2M)

Black History Month on YouTube: 10M Views in February 2018

Uploads to YouTube in Black History Month 2018 generated 10M views, and 4.4x the platform average for viewer engagement. Roughly 3.8M views were generated for videos from brand channels, 3.5M for views from media and entertainment publishers, and 2.6M views were for influencer accounts. Influencer uploads attracted the highest engagement rate of all creators with 2.9x the platform average. The top 10 creators on YouTube for Black History Month videos in February 2018 were:

1. Nissan (3.1M)
2. SNL (1.8M)
3. Bill Maher (957K)
4. YouTube (637K)
5. Hood Edition (622K)
6. GloBugz (362K)
7. Brother Ben X (228K)
8. The View (208K)
9. atlbattle (201K)
10. WWE (180K)

Brands scored some big views, with Nissan generated the most as part of its video series with Disney, and Wrinkle in Time actress Storm Reid. The campaign, called “Tomorrow to Today,” featured African-American mentors and leaders chosen for their inspirational qualities and successes in their field.

Based on all this data, we’re excited to see how this year’s Black History Month videos perform!