YouTube Groups Videos by Emotion

Unlocking Word Meanings
Read the following words/expressions found in today’s article.

1. classify (v.) [klas-uh-fahy] –  to arrange something by group or by category

Example:  The tutorial service classifies lessons by level of difficulty.

2. evoke (v.) [ih-vohk] – to make someone feel or think of something

Example: The movie evokes feelings of pride for one’s country.

3. category (n.) [kat-i-gawr-ee, -gohr-ee] – a group of things that share the same quality

Example:   New students belong to the beginner category.

4. thumbnail (n.) [thuhm-neyl] – a small sample image  of a video or of a larger picture

Example: He clicked on the thumbnail to see the full size of the image.

5. queue (v.) [kyoo] – to line up data or programs that will be used

Example: He queued his favorite songs in his music player.

Article
Read the text below.

YouTube has created a new video service called Moodwall, which classifies videos according to the emotions they evoke in viewers. The Moodwall page is divided into 20 mood categories called “Vibes.” Among the categories are “amazing,” “catchy,” “scary,” “gross” and “intense.” Around 40,000 videos are already classified into the twenty categories. When a user visits the Moodwall, the page shows 15 thumbnails each of which represents a mood category. Upon clicking a mood, the user will see a set of videos related to the category. The thumbnails also show other mood categories which the videos evoke. For example, a user can choose the “sad” thumbnail and see other videos which are “sad and amazing,” or “sad and beautiful.” When a video is already selected, videos with similar moods will be queued in a playlist, which users can see at the bottom of the page. Team Jeannie, a team of four engineers, created Moodwall to help users find videos better. People often enter general terms, such as “funny videos” in YouTube’s search box, and the results shown are only videos that contain the words “funny video” in the title or description. Through Moodwall, this search problem is avoided. Engineers looked at user comments in identifying the mood category of each YouTube video. To further organize the videos, they also looked at other data, such as the video’s popularity. The test Moodwall page was launched in August, and the team will continue to work on it while listening to the viewers’ feedbacks.

Viewpoint Discussion
Enjoy a discussion with your tutor. 

Discussion A

·         Do you think Moodwall is helpful? Why or why not?

·         What do you think are the disadvantages of Moodwall?

Discussion B

·         Is it sometimes difficult to find information on the Internet? Please explain your answer.

·         What do you do when you cannot find what you are looking for online?

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