title Factor
Question Mark
Whether the title ends with or contains a question mark.
Questions in titles create a knowledge gap the viewer wants to close — they literally cannot know the answer without watching. This is one of the highest-correlation title features in political YouTube data, even controlling for the underlying framing-type classification.
Regular Videos
+27%
trend only
Shorts
+30%
trend only
Top 10% Video
+41%
solid pattern
Average Video is the effect on a typical video. Top 10% Video is the effect on the videos that broke out (top decile of views) — so you can see whether a factor helps most videos a little, or pushes the top performers much higher.
When present
The title is or contains a question.
Videos with this factor
373K views
I asked Trump judicial nominees what the 22nd Amendment entails. Their response? Crickets.
Christopher Coons
26K views
So, what is a “rescissions” bill?
Sheldon Whitehouse
7K views
2K views
RFK Jr. HYPOCRITE?!?
Josh Harder
1K views
When absent
The title is purely declarative or imperative.
Videos without this factor
American families are struggling to keep food on the table
Pramila Jayapal
179K views
11K views
Virginia’s Law Introduction
Teresa Leger Fernandez
3K views
2K views
1K views