The development of the internet has allowed for the global distribution of content, redefining media communication and property structures through various streaming platforms. Previous studies successfully clarified the factors contributing to trends in each streaming service, yet the similarities and differences between platforms are commonly unexplored; moreover, the influence of social connections and cultural similarity is usually overlooked. We hereby examine the social aspects of three significant streaming services--Netflix, Spotify, and YouTube--with an emphasis on the dissemination of content across countries. Using two-year-long trending chart datasets, we find that streaming content can be divided into two types: video-oriented (Netflix) and audio-oriented (Spotify). This characteristic is differentiated by accounting for the significance of social connectedness and linguistic similarity: audio-oriented content travels via social links, but video-oriented content tends to spread throughout linguistically akin countries. Interestingly, user-generated contents, YouTube, exhibits a dual characteristic by integrating both visual and auditory characteristics, indicating the platform is evolving into unique medium rather than simply residing a midpoint between video and audio media.

翻译：互联网的发展使得内容得以全球分发，通过各类流媒体平台重新定义了媒体传播和产权结构。先前的研究成功阐明了各流媒体服务趋势的影响因素，但平台间的异同尚未得到充分探索；此外，社会联系与文化相似性的影响也常被忽视。本文考察了三大重要流媒体服务——Netflix、Spotify和YouTube——的社会性特征，重点研究内容在国家间的传播模式。基于两年期热门榜单数据集，我们发现流媒体内容可分为两类：视频导向型（Netflix）与音频导向型（Spotify）。这一特性通过考量社交连通性与语言相似性的重要性得以区分：音频导向型内容通过社交联系传播，而视频导向型内容更倾向于在语言相近的国家间扩散。有趣的是，用户生成内容平台YouTube展现出融合视觉与听觉特征的双重特性，表明该平台正在演变为独特的媒介形态，而非简单地介于视频与音频媒体之间。