What predicts the popularity of TED talks?

Abstract
The rapid growth of online educational content has intensified the need to understand what drives audience engagement and idea dissemination. In this study, we analyze factors influencing the popularity of TED Talks using a comprehensive dataset of publicly available talks. We employ network analysis, principal component analysis (PCA), and the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) method to construct a robust predictive model of talk popularity. Our results reveal that the number of languages a talk is translated into has the strongest impact on popularity, approximately three times greater than other factors. In addition, publication timing plays a significant role: TED Talks released during the weekend, particularly on Saturday, tend to achieve substantially higher viewership and broader dissemination of ideas compared to those published on weekdays. This study provides actionable insights for content creators, organizations, and platforms seeking to maximize the reach and impact of educational videos.