Methods, systems, and media for streaming video content using adaptive buffers

A system for streaming video content using buffers, the system comprising:

• a hardware processor that is configured to:
• transmit, from a user device to a server device of a media content sharing service, a request to stream a video content item;
• receive, at the user device from the server device of the media content sharing service, a predicted abandonment distribution that indicates a plurality of likelihoods of a user of the user device stopping presentation of the video content item at a corresponding plurality of presentation time points of the video content item, wherein the predicted abandonment distribution is normalized to a duration of the video content item;
• determine, at the user device, a first size of a buffer of the user device based on the predicted abandonment distribution received from the server device of the media content sharing service;
• receive, at the user device, a portion of the video content item from the server device of the media content sharing service;
• and
• store the portion of the video content item in the buffer of the user device, the buffer having the determined first size.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions, which when performed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

• transmitting, from a user device to a server device of a media content sharing service, a request to stream a video content item;
• receiving, at the user device from the server device of the media content sharing service, a predicted abandonment distribution that indicates a plurality of likelihoods of a user of the user device stopping presentation of the video content item at a corresponding plurality of presentation time points of the video content item, wherein the predicted abandonment distribution is normalized to a duration of the video content item;
• determining, at the user device, a first size of a buffer of the user device based on the predicted abandonment distribution received from the server device of the media content sharing service;
• receiving, at the user device, a portion of the video content item from the server device of the media content sharing service;
• and
• storing the portion of the video content item in the buffer of the user device, the buffer having the determined first size.