It has been 19 years since the first YouTube video was uploaded. Titled ‘Me At The Zoo,’ it was posted by YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim on April 23, 2005. The video features Karim standing in front of the elephant enclosure at the San Diego Zoo, discussing the elephants’ trunks. The video is only 18 seconds long and reminds us of a simple and humble beginning to what would later become the world’s largest video-sharing platform.
“Alright. So here we are, in front of the elephants. The cool thing about these guys is that they have really, really, really long trunks. And that’s, that’s cool. And that’s pretty much all there is to say,” Karim says in the video.
Since its upload, the video has garnered over 317 million views.
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Founded in February 2005 by three former PayPal employees – Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Karim – YouTube quickly rose to fame since there was a lack of a platform where videos could be uploaded and watched easily.
In November 2006, Google acquired YouTube for $1.65 billion, recognising its potential as a major player in the online video space. A video of Chen and Hurley announcing Google’s acquisition of YouTube was also uploaded on X by a user.
Still, I think this is better video..
YouTube founders Chad and Steve announcing the acquisition of YouTube. pic.twitter.com/30bRfDnEHI
— World of Finance (@FinancesWorld) April 23, 2024
Under Google’s ownership, YouTube continued to expand its features and user base, introducing features such as monetization for creators through the YouTube Partner Program, live streaming, and premium subscription services like YouTube Red which later became YouTube Premium.
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