It’s hard to believe, but on April 24, 2025: YouTube is officially 20-years-old. From obscurity to being a dominant video sharing platform, the tale of YouTube began when it shared a plain 19-second video called “Me at the Zoo”.
The First YouTube Video: “Me at the Zoo”
The first YouTube video, titled Me at the zoo, was uploaded on April 23, 2005, by one of the site’s co-founders, Jawed Karim, who stands in front of and looks at the elephants in the San Diego Zoo. He casually slings an observation out there:
Watch YouTube’s first video
- “The cool thing about these guys is that they have really, really, really long, um, trunks.”
What would normally be a throwaway, easily forgettable clip, is now just another part of internet lore. Today, with a little over 90 million views, “Me at the Zoo” still stands on the platform as a monument to simpler times.
YouTube’s Rise: From Startup to Global Giant
Back in 2005, YouTube was a fledgling upstart, started up by three former employees of PayPal: Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, Jawed Karim. Which is why a year later in 2006, Google saw its potential and bought it for $1.65 billion.
Originally a simple platform for sharing videos, the platform is now a global content ecosystem that welcomes creators, teachers, performers, businesses, and millions of people who come to be entertained and learn new things.
YouTube at 20: Mind-Blowing Numbers and New Features
Fast forward 20 years, and there are more than 20 billion videos on YouTube. Every day, up to 20 million new videos are uploaded, 100 million comments posted and 3.5 billion likes are tapped.
On YouTube’s 20th birthday, the platform is debuting some exciting new features:
- 4x (Playback Speed: (Premium users only) Watch videos at 4x speed.
- Multiview for YouTube TV: Watch up to 4 streams at once.
- “Ask Music“ Tool: Personalize your own radio stations.
- Sing It and Find It: Hum a song and YouTube will find it for you.
- Special Easter Eggs and a Yoodle: Fun surprises all over the platform.
- Special creator gifts to celebrate the talented creators who’ve been with YouTube since day one.
A Platform That Changed the World
From “Me at the Zoo” to molding careers, movements and global culture, YouTube’s impact over 20 years is incalculable. As it enters its second decade, one thing is clear: YouTube is not just a website; it is a cultural phenomenon reshaping how human beings share, learn and create (and entertain) themselves.
