Watch First Ever Video Uploaded to YouTube 24 years ago. The 19-sec clip Has Over 320 Million Views
YouTube completely transformed how visual content was consumed by opening up access to everything from random home videos to news and music videos as well. The platform that allowed people to showcase their talent on screen and post it independently played a major role in triggering the content creation revolution, which paved the way for Instagram and TikTok to flourish. Over the years it has created opportunities for brands to advertise themselves more effectively and opened up revenue streams for influencers. Despite its reach and popularity among netizens, the platform had very humble beginnings. As mentioned in Interesting Engineering, the site came into being on Valentine’s Day in 2005. Its founders were Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim, who were all former employees of Paypal. The project launched from a garage was a typical Silicon Valley brainchild, powered by angel investors.
Jawed Karim uploaded the first-ever video that went live on the site on April 23, 2005, as per CNN. The 19-second clip, which is grainy in quality, laid the foundation for a phenomenon that went on to have a huge impact on humanity and its digital future. It is divided into three parts including the intro, the cool thing, and the end. It is shot at the San Diego Zoo, in front of some elephants. The video was titled, "Me at the Zoo" and has gained 312 million views by now. At the beginning of the video, the YouTube cofounder says, “All right, so here we are, in front of the elephants.” He then goes on to explain, “The cool thing about these guys is that they have really, really, really long trunks. And that's cool.” Thereafter, Karim provides a brief look at the animal enclosure and ends the video saying, “And that's pretty much all there is to say.”
Among viewers, @SanDiegoZoo was beyond proud for becoming the site of such a memorable event and wrote, "We're so honored that the first ever YouTube video was filmed here!" @tangokilo9068 commented on the nostalgia that the video evoked saying, "I’m surprised this video is still recommended all over the Internet. This is a classic YouTube video."
The rise of the platform was rapid. In a matter of months, the site managed to get its first video with one million views with a Nike ad that went viral. Nike was one of the first companies to embrace and make use of the promotional opportunities that YouTube offered. By 2006, the platform had garnered investment from the venture capital firm Sequoia Capital as well as Sequoia and Artis Capital Management. The three luminaries established YouTube, as they felt there was nothing on the internet offering access to videos. The project was inspired by the impact created by videos of Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction at the Super Bowl and the devastating tsunami in the Indian Ocean. The New York Times shared that Karim didn't “take a salary, benefits or even a formal title” while the company was getting off the ground. Therefore, his shares in the establishment were much lower than those of the other two partners. Along with working for the company, he also pursued a master’s degree in computer science at Stanford. Eventually, Karim and fellow co-founders sold the platform to Google for a whopping $1.65 billion.