It may only be 18 seconds long, but the first video uploaded to YouTube 15 years ago paved the way for the platform’s success today.
Thursday marks the anniversary for the clip titled ‘Me at the zoo’, which was shared by the site’s co-founder Jawed Karim on April 23, 2005.
The video shows Karim standing in front of an elephant exhibit at the San Diego Zoo telling the camera that the animals have ‘really long trunks.’
Although simple and short, the video has been viewed more than 90 million times since making its debut 15 years ago.
It may only be 18 seconds long, but the first video uploaded to YouTube 15 years ago paved the way for the platform’s success today. Thursday marks the anniversary for the clip titled ‘Me at the zoo’, which was shared by the site’s co-founder Jawed Karim on April 23, 2005
Karim’s video was just the beginning of what YouTube is today.
Now it is a destination for artists, musicians and creators to share their work and have it viewed by millions – maybe even billions.
Luis Fonsi’s hit song ‘Despacito’ is the most popular video, hitting more than 6.7 billion views as of April 2020.
A year after ‘Me at the zoo’ made its debut, Karim and his fellow co-founders sold the platform to Google for $1.65 billion.
The video shows Karim standing in front of an elephant exhibit at the San Diego Zoo telling the camera that the animals have ‘really long trunks.’ Although simple and short, the video has been viewed over 90 million times since making its debut 15 years ago
And today, YouTube has more than 2 billion logged-in users visit each month, according to YouTube.
Although very popular, YouTube has come under fire during the coronavirus pandemic currently sweeping the globe.
Earlier this month it found that the platform was making money by allowing ads to run on videos that promote fake COVID-19 treatments.
The video streaming site is running ads on videos that promote sham remedies like herbs and smoothies for the deadly illness, non-profit research initiative the Tech Transparency Project (TTP) claims.
Advertisers including Donald Trump’s re-election campaign, Facebook, Liberty Mutual Insurance and streaming startup Quibi all had ads attached to such videos – one of which is titled ‘cure coronavirus with this home remedy’.
Luis Fonsi’s hit song ‘Despacito’ (pictured) is the most popular video, hitting more than 6.7 billion views as of April 2020
The site is allowing ‘peddlers of disinformation’ to earn money from advertising, TTP alleges, despite promises to only allow reputable videos on the site.
Both YouTube and the content creators who have videos on the site can profit from ads.
The offending videos included those promoting quack coronavirus treatments such as dodgy and ineffective home remedies, unsafe levels of over-the-counter supplements like vitamin C and even ‘meditative music’.
A Facebook ad allegedly appeared on a YouTube video that promised to improve viewers’ immune systems and fight off coronavirus with music that ‘improves cognitive positivity by using subtle yet powerful theta waves’.
TTP said a search for ‘coronavirus home remedy’ returned a video that promised to cure the serious respiratory illness with recipes for fruit and vegetables smoothies – which began with a Trump campaign ad.
Although very popular, YouTube has come under fire during the coronavirus pandemic currently sweeping the globe. Earlier this month it was found that the platform was making money by allowing ads to run on videos that promote fake COVID-19 treatments
The same ad was said to appear before a video discussing ’10 herbs that kill viruses and clear mucus from your lungs’, which didn’t mention coronavirus specifically but appeared in a coronavirus-related search.
Ads for US insurance company Liberty Mutual appeared before a Polish-language video that even advised viewers to not step foot in Chinese restaurants to avoid getting COVID-19.
Ads for Disney-backed streaming platform Quibi appeared before a Bengali video that claimed drinking water can prevent coronavirus infections, while e-learning platform Masterclass was advertised alongside a Hindi video that promoted burning incense and eating gooseberry-like Amla fruit and Neem leaves as remedies.
‘The findings show that Google-owned YouTube has provided economic incentives for people to create and distribute false and misleading information about the pandemic on its platform, which has virtually unrivaled reach around the globe,’ TTP said in a post on.