{"id":47582,"date":"2025-05-02T14:14:52","date_gmt":"2025-05-02T18:14:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/?p=47582"},"modified":"2025-05-02T14:14:52","modified_gmt":"2025-05-02T18:14:52","slug":"youtube-at-20","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/02\/youtube-at-20\/","title":{"rendered":"YouTube at 20"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alex Weprin<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Twenty years ago today, YouTube<\/a> co-founder Jawed Karim uploaded a 19 second video<\/a> titled “Me at the zoo” to the platform. As anyone who follows YouTube knows, it was the first video hosted by the platform.<\/p>

\n\tOn its 20th anniversary, YouTube now says that since Karim’s video was posted, more than 20 billion <\/em>videos have been uploaded (and no, that isn’t a typo).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

Google<\/a>:<\/p>\n

To mark YouTube’s 20th anniversary, we’re offering you a look at some of our features, statistics, hidden gems, and easter eggs to accompany us throughout the festivities.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

David Pogue<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Today, it doesn’t need explaining. YouTube is the second most-visited website on Earth, after Google, which bought YouTube for $1.65 billion in 2006<\/a>. <\/p>

Every single day, we collectively watch more than a billion hours of YouTube videos. Funny videos … how-to videos … cat videos.<\/p>

[…]<\/p>

The most-watched of all? “Baby Shark Dance,” with about 16 billion views.<\/p>

[…]<\/p>

Nobody’s monetized it better than Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, whose videos of colossal giveaways and physical challenges have made him the most-followed YouTuber of all, with 380 million fans.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

Rene Ritchie<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

I’ve been on \n@YouTube\n for 17 years as a creator and 2.5 as an employee. To say it changed my life — and the world — would be a profound understatement. To share your voice, to build a career — careers! — with no gatekeepers, just the willingness to press the upload or go-live button and the creativity to connect with an audience is an every-moment miracle.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Previously:<\/p>\n