Official Blog
YouTube A to Z #HappyBirthdayYouTube
Thursday, May 28, 2015
Every adventure starts somewhere, and YouTube’s began on Saturday, April 23, 2005, when "Me at the Zoo" became the first video uploaded to a new site no one had ever heard of. Captured at California's San Diego Zoo, the clip is a 19-second description of
what exactly makes elephants so cool
. Its brief runtime and casual setup suggest little of the online video craziness that would follow over the subsequent decade.
“Me at the Zoo” proved to be a simple distillation of the premise of a new platform, where anyone could just turn on a camera and broadcast themselves with ease. Who could have predicted that, in that same environment,
new
genres
, new forms of
expression
, and new paths to
stardom
would evolve? That engaging and unique personalities borne of this place could be
more influential
than Hollywood's biggest names? Or that
more than a billion people
from all corners of the globe would come together in that space to experience what the world creates, broadcasts, and shares?
Yeah. We were
surprised
, too.
For our 10th birthday this month, we've gone
from A to Z
celebrating the
adorable
,
empowering
,
awesome
,
weird and wonderful
moments that represent the many sides of YouTube. But, of course, if we're
really
going to capture 10 years of YouTube, we're going to need to do it in … a video:
Thanks for a wild and inspiring 10 years. Now, you've got
300
hours
of video to capture and share in the next minute
. So get back to it!
**Bonus Points: How well do you know YouTube, A to Z? Play the YouTube trivia game to find out at
YouTube.com/10
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