The World’s First YouTube Video: It All Started with This

From recipe tutorials and celebrity interviews to conspiracy theories and toy unboxing videos for kids – these days, YouTube features a post-modernist collection of just about anything that could be recorded. Given its popularity, one can’t help but ponder – what was the world’s first YouTube video, and how did it kickstart the video-sharing platform?

Seventeen years ago, a 25-year-old man named Jawed Karim posted the first video on YouTube. It launched a service that has since grown to become the go-to hub for video streaming and live video. In doing so, it allowed anybody with a camera and a good idea to make a fortune from their content.

The first YouTube video was, to be blunt about it, not that all that impressive. The low-res, 19-second clip, titled “Me at the Zoo.” The video shows Karim, YouTube co-founder, at the San Diego Zoo, pointing out elephants’ incredibly long trunks.

Standing in front of an elephant enclosure, Karim gave simple commentary about what he was doing.

“All right, so here we are in front of the elephants. The cool thing about these guys is that they have really, really, really long trunks. And that’s, that’s cool. And that’s pretty much all there is to say,” Karim said.

If you’re curious about the first YouTube video ever shared, here it is:

A Long Way Since the first YouTube video 

Karim had no clue when he recorded the video that YouTube would become the worldwide sensation that it is today. In the years that followed, his video would amass hundreds of millions of views.

YouTube launched a public beta of the service a month after Karim’s video became viral in April 2005. That’s a few months ahead of its official launch in November of that year. Karim left YouTube at the same time to pursue a master’s degree in computer science at Stanford University. But when Google bought YouTube for $1.65 billion in 2006, Karim earned shares worth tens of millions of dollars. 

Karim went on to co-found Youniversity Ventures (now YVentures). Reddit and Airbnb are just two of the startups that have been funded by YVentures.

The video has been viewed over 228 million times and has garnered over 11 million comments as of April 2022.

“Let’s be honest, we’re all going to show our children this video one day,” one YouTube user commented on the video.

“This is one of those videos that, despite how simple it may be, will live on forever,” another wrote.

The Future of YouTube

Without a doubt, YouTube is one of the most popular social media platforms. Statista says it has 2.1 billion users worldwide, with 694,000 hours streamed on the platform per minute.

YouTube has also played a crucial role in society throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. For one, consumer insights from Think with Google say live and simultaneous viewing has helped people gain a sense of community.

After all, as countries throughout the world went into lockdown, the tiny connections that made individuals feel like they belonged to a community all but vanished. As a result, it’s hardly unexpected that many turned to online video to fill the void.

However, watching films with others, whether in person or online, increases immediacy and creates a stronger sense of connection.

In addition to that, intimate YouTube concerts allowed major musical artists to gather larger crowds than ever before. For instance, artists like Marlia Mendonça of Brazil, was able to hold living room singing sessions that broke YouTube’s music live stream record with 3.3 million peak concurrent viewers.

It goes without saying that a key human need is to feel connected, and video’s quick adoption as a tool to help meet that need demonstrates how important this medium has become for so many people. And as YouTube has come a long way since that first video uploaded in 2005, we can only expect the platform to grow in use, reach, and relevance over time.