Happy 20th birthday YouTube!
The video sharing platform is the most used app or site among children and teenagers aged 3-17 with more than 80% using it, according to Ofcom.
To mark this milestone anniversary we take a look at the facts behind it, including the first-ever video posted and the most popular content creators.
When was YouTube created?
YouTube was founded on 14 February 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley and Jawed Karim, all former employees of the online payment system, PayPal. The three friends opened the first YouTube headquarters in an office above a pizza restaurant in San Mateo, California.
What was the first video on YouTube?
The first video was published to YouTube on 23 April 2005. It was a 19-second clip called Me at the zoo, posted by co-founder Jawed Karim. The video shows Jawed standing in front of some elephants at San Diego Zoo and has been viewed more than 300 million times to date.
How many videos are on YouTube?
YouTube doesn't publicly disclose the number of videos on the platform, but 2023 research by The Atlantic estimates there to be 14 billion publicly viewable videos on the platform. According to a news report from 2006, YouTube had 34 million monthly visitors who watched an average of 100 million videos a day. However, this has increased over the past 20 years. Recent research suggests that the site now has 2.5 billion monthly active users who watch around 5 billion YouTube videos a day!
YouTube has grown massively in popularity amongst young people since Ofcom first started monitoring it in 2007. Back then 46% of 12-15s who used the internet said they also used YouTube, this quickly increased to 69% by 2009, and is now more than 80%.
What is the most viewed video on YouTube?
Music videos dominate the list of most viewed videos on YouTube, with Baby Shark Dance topping the list with more than 15 billion views. Other popular videos on the site include Despacito by Luis Fonsi with more than 8 billion views, Shape of You by Ed Sheeran with more than 6 billion views, and Roar by Katy Perry with more than 4 billion views.
Who has the most subscribers on YouTube?
American YouTuber MrBeast a.k.a Jimmy Donaldson has the most subscribed channel on YouTube, with more than 380 million subscribers. Mr Beast is also reportedly the highest paid creator on the site, with the Forbes rich list estimating that he earned 85 million dollars in 2024.
One of the reasons that Mr Beast may have become so popular on YouTube is due to algorithms, which help decide the kind of content that we see when scrolling through the platform. If we like, share, subscribe or comment on content, then we are likely to be shown similar content in the future. However, Mr Beast has said that creators should "just make videos that people want to watch" rather than focusing on trying to "game" the algorithm.
Editing, curating and posting content is a popular way of being creative online. In 2024, 32% of all 3-17-year-olds surveyed by Ofcom said they uploaded their own videos to online platforms. YouTube was the second most popular platform (after TikTok), with 40% of children uploading their content to the video sharing site.
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