YouTube, the app which began as a dating site, turns 20
By Rajab ZawadiTwenty years ago, three former PayPal employees launched YouTube.com, originally as a dating site with the slogan “Tune In, Hook Up.
The co-founders – Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim – struggled to attract users, so they created YouTube’s first video themselves. The clip, titled “Me at the zoo,” featured Karim at the San Diego Zoo.
In doing so, they created a platform where anyone with an Internet connection could upload and watch videos.
And what did people do with this newfound power?
What they’re still doing today, flooding the Internet with all sorts of clips, including the Saturday Night Live-esque “Lazy Sunday,” one of the first viral videos to be removed but later restored to YouTube. The video highlighted a key tension in YouTube’s rise. For some, it was a fiasco of copyright infringement; for others, it was nothing less than short-form video democracy. The following year, Google bought YouTube for more than $1.6 billion. Over the years, YouTube has faced controversy over data collection, toxic content, and radicalizing algorithms. But at the same time, YouTube has become a powerful tool for learning and entertainment, as well as a source of income for digital creators. In addition to viral YouTubers blowing things up and pulling pranks, there are useful how-to videos for all kinds of DIY projects, whether around the house or in the garage. Want to know how to replace your dishwasher or braze a repair on a vintage motorcycle? YouTube has you covered.
To date, more than 20 billion videos have been uploaded to the site.
To mark the occasion, YouTube is planning to roll out some new features, including 4x playback speed on mobile for premium users, a “Multiview” feature for YouTube TV subscribers, and some upgrades to its TV services – “easier navigation, playback, quality tweaks, and streamlined access to comments, channel info, and subscriptions”.