Latest news with #MeattheZoo
Spectator
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Spectator
Spectator Competition: Tubular belles
Competition 3400 invited you to write poems to mark YouTube's 20th birthday. This challenge drew a large, accomplished entry which was both amusing and informative. Alex Steelsmith's double dactylic submission was a strong contender for a place in the winning line-up, as were Bill Greenwell, Mike Morrison, Frank McDonald, David Silverman, Elizabeth Kay and Janine Beacham. But the John Lewis vouchers are awarded to those poems printed below. I am the very model of a modern-day YouTuberist, The cornucopia of its gifts creates for me a catalyst, Since first I saw 'Me at the Zoo' my mood's been irrepressible And now in all my waking hours I beam up what's accessible: The medieval manuscripts and cheerful facts historical, Like who beheaded what's-his-name, for YouTube is my oracle. And Baby Shark Dance floats my boat, though hardly educational, While Fenton! Fenton chasing deer will always be sensational. The music choice is limitless, I fix myself a rendez-vous With Handel oratorios and then Ed Sheeran's 'Shape of You'. If anything is on the blink and proving unreliable A video will show me how to make the damn thing viable. For twenty years it's been my guide, I've 'liked' and 'shared' religiously And through my online searching I have watched it grow prodigiously. I say without a doubt, and my opinion is unprejudiced, YouTube's the very model for a modern-day YouTuberist. Sylvia Fairley
CBC
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
YouTube celebrates 20th anniversary milestone
YouTube celebrated a milestone last month. It's been 20 years since the first video was uploaded to the platform — and a lot has changed since then. Me at the Zoo shows a man standing in front of elephants at the San Diego Zoo. While it's not exactly riveting in terms of today's content standards, it does capture an important moment in time. "If you think about that 19 seconds and what it's turned into today, it's incredible," said Alexandra Hunnings Klein, head of communications for YouTube Canada. "It's a platform where anybody anywhere can start a business, express themselves." According to YouTube, the platform's popularity is dominant across age groups in Canada, with usage peaking among Canadians aged 12 to 34. "It's a platform not just for Canadians to reflect culture back to each other but also globally," Hunnings Klein said. Part of YouTube's success can be attributed to its consistency, says Richard Lachman, a professor at Toronto Metropolitan University's media school. "For most of us the way YouTube serves content now is very similar to the way they did 20 years ago, they got it right," he said, adding it's also been incredibly influential on the way people consume and share media across traditional industries like journalism and film. "It's really changed our culture into being a moving video culture," he said. Lachman says with the platform hosting more longer-form content than some of its social media counterparts, it's also been a bit more resilient to misinformation. "Rather than quick hits, just headlines, people are engaging, they're not just seeing a 20 second clip about something. There's more deep digging," he said.
CBS News
27-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
YouTube turns 20: From cat videos to AI
Twenty years ago this past week, YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim posted the very first YouTube video, titled "Me at the Zoo." "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 cool. … And that's pretty much all there is to say." YouTube was so new that our Charles Osgood had to define it for "Sunday Morning" viewers back in 2006: "A website that lets just about anyone post videos for the whole world to see." 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. Every single day, we collectively watch more than a billion hours of YouTube videos. Funny videos … how-to videos … cat videos. In these first 20 years, we've uploaded 20 billion videos to YouTube. The most-watched of all? "Baby Shark Dance," with about 16 billion views. And people aren't just watching on their phones. "People watch YouTube more than they watch any other streaming service on their big screens in their living rooms now," said David Craig, who teaches media and culture at the University of Southern California at Annenberg. Craig says that a key moment was the day YouTube started paying people for making videos. "YouTube came along and said, 'Why don't we give you some advertising revenue in exchange for the fact that you're helping us grow our service?'" he said. Today, YouTube roughly splits the ad revenue with the creator, according to Craig: "It does probably change a little bit for some of the bigger-name players out there who they obviously need to make sure are very happy with the service." Those bigger-name players include Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal, creators of a daily show called "Good Mythical Morning." Thirty-four million subscribers have watched their shows 14 billion times. McLaughlin described the show's appeal: "Two old friends hanging out, where you can be the third person in that friendship. We kind of stumbled upon this secret formula for having people come back every single day." They may film in a traditional TV studio, but what is the difference between YouTube and TV? "I'd like to say our talent," Neal laughed. "A big part of it is responding to the audience," said McLaughlin. "You've got comments, right? So, there's ways that you can connect with people online." David Craig said, "Creators on YouTube, specifically, are not content creators. They are for-profit community organizers. They are using this platform to build online communities that they can build a dozen different business models off of." For McLaughlin and Neal, those business models could include tours, books, sweatshirts, hoodies, magnets and pins. "And you can start to go bigger and sell hair products," said Neal. "If we're gonna spend as much time as we both spend on our hair, we are going to monetize it!" 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. Last year, Amazon Prime spent $100 million to produce a MrBeast game show. I asked David Craig, "Is being a YouTube star now considered a greater ambition than becoming a television star?" "I hate to tell you this, David, but that's been the case now for over 10 years," Craig replied. "They've been surveying young people, and they've all said they want to grow up to be a creator or an influencer more than a celebrity – or, I'm sorry to say, a journalist." From the archives: The early days of YouTube Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal don't think that the advertising industry has quite caught up with YouTube's dominance. "If you look at the 18-to-34 age group, we outperform all of the other late-night shows combined," said Neal. "But if you look at revenue that's being spent on those shows versus our show, it's not quite there yet." "And honestly, this is one of the reasons that we have really been interested in winning an Emmy," McLaughlin added. "You know, we're a part of the cultural conversation, as much as many shows that have won Emmys." Over the last two decades, YouTube has had its controversies, from collecting personal information about kids, to claims that the site is fueling a mental health crisis. YouTube's detractors also worry about the algorithm. It studies which videos seem to grab your attention, and feeds you more videos like them. YouTube has been accused of letting the algorithm lead people to extreme viewpoints. "We have this enormous diversity of opinions on our platform," said YouTube CEO Neal Mohan. "We don't allow adult content. We obviously don't allow spam and fraud. And we have policies to protect young people and kids on the platform. But it's fundamentally a platform for freedom of speech. " So, with YouTube's 20th anniversary upon us, what are the next few years going to be like? According to Mohan, "One of the areas that I'm very excited about is artificial intelligence. You can tell YouTube when you're creating a video, 'Put us in Central Park, and change the background, and have these types of birds because it's a spring day.' And that magical technology exists today." I asked, "Is there something about evolution or psychology that makes us so interested in watching other people?" "I think it goes back to we, as human beings, are social beings," said Mohan. "We connect with other people. We are storytellers. That is what happens billions of times a day on YouTube. And it's back to our mission: give everyone a voice and show them the world." "It's a double rainbow all the way!" For more info: Story produced by David Rothman. Editor: Jason Schmidt. See also:
Express Tribune
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
YouTube marks 20 years with big numbers and bigger ambitions
Youtube okay use of AI amid increasing use for content creations. PHOTO: PIXABAY Listen to article YouTube turned 20 this April, marking two decades since co-founder Jawed Karim uploaded the platform's first-ever video, Me at the Zoo, back in 2005. Now owned by Google, YouTube has evolved beyond a simple video-sharing site into a dominant force across entertainment, music, and technology. Earlier this week, YouTube shared a series of impressive statistics to commemorate the milestone. The company revealed that over 20 million videos are uploaded daily, and in 2024 alone, users posted an average of 100 million comments per day. Creators engaged actively as well, giving hearts to comments from around 10 million users every day. YouTube also highlighted that videos on the platform received over 3.5 billion likes daily last year. More than 300 music videos have now crossed the billion-views mark — a reflection of the platform's global reach and influence. The anniversary celebrations also extended to YouTube Music and YouTube Kids, both of which are turning 10. Interestingly, before YouTube Music officially launched, it operated internally under the codename "Woodstock." Looking ahead, YouTube plans to integrate more AI-driven features across its services, while continuing to push its Premium offering. The company underlined that expanding Premium subscriptions would support its broader aim of sustaining and rewarding the global creator community. As YouTube steps into its third decade, it is clear the platform remains at the centre of how audiences discover and enjoy digital content — whether on mobile, web, or big screens.
Irish Independent
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Adrian Weckler: How YouTube became a colossus hiding in plain sight
Its first video was posted 20 years ago this week, now more than 20 million are uploaded each day – yet the media giant attracts little scrutiny from regulators Today at 21:30 It was 20 years ago last week when the first YouTube video was uploaded. Entitled 'Me at the Zoo', the 19-second clip featured YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim in front of two elephants at San Diego's zoo.
