The History of YouTube

Zeta Lankford

YouTube is a universally known and used platform where, today, anyone can create and post whatever content their heart desires. Going back to when it was first created, we find a very different platform than the YouTube we know today. In 2005 on February 14th, Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim, three former PayPal employees (Hosch), launched their video sharing platform, YouTube. It most definitely did not have the kind of internet traffic it has today, and it looked quite different as well. When these people created YouTube, they were not seeking to solve a specific problem so much as trying to create a platform to serve as a creative outlet for users to share home videos (Watson).

Though you can watch videos on YouTube without making an account, you can only interact with the content on the platform by making one. As explained in a video posted by YouTube, you first set up your account by linking your Gmail account (if you don’t have one, you’ll need to make one) to YouTube. This creates your profile and you now have a presence on the platform that can like, dislike, share, download, and even clip videos. You can also subscribe to other channels on the platform and get notifications for when they update. There is also the save feature which allows you to save videos to your ‘Watch Later’ playlist, or you can create an entirely new playlist that you can choose to keep private or share with others. In order to start posting content of your own, however, you need to set up your YouTube channel. Once you do this, not only can you post your content, but you can even go live. (YouTube) Most of these special features of the platform (going live, clipping, downloading, etc.) were not available in the original version of YouTube. These features show just how much the platform has evolved not just in a physical way, but in a user beneficial way.

• When talking about the physical features of the platform, YouTube has come a long way. Back in the early years of YouTube, channel pages were more customizable. I remember having different YouTube channels I watched regularly, and each one would tell a lot about the creator (or at least what they wanted viewers to think). Using the Wayback Machine, I was able to find an image of a YouTube channel from around 2013, just before different YouTubers started to become popular influencers. Looking at the image of that same channel now, as well as comparing it to other channels on the platform, I find that the level of customization has been limited to your profile picture and banner. Mostly, channels look similar if not identical. YouTube says that their goal/mission is to “give everyone a voice and show them the world” (About YouTube). They also say they believe “everyone deserves a voice” (About YouTube). I think that they have mostly delivered on this, and the physical aspects have nothing against their values. Mostly, the change is probably due to wanting the platform to look sleek and neat instead of a jumbled mess of different things.

• When most people hear YouTube and controversy in the same sentence, it usually refers to the people on the platform. Many different scandals have happened between different popular YouTubers, but this does not really have anything to do with YouTube as a company. One of the most well known issues that happened on the platform is what YouTubers have named “The Adpocalypse”. There have been several over the years (four to be specific), but I am going to generalize them as a whole to keep things compact. This term is a reference to the “mass advertiser boycotts and withdrawals on YouTube” (YouTube Adpocalypse). How is this different from scandals amongst creators? Well, this ties into the company because it was widely speculated between creators on the platform that “YouTube wanted to give attention to and reward creators who were promoting a favored agenda” (YouTube Adpocalypse). As time went on, politics eventually took the stage on YouTube, and more channels were getting demonetized. Appeals were filed as the “algorithm was still learning” (Why the Adpocalypse), but eventually, “ a new policy for anti-harassment and bullying was enacted” at the end of 2019, which is speculated to be a response to the controversy. Some were pleased with this, and some were not as certain issues still existed with creators after the fact. Personally, I believed this resolved the tension for a little while, but I do not think that it truly extinguished the issue. I am sure we will see another Adpocalypse in the future.

• I actually do believe that the YouTube platform offers a benefit to society in it’s current form. Ignoring the past complaints of people making money on the platform, it has always been a space for people to let their imagination run wild, and be creative. Sure, it could be argued that in the past (specifically around 2014) YouTube was a better, more creator friendly place, but I do think that they mostly stay true to their mission. There could definitely be improvements to make it the creator friendly space it once was, but it still remains very user friendly as well as accessible. It is beneficial to society not only in means of it’s original purpose of creativity, but it has also become an educational tool, a place to listen to music, as well as a place to relive stress for some. I do not see this platform disappearing any time soon, but I do see it continuing to grow and expand.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

“About YouTube — YouTube.” n.d. About.youtube. https://about.youtube/#:~:text=Our%20mission%20is%20to%20give,build%20community%20through%20our%20stories..

“Danisnotonfire — YouTube.” 2013. Web.archive.org. March 29, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130329233332/https://www.youtube.com/danhowell.

Hosch, William L. 2019. “YouTube.” In Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/YouTube.

Watson, Joe. 2021. “When Was YouTube Created and Why (3 Key Reasons).” WATSON POST. June 24, 2021. https://www.watsonpost.com/when-was-youtube-created-and-why/.

‌ “Why the Adpocalypse Is Worse than Ever and the NYT under Fire for ‘Normalizing Hate.’” n.d. Www.youtube.com. Accessed September 14, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgPjX5hDuPo.

“YouTube Adpocalypse.” 2017. Wikitubia. 2017. https://youtube.fandom.com/wiki/YouTube_Adpocalypse.

YouTube Viewers. 2019. “Getting Started | How and Why to Sign in to YouTube and Create a YouTube Channel.” YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0eM1_JVqHE.‌‌

YouTube. 2013. “YouTube.” Youtube.com. 2013. https://youtube.com.