The Most Influential Videos on YouTube this Decade
Back in 2010, 24 hours of content were uploaded to YouTube every minute. By the end of 2019 that has increased to over 500 hours per minute.
One decade, a two thousand percent increase.
Though it’s not always easy to grasp YouTube’s scale and complexity, the world’s second most-visited site has a vast impact on our lives.
With billions of users of all ages, it has the power to radicalise world views, shape the minds of children, or turn them into millionaires.
While there are countless ways to assess and argue the influence of the site’s videos and content creators, for this article I want to get a little meta, and look at the videos that “influenced the influencer”.
As we close out the decade, these are — in no particular order — 10 videos that exposed or altered YouTube’s trajectory over the past 10 years, highlighting or changing how and where the site lands in the daily lives of millions.
PSY — Gangnam Style (2012)
Kicking off with one of the more lighthearted entries on the list, the viral sensation was the first YouTube video to break 1 billion views, showing the site’s strength as a home for music.
From licensing disputes with various record labels — that at times threatened the site’s future — to launching the careers of stars like Justin Bieber and Dua Lipa, music is part of YouTube’s DNA.
The previous top video, the music video for Justin Bieber’s ‘Baby’, had been on the site for over a year and a half and sat at around 803 million views when it was overtaken by Gangnam Style, which hit 1 billion views in just 58 days.
The rapid success signalled the exponential growth of the site and, at the end of the decade, 188 videos have surpassed the 1 billion milestone. But it wasn’t even the most viewed video that year…
Masha The Bear — Recipe For Disaster (2012)
Of all the videos on this list, this is probably the one you’re least likely to have watched. Because it’s an animated video, made for Russian-speaking children.
I don’t think many Russian 6-year-olds read my articles, but Я могу ошибаться.
It was the most viewed video in 2012, beating out Gangnam Style for the title (though it was released 6 months earlier).
It’s one of only three non-music videos to sit in the “Top 5 Most Viewed Videos” in each year of release this decade. Even more impressively, one of the other two videos is another Masha The Bear video from the same year, while the third is another Russian-language video for kids, from 2018.
Originally aired on TV, the success of Masha on YouTube made it an early indicator of “KidTube’s” potential, as well as showing the demand for non-English content.
The video’s title — Recipe for Disaster — would, however, come to be more prescient than expected…
Various Channels — The “ElsaGate” videos (at least 2014 onwards)
If Masha The Bear showed the potential popularity of KidTube, ElsaGate exposed the risks.
The controversy centred around videos featuring unlicensed copies of characters beloved by children, including Frozen’s Elsa, being recommended and automatically served to kids.
The troubling videos, while similar to normal children’s content in appearance, saw the characters placed into scenarios that the original creators would never allow, often featuring violence, sex and drugs.
While ElsaGate is a more visceral manifestation of failings in this space, there have been others. YouTube was fined a record $170million by the FTC in 2019 for violating child data collection laws.
YouTube knows that children’s content is lucrative, and is essential to the platform’s future popularity with new generations, so will continue to ensure it remains on the platform. In 2020 YouTube will enact major changes to better satisfy the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), though these changes are of concern to many creators.
While we wait to see the impact of these changes on the platform and creators in the new decade, we’ll at the very least hope for more Masha The Bears and fewer dodgy Elsas.
Logan Paul — That now deleted “Suicide Forest” video (2017)
When it comes to distasteful content being served to young audiences, one video stands out. Logan Paul’s now-infamous video, in which he shows the body of a suicide victim, sparked over 750,000 people to sign a petition calling for his channel to be banned.
The video is one of several cited as driving an “ad-pocalypse” — as a phase in which advertisers withdraw from the platform, and creator advertising revenue diminishes as a result.
In response, to appease advertisers, YouTube has repeatedly restricted the type of content that can be monetised. That impact alone could see this video listed here. In theory, it’s one creator affecting the livelihoods of many, though Paul wasn’t the sole cause.
But now, 2 years after it was posted, the video says even more about YouTube, its creators and controversy. Far from being cancelled, Paul remains one of the platform’s highest-earning creators.
While “cancel culture” has been named the phrase of 2019 by some, Logan Paul shows the ability of large YouTubers to bounce back from and even capitalise on controversy. The video speaks to the reluctance of both YouTube and fans to see big names removed from the site, regardless of how distasteful their actions are — and the next creator has benefited from that as much as any other.
PewDiePie — Bitch Lasagna (2018)
When future historians study YouTube, they’ll unearth an artefact from the battle between “independent creators” and “corporations”: Bitch Lasanga.
Or that’s how many of the comments they also dig up nearby will depict it.
PewDiePie could easily feature on this list for similar reasons to Logan Paul. And while his enterprise has far exceeded that of an independent creator, his fight against Indian music giant ‘T-Series’ for the prestigious title of “most subscribed” YouTube channel was viewed by many as a fight for the soul of YouTube.
T-Series won, and the growth of the corporate on the platform speaks both to the success of commercial content on YouTube, a site that has been a home for amateur creators. It also once again shows the immense engagement with content from emerging markets.
‘Bitch Lasagna’ remains PewDiePie’s most viewed video and a testament to the scale of the battle that played out. But it’s not the only clash that’s had an impact on the platform.
Idubbbz — The now-deleted Leafy Content Cop (2016)
YouTubers have their fair share of beef with each other — whether real or fabricated. From diss-tracks to boxing ring bouts, it takes all forms.
Ian Carter’s call-out videos are an often highly anticipated form of this, mixing carefully crafted criticism with humour that some argue often crosses the line between provocative and offensive.
Much like several of the entries on the list, the Content Cop Series — which has received over 240million views — highlights the range of unpleasant content and characters that find an audience on YouTube, before dissecting and ridiculing their flaws.
Content Cop fights the corner for allowing the YouTube community to police itself, rather than being moderated from above. Which makes the fact that YouTube recently deleted the ‘LeafyIsHere’ edition of the series — citing violation of new anti-harassment policies — a little wry.
The removal reinforces the series as one that’s vital viewing for understanding YouTube drama, as well as various forms of content moderation on YouTube, whether it be community or platform-driven.
Carlos Maza — The Steven Crowder Supercut (2019)
When it comes to the other side of the moderation debate, one that calls for YouTube to be more proactive in removing harassment in particular, the former Vox reporter Carlos Maza took a major stance.
While it wasn’t technically posted on YouTube, it deserves a place on this list.
Maza compiled a supercut of right-wing commentator Steven Crowder’s videos, highlighting Crowder’s attacks on Maza’s sexual orientation and ethnicity.
Maza’s anger was primarily focussed at YouTube, critiquing them for taking an outwardly pro-LGBTQ+ stance, while allowing voices like Crowder’s to exist on the platform.
The ensuing controversy stands as an example of YouTube communicating poorly, something they’ve been criticised for repeatedly, as they shifted their position publicly multiple times. The site initially stated there’d be no action taken, and that Crowder hadn’t violated terms of use, before going back on this to settle on demonetising Crowder’s channel.
In a debate between two very sternly opposed sides, YouTube’s response failed to please anyone. The recent update to its anti-harassment policy can be read as a direct response to this failure, leaning towards preventing the likes of Crowder making similar comments in future.
While Maza can be seen as sparking this, critics aren’t certain real changes will be seen, and the removal of the aforementioned Content Cop has led to criticisms of YouTube for acting where it wasn’t called for. Carlos Maza has since left his job at Vox, while Crowder has noted the controversy made him a lot of money from his right-wing supporters.
If nothing else, Maza’s stand highlighted the diversity of content and opinion on YouTube, and the clashes that are there to be had. From left to right, fake news to real, YouTube is grappling with the breadth of content on its platform, and it’s not finding any easy solutions. The next videos on the list are certainly no exception.
YouTube — YouTube Rewind (2010–2019)
Launched at the start of the decade and produced by YouTube, the ‘Rewind’ videos round-up the greatest hits and cultural moments on the site each year. But as the amount of content has grown towards that 500 hours uploaded per minute mark, editorial choices on what to include have understandably had to be made.
In 2016, the number of dislikes Rewinds received began to noticeably increase, before skyrocketing in 2018. Last year’s edition is the most disliked video on the platform. Criticisms vary, but largely boil down to the perception that YouTube has chosen to present a polished version of the platform through Rewind, to entice advertisers, rather than celebrate the platform in its true form.
To avoid similar criticisms, YouTube turned to data for the 2019 edition. The video simply lists the site’s top creators and videos across a range of categories based on likes, subscribers and views. It gives little to disagree with beyond how dull the final product is.
But the video remains important for signalling how YouTube views itself and wishes to communicate that, and I’ve argued that the 2019 edition indicates YouTube taking a step from publisher to the platform. You can find my thoughts on this here.
Casey Neistat — My First Vlog (2015)
Okay, that’s enough controversy. Everyone loves Casey, right?
No? Alright, just let me have this.
While I’ve avoided delving into videos that have impacted specific genres — there are just too many — Casey Neistat’s approach to vlogging has had a major impact on the format and site that can’t be ignored.
While he wasn’t the first or only high-quality daily vlogger, his rapid growth and popularity certainly ensured that the style was emulated by many. He successfully brought his experience as a professional filmmaker to a format previously known, and often loved, for its amateurish nature.
Beyond his vlogs, his dabbling with politics, his upbringing, his brand deals and forays into mainstream news, his start-up and his exit from it and, ultimately, his pulling-back from regularly uploading to embrace family life, have all been major talking points for the YouTube community for the past few years. He’s played a major roll in introducing many to the platform, and is the name many will think of if you ask them to name a YouTuber.
Videos from Other Platforms — From Late Night TV to Vine Compilations
From Mr.YouTube himself to… no YouTubers at all? It may seem odd, but I’m ending this list with content produced by those who use YouTube as their home away from home. Everyone from Late Night TV hosts, to former Vine stars, to Will Smith, to the up-and-coming TikTok stars.
YouTube is the major video streaming site. There are others, from Vimeo to Twitch, that fill different niches. There are competitors for eyes and ears, from Netflix to Spotify. But over the past decade, YouTube has cemented its position as the place for all sorts of content online.
It’s a video search engine for everything from how to bake to how to change a tyre. It’s where you watch short clips from your favourite long-form shows or hour-long compilations of 7-second Vines, that would’ve otherwise been wiped from the internet when Twitter shuttered the app. It’s for audio-streaming, from the top artists to ASMR to podcasts.
YouTube is a home for content. It has its issues, and they are not to be understated, but it’s really quite the site.
Among the many millions of hours uploaded to-date, you can find videos that nobody will ever watch, through to those that will have profound societal impacts.
These are my choices for those that have had the most impact on YouTube itself this decade. In the vast quantities that are uploaded, I’m sure I’ve missed many that deserved to be included here. But it’d love to hear any suggestions for alternatives, or videos that have stood out to you in general. Please do post them as a response to this article, and have a wonderful decade otherwise.
Honourable mentions
These are a few of the others I toyed with including, but ultimately didn’t make the final cut for various reasons:
- Vlog Brothers — a pair of long-standing voices of reason and forces for the good on the platform and beyond, from Project4Awesome, to launching VidCon
- Shane Dawson’s recent documentary series — for exemplifying how some of the longest standing voices on the platform can still command attention, particularly by taking us deeper into the lives of YouTubers
- Will Smith and celebs in general — while mentioned in the final section, the influx of traditional celebs on the platform is an interesting evolution for the site and speaks to the cultural significance of “being on YouTube”
- Mr Beast — unifying a diverse community to drive philanthropic goals while achieving phenomenal growth, Mr Beast’s content is interesting, and it’ll be intriguing to see how Jimmy continues to shape up as a voice for the platform, particularly in the light of past criticisms
