‘Me at the zoo’ is the first video on YouTube. Co founder Jawed Karim uploaded it on 23 April 2005. It lasts about 19 seconds and shows him at the San Diego Zoo. By ‘first’, we mean the first upload on YouTube, not the first video ever to appear online.
Read why this short clip is famous, how a museum preserves the early video page and how you can search for the upload yourself.
Why is Me at the zoo so famous?
The clip is mainly famous because it marks the beginning of YouTube. It is not the footage or the quality that makes it special, but its place in history.
When you watch it, you see a brief moment from a visit to a zoo. At the same time, you are looking at the beginning of a website where people share their own footage. That contrast is precisely what makes such a simple clip interesting.
It is not clear why Karim filmed this particular moment and uploaded it first. There is therefore no certain explanation for his choice of subject.
How does the V&A preserve the first YouTube video?
The V&A museum acquired an early viewing page featuring ‘Me at the zoo’. For the reconstruction of that YouTube page it used, among other things, web code from December 2006.
A viewing page is the page where you play a video. The museum therefore preserves not only the clip, but also shows what the surrounding website looked like. A standalone video file cannot show that.
The recreated page is not exactly the page from the day of the first upload. The date of the clip and that of the recreated website are different. You are therefore seeing an early version of YouTube, not the exact website from 23 April 2005.
How do you search for Me at the zoo on YouTube?
Search YouTube for ‘Me at the zoo Jawed’. It has not been confirmed whether the original upload is currently accessible. You can use these steps to check whether a search result matches the first upload:
- Check who posted the video. Look for Jawed Karim.
- Check the upload date: 23 April 2005.
- Do not rely on the title alone. A copy may have the same title and footage, but it is not the original upload.
Would you like to see what YouTube used to look like? View the museum reconstruction. If you are looking for the clip’s current page, you need the original upload on YouTube. These are two different things.
What can you learn from the first YouTube video?
For your own first video, you can choose one small subject. You do not need to film an entire day out straight away. One moment that you briefly talk about is a useful exercise.
A fictional example: while out walking, you film a duck on a fallen tree. You describe what you notice and stop when the moment is over. This gives you practice filming, speaking clearly and finishing on time.
This simple approach helps you get started. It is not a promise that you will get lots of viewers. The fame of the first YouTube video says nothing about how many people will watch your clip.
- Do not have your own channel yet? Read how to start a YouTube channel.
- Have you finished a clip? Read how to present it better in the guide to optimising your YouTube video.
- Would you like to continue after your first upload? See the tips for getting more YouTube subscribers.
