YouTube A to Z #HappyBirthdayYouTube

May 28, 2015

Cross-posted from the YouTube Blog

Every adventure starts somewhere, and YouTube’s began on Saturday, April 23, 2005, when "Me at the Zoo" became the first video uploaded to a new site no one had ever heard of. Captured at California's San Diego Zoo, the clip is a 19-second description of what exactly makes elephants so cool. Its brief runtime and casual setup suggest little of the online video craziness that would follow over the subsequent decade.

“Me at the Zoo” proved to be a simple distillation of the premise of a new platform, where anyone could just turn on a camera and broadcast themselves with ease. Who could have predicted that, in that same environment, new genres, new forms of expression, and new paths to stardom would evolve? That engaging and unique personalities borne of this place could be more influential than Hollywood's biggest names? Or that more than a billion people from all corners of the globe would come together in that space to experience what the world creates, broadcasts, and shares?

Yeah. We were surprised, too.

For our 10th birthday this month, we've gone from A to Z celebrating the adorable, empowering, awesome, weird and wonderful moments that represent the many sides of YouTube. But, of course, if we're really going to capture 10 years of YouTube, we're going to need to do it in … a video:

Thanks for a wild and inspiring 10 years. Now, you've got 300 hours of video to capture and share in the next minute. So get back to it!

**Bonus Points: How well do you know YouTube, A to Z? Play the YouTube trivia game to find out at YouTube.com/10

Y Is for You: #10YearsofYouTube

May 26, 2015

Y may be the second to last letter in the alphabet, but it represents the most important element of YouTube: You.

Without you, there would be no tiny hamsters eating burritos, no dance evolutions, no epic leaps through the sky. There would be no one to show us what a double rainbow looks like, or how to prancercise. Our hair would be a mess and our most burning questions would go unanswered. Basically, without you, there would be no YouTube.

Over the last 10 years, you have used YouTube to share your lives with billions of people around the globe, changing the way we experience and understand the world around us. Today, you upload 300 hours of video to YouTube every minute, driving hundreds of millions of hours of video watched per day. Last year alone, you clicked “play” more than 2 trillion times - to learn, to have a laugh, to make a change, and often times, to come together to create something new.

Thank you for a decade of putting your own special You in YouTube every day. Click below to see some highlights from the many moments you have shone together on YouTube:

-- Christine Huang

X Is for Xperiments: #10YearsofYouTube

May 25, 2015

What happens when you mix diet soda, a certain mint candy and some serious science? As more than 40,000 YouTube videos demonstrate, something super awesome.

Since our earliest days, YouTube has served as home-base for the informative, hilarious and downright crazy DIY experiments they didn’t always teach in middle school. Think of it as the Science Fair 2.0. Last month alone, over 515,000 hours of videos featuring the infamous and oft duplicated diet coke and mentos experiment were viewed on YouTube. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Currently, there are over 2.9 million videos tagged with “experiment,” with three of YouTube’s most popular mad scientists - The Slow Mo Guys, Crazy Russian Hacker and Grant Thompson - driving a combined 3.5 million watch hours just last year. That’s a lot of lemon batteries, eggs through bottles, elephant toothpaste, and of course, epic explosions!

But experiments on YouTube aren’t limited to the worlds of chemistry and physics. In recent years, pranksters and sociologists alike have racked up some serious views through thought-provoking and sometimes controversial social experiments played out in the real world. The phenomenon first gained traction in 2013 and has been on the rise ever since. Notable uploads like Dove Real Beauty Sketches and First Kiss have become cultural phenomenons in their own right, with the two earning a combined 165 million views and sparking countless parody videos lampooning the originals. And as they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

From science to psychology and beyond, take a look back at some of the most notable experiments in YouTube history.

-- Kevin Meenan

W Is for Weird and Wonderful: #10YearsofYouTube

May 24, 2015

YouTube is where weird goes worldwide. Whether it was the mystery of Lonelygirl15 in 2006, the emergence of the Harlem Shake in 2012 or last year's Too Many Cooks, YouTube is the place where one person's idiosyncratic take on the world can be discovered, shared, and celebrated, turning a once-weird happening into something the world embraces.

Case in point: in 2006, videos of a weird phenomenon called “cartridge tilting” began circulating on YouTube. Cartridge tilting causes bugs and glitches in cartridge-based videos games, and Goldeneye was of particular interest. That’s because the glitch in that particular game sometimes caused characters to jerk and convulse in mid-air. At this point, there are about 500 videos on YouTube showcasing the cartridge tilt, totaling just under 5 million views. That’s weird, and we love it.

In 2007, as cartridge tilting was becoming a (niche) “thing,” it also began taking on a new form, as videos of people jumping and shimmying, recreating the glitch, began appearing on YouTube as a meme called “Geddan” or “Get Down.”

From 2008 through 2013, about 3000 videos using the word “geddan” or “ゲッダン” were uploaded to YouTube. Those videos have yielded about 27 million views. Thus, a weird glitch in a video game enjoyed by just a few gave birth to a meme enjoyed by millions.

But that’s not all. Now let’s consider the Super Selfie - Geddan’s stylistic cousin.

In late 2013, Gabriel Valenciano began creating Super Selfie videos, which had a lot in common with Geddan videos -- both sharing the technique of constructing dances from captured frames of video. To date, Gabriel Valenciano has uploaded 35 Super Selfies, which have garnered 11 million views. While Geddan videos averaged 9,000 views per video, Gabriel’s Super Selfies have upped the ante to 300,000 views per video, becoming just big enough for a very important person to take notice.
-- Earnest Pettie

In 2014, for her 7-11 video, Beyonce called upon Super Selfies for inspiration. In fact, she didn’t just call upon Super Selfies, she called upon the man behind them. She invited Gabriel Valenciano to consult on her video, which was essentially a three-and-a-half minute Super Selfie.

Since its release, 7-11 has been viewed over 213 million times. Just like that, the Super Selfie went from being something enjoyed by millions to something embraced by hundreds of millions.

Sometimes it might seem like YouTube is made up of a billion people who are just waiting for that next little bit of weird to come along. But it’s also made up of a billion people who all have a little bit of weirdness just waiting to be shared.

Below, enjoy a few of the most wonderfully weird videos from the first 10 years of YouTube:

-- Earnest Pettie

V Is for Vloggers: #10YearsofYouTube

May 23, 2015

In 2007, Hank and John Green embarked on a 365-day video adventure during which their only means of communication with the outside world were the videos they uploaded twice a week to their YouTube channel, the Vlogbrothers.

Eight years and over 7,000 videos later, the Vlogbrothers have become the godfathers of YouTube. Together, this dynamic pair has founded VidCon; revolutionized online education with their channels Crash Course, SciShow, The Art Assignment, Sexplanations, and Brainscoop; created and signed countless artists to their record label Don’t Forget to Be Awesome; interviewed the President of the United States; and inspired a loyal base of “Nerdfighters” -- aka Vlogbrothers fans.

Vloggers have played a significant role in the formation of YouTube’s personality and culture. Over the past decade, tens of millions of vlogging videos have been uploaded to the site, with vloggers like the Shaytards, Fun for Louis, Charles Trippy, Alfie Deyes, and Sacconejolys uploading videos everyday for years. And more recently, creators such as Zoella, Jim Chapman, Phil DeFranco, SprinkleofGlitter, BubzBeauty, Marcus Butler, and hundreds more have expanded beyond their original channels, starting secondary channels to share even more of their lives with their fans.

Just like YouTube, vlogging is an ever-evolving form that’s taken in different directions by different creators. Jack and Finn Harries (JacksGap) have transformed their vlogs into travelogs with footage of their adventures around the world. Grace Helbig has become so popular she now hosts “The Grace Helbig Show” on E!, in which she regularly engages her loyal fans and fellow YouTube creators. But it’s the ever-inventive Casey Neistat that might depict this evolution best. Neistat sees his daily vlogs as “short films” being created every 24 hours. In his video “What’s Your Motivation,” Neistat addresses the comment -- “You’re a filmmaker, stop vlogging” -- with this insight:

“Creating a new movie every 24 hours and releasing that movie to an audience of hundreds of thousands of people is an evolution in filmmaking. Our job as creators is to further define any medium, our job is to create the new cliches, not to adhere to those defined by generations past.”
From Jenna Marbles to Akilah Hughes, vlogging continues to make YouTube the unique destination it is today. Click below for a playlist featuring some of the most influential vloggers in the past 10 years.

U Is for Uplifting: #10YearsofYouTube

May 22, 2015

Amid the animal hijinks, epic stunts, silly pranks and music videos, sometimes a gem arises that really moves you. It makes you laugh. It makes you cry. It makes you believe in yourself. Something you can’t help but want to share with the world.

While the feel-good factor of a particular story or video is hard to measure, it's easy to sense. Here are four memorable, uplifting moments from the last 10 Years of YouTube:

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture: With months left to live, this beloved Carnegie Mellon computer science professor gives his last lecture -- a 75-minute lesson on resilience, wonder, and powering through hard work in order to live your dreams. He honors the people who have helped him and the people he's helped, and in doing so, inspires with a message that is unforgettable.

Hearing for the First Time: Sarah Churman receives a hearing implant after 29 years of silence, and we get to witness the first time she hears herself speak, laugh and cry. Her joy is a reminder of how human technology can be, and how the everyday things we might take for granted are truly a gift.

Kid President's Letter to a Person on Their First Day Here: Robby Novack, known as Kid President, welcomes new babies into the world through a candid celebration of all the simple experiences that make life worth living. Things like laughing with loved ones or dancing to music. He's also honest about the hardships of getting up in the morning, believing in yourself, messing up, and making friends.

Elderly Man in Nursing Home Reacts to Music: A clip from the 2014 documentary Alive Inside, this video captures the moment a generally unresponsive man with Alzheimer’s Disease reawakens while listening to music in his nursing home. Slipping on earphones, his eyes and smile come alive when he hears his favorite songs. It’s a video testament to the mysterious, magical relationship between music and the human mind.

T Is for Timelapse: #10YearsofYouTube

May 21, 2015

Nearly nine years ago, an artist named Ahree Lee posted a timelapse video on YouTube called “Me.” The minute-long piece features over a thousand portraits of Lee taken over the preceding three years: all close-ups of her face in nearly the exact same position and with the same expression, cycled through day by day in chronological order.

A New York-based photographer named Noah Kalina discovered Lee’s work and was inspired to transform his own timelapse project into a similar piece of video art. (Coincidentally, he, too, had been photographing himself everyday - but for six years rather than three.) Kalina’s “Noah takes a photo of himself every day for 6 years” became a sleeper hit and earned him one of the first spots in the YouTube Hall of Fame, as well as a feature in the New York Times, a segment on VH1, and an homage by Homer on an episode of “The Simpsons.” The video of Kalina’s 6 year transformation has racked up more than 26M views in its lifetime, and ~7.2 years of time watched.

YouTube’s 1.7M+ timelapse videos have offered us new, eye-opening perspectives on the people, places and things that surround us. From watching the world spin on its axis from 250 miles in space, to witnessing the poignant transformation of a young girl from birth to adolescence, to seeing through the eye of a storm, timelapse videos alter our perception of time and the natural metamorphoses of everything around us in a way never before possible.

Overall, more than 4,400 days (or 12 years) worth of timelapse footage have been uploaded to YouTube, the sum of which has been viewed more than 3.9 billion times. Check out our playlist below for some of our favorite timelapses from the last 10 years.

-- Christine Huang

S Is for Singers: #10YearsofYouTube

May 20, 2015

Whether professional, amateur or animal; auto-tuned, a capella, or lip-dubbed, singing has proven to be one of YouTube’s most popular forms of entertainment. Of the 250+ channels in the billionaire’s club (aka, those with a billion views or more) more than half are channels featuring singers and songwriters, with one of the most recent inductees being not a pop star or a top record label, but the Eurovision Song Contest, crossing the threshold on March 30.

Eurovision's milestone should come as no surprise: some of the most unforgettable performances on YouTube are not ones made by famous “billionaires,” but those made by everyday people, like Susan Boyle (24 million views), Italian Nun Cristina Scuccia (72 million views), and - once upon a time - a young, unknown phenom from Ontario (48 million views - and now 11 billion subscribers to his VEVO channel).

So here’s to all the performers out there - novice, emergent and diva - that have made the last 10 years of YouTube sing.

R Is for Reactions: #10YearsofYouTube

May 19, 2015

Where would YouTube be without reaction videos? Kids’ reactions, moms’ reactions, reactions to scary pranks or beautiful proposals. A genre that was once non-existent has grown to become one of the most popular forms of video on the platform, bringing people back for “lols” and “awws” time and time again. In fact, one of YouTube’s earliest viral hits was a reaction video -- the original Scary Maze Prank, which is currently sitting pretty at 27 million views.

Reaction vids have been a YouTube staple for years. But it wasn’t until The Fine Bros React series that the idea hit new heights. Debuting just a few weeks before the fifth anniversary of YouTube’s official public launch, the series began with kids simply reacting to popular YouTube videos. It was a meta moment that proved an instant hit, pulling in more than 10 million views to date. Five years later, the Bros have garnered more than 12 million subscribers and nearly 3 billion views across their 800+ videos.

Still, the most interesting reaction to see has always been your own.

GOTCHA. Because how could we talk about the “R” of the YouTube alphabet without a Rick Roll?! A cultural phenomenon that took off in 2007, Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” still sees a spike every April Fools’ Day, with friends performing this musical bait-and-switch all over the world. In fact, the largest spike in views in the video’s history happened just this past April Fools' Day when the video was viewed over 2 million times. Proof that the Rick Roll is still a sure-fire way to get a reaction out of anyone. See what we did there?

Q Is for Questions: #10YearsofYouTube

May 18, 2015

Why is the sky blue? What is the meaning of life? How does deodorant work?

Everyone has questions they need answered, and with countless queries entered into the search bar every day, it's clear many people look to YouTube for solutions. In fact, an October 2013 Pew Study shows that 50 percent of U.S. adults with Internet access watch educational videos. Fortunately, there are more than 24 million question-related videos on YouTube, covering everything under (and including) the sun.

Two of the most popular series devoted to questions and their answers are AsapSCIENCE and VSauce (as well as the latter’s offshoots, VSauce2 and VSauce3). Together, these four channels claim more than 18.1 million subscribers and 1.7 billion views across their videos. Do you want to know what color THE dress really was? Is the 5-second rule actually true? Is it the chicken or the egg that showed up first? These are but a few of the many channels attempting to answer these and the rest of life’s mysteries.

This month is about celebrating the YouTube community and all it’s given us over the past decade. And needless to say, being able to answer pretty much any question that flickers across your cortex is certainly something worth celebrating. So thank you to everyone out there trying to provide answers to questions both big and small.

Now please excuse us while we figure out our next purchase... deodorant or antiperspirant?

-- Marc Hertz

P Is for People: #10YearsofYouTube

May 17, 2015

For all the music, games, memes, fails, and how-tos, what may end up being YouTube's ultimate legacy is the people it connected us to. 10 years of YouTube have introduced us to some of the craziest, funniest, most-interesting, and most-unusual people we'd ever come across.

Matt Harding took us around the world. Tay Zonday took us into the studio. Keenan Cahill took us into his home. Jill Peterson and Kevin Heinz created a wedding moment so memorable, it was watched 90M times and even found its way into the epic nuptials of Pam Beesly and Jim Halpert on "The Office."

We cried tears of sadness when we lost Zach Sobiech and Talia Joy. And cried tears of joy when we experienced a rainbow with Bear Vasquez. Chris Crocker cried tears for Britney.

Names like Fred, Shane, Jenna, and Hola, are immediately identifiable to millions of fans who were attracted to their unique and magnetic personalities.

Sure some may associate early YouTube with animals, but of course it was often the larger-than-life people who made this place special, with vlogging, singing, and many other passions and talents that stole our hearts and kept us coming back.

And before you say something about Rebecca Black, let us point out that she got over 2.5M views… last month. (Mostly on Fridays.)

-- Kevin Allocca

O Is for Old Spice: #10YearsofYouTube

May 16, 2015

YouTube is a level playing field. The videos we love most rise to the top, whether the creator is a suburban dad, a film school auteur or a Fortune 500 company. And while many of YouTube’s most beloved videos are ones made by everyday people, the creative stories told by brands snag a fair share of views, too. In fact, in 2014, we tuned in to watch more than 16 million hours of the top 10 ads of the year. (That’s equivalent to roughly 1 billion 60 second spots.)

Which brings us to one of the most popular and classic adverts on our platform: the "Old Spice Guy" (or, technically, “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” from Old Spice). In an ad that set a new standard for branded video, the Man -- played by Isaiah Mustafa -- premiered before the Super Bowl in February, 2010. Bare chested and directly addressing the camera, Mustafa broke the fourth wall and established himself as the world’s hunkiest, funniest toiletries spokesman. The breakout campaign went on to include three more commercials and accrue a total of more than 54 million views across YouTube. The character was so successful, Old Spice’s agency Wieden + Kennedy devised a follow-up campaign in which the Man personally answered fan questions with nearly 200 individual video responses. It was a concept that brought the Old Spice channel more than 110 million total views and over 900,000 watch hours that year.

Of course, Old Spice is just one of the many brands creating shareable moments on YouTube every day. From epic splits to penalty kicks, unlikely pals to surprising reflections, some of the best stories just happen to have been told by brands. We look forward to seeing how they will surprise and delight us next.

N Is for News: #10YearsofYouTube

May 15, 2015

In June of 2009, a 26-year-old student named Neda Agha-Soltan was shot in the streets of Tehran during a protest over the Iranian presidential elections. Bystanders captured the fatal shooting with their camera phones and used platforms like YouTube to expose the senseless murder to the world.

By the end of that day, international news media picked up the story and began running the images, and the death of Neda Agha-Soltan became one of the most discussed and shared news items around the globe. The three grainy videos of her death proceeded to win the 2009 George Polk Award - the first time the prestigious photo prize was awarded to anonymous sources.

Over the last decade, everyday people - like the bystanders who captured Neda’s death - have changed the way we discover, experience and spread the news. With the proliferation and adoption of digital technology (camera phones, internet access, and social media), people around the globe are now armed with the tools to speak up, speak out, and share what’s happening in their corners of the world, in ways never before possible.

And YouTube is the place millions of people come to learn about and experience these moments every day. Take, for example, the astonishing sight that appeared in the skies over Chelyabinsk, a Russian city just east of the Ural mountains, in February of 2013. What looked like a supernatural force was in fact a rare superbolide meteor traveling at over 40,000 mph, shattering windows, damaging thousands of buildings and injuring more than an estimated 1,000 people. The powerful meteor’s wild ride was captured by dash cams and bewildered passersby, and immediately uploaded to YouTube. The effect? A more than 4,600% increase in YouTube searches for the term “meteor” as compared to the previous month, with users from 190 countries searching for footage of the great ball of fire.

From the U.S. presidential debates in 2007 to the rise of The Arab Spring in 2010, from the Umbrella Revolution of 2014 to the Nepal earthquake of this year -- millions of people all over the globe have turned to YouTube to share their firsthand experiences, perspectives and stories. These videos have redefined the way we understand the news and the connections that exist between ourselves, our communities, our governments, and the world.

Thank you for using YouTube to make and break the news. This is only the beginning.

Because these news videos are a reflection of world events, they may contain violent content or disturbing imagery. Viewer discretion advised.

-- Christine Huang

M Is for Memes: #10YearsofYouTube

May 14, 2015

Meme (/ˈmiːm/ meem) noun: "an idea, behavior, or style that spreads from person to person within a culture."

The video meme emerged as one of YouTube's most beautiful and, in many cases, perplexing side effects this past decade as we watched our jokes, dances, and selfies take on innumerable variations and iterations in the hands of the masses.

10 years ago, the idea of creating a grand creative moment together across a large community of people seemed impossible. Today, the number of Harlem Shakes totals in over 1.5M, the word "autotune" appears in over 900,000 video descriptions, and 150 creators have a "Draw My Life" video with over 1M views. You poked fun at and subverted innumerable stereotypes with "S--t __ Says" memes. You created Nyan Cats in every imaginable variety, and you watched people dump buckets of ice water on their heads (for charity) well over a billion times. Our scientific estimates place the total number of Rickrolls in the 250M range.

When you look back at what we decided to broadcast of ourselves this past decade, you realize that what we each did that was different was not always as interesting as what we did that was the same.

Whether you were planking, owling, or ostriching (never quite caught on), you were doing something that may have seemed incredibly silly individually but was undeniably fun and unique in aggregate. You made a world where entertainment was something you could participate in and make your own. And no one can take that away from you. No matter who your base belong to.

-- Kevin Allocca

L Is for Let's Play: #10YearsofYouTube

May 13, 2015

10 years ago, if you said “let’s play,” you were probably talking to three friends, at most.

But in 2015, when someone like PewDiePie says “let’s play,” he’s inviting over 36 million people to hang out and play video games. That’s like the entire population of Canada getting together to watch you play Flappy Bird.

Videos in which a person plays a game while adding commentary, often called “Let’s Play” videos, have become a global, cultural phenomenon. But the keyword here isn’t “play,” it’s “let’s.” That’s because even before you start the video, you’re being invited into a group to join in the fun. Every day, every hour, all the time, millions of people accept that invitation, driving billions of hours of let’s play videos watched across YouTube.

But what’s perhaps even more impressive: this trend has allowed some talented creators to become celebrities just by being themselves -- and playing video games. You might have already heard of PewDiePie - a Swedish gamer who receives 76 million views to his channel a week and is gaining subscribers at a rate of approximately 3.6 new subs a minute.

But let’s consider another let’s play pioneer: Markiplier, a creator known for his love for playing survival horror games. You probably haven’t seen him on the newsstands or the latest red carpet. But with 7 million subscribers and growing, he’s one of YouTube’s most popular creators, and over the past year, his name has been searched for by YouTube users 10 times more often than Jay-Z.

There’s also Vanoss, a gamer known for his ingenuity when playing popular games like Garry’s Mod, who has over 12 million YouTube subscribers. That’s 5 million more than even the most popular talk shows featuring major “A-list” celebrities. (Maybe they should try booking Vanoss?)

Let’s Play videos provide casual forums for just hanging out and sharing a passion for gameplay. That’s why being a fan of a gamer on YouTube is, for many, more satisfying than following a traditional TV or movie star. You’re not just watching a video--you’re getting to know someone while they engage with something you both genuinely love.

K Is for Kidding Around: #10YearsofYouTube

May 12, 2015

Eight years ago this month, Charlie bit his brother Harry’s finger... again. Little did their parents know what would happen when they showed the world their son’s voracious appetite for his brother’s digit. Not only did the clip of Charlie’s chomping go viral, it’s now been watched nearly 820 million times. That’s roughly equivalent to every person in Brazil watching it four times a piece. It’s also a total view count that makes it the 11th most viewed video in YouTube’s history, and the most-viewed non-music video of all time.

And so began the viral sensation that is kidding around on YouTube.

Whether it’s David wondering “Is this real life?” after his dental visit in 2009 or twin babies conversing in their own secret language in 2011, viewers around the world can’t get enough of the cuteness, even several years later. (Together, these videos received nearly 2 million views just last month.)

And while most of these silly, smile-inducing clips come courtesy of random, candid moments at home, some creators are taking kidding around to the next level. A couple years ago, Soul Pancake introduced the world to the pint-sized, infectiously optimistic Kid President, who told us, “I think we all need a pep talk.” That three-and-a-half minute inspirational video has now been viewed more than 35 million times and led to an invitation for the Kid Prez (aka Robby Novak) to meet another president -- Barack Obama. To date, Soul Pancake’s Kid President videos have amassed more than 100 million views.

Needless to say, be it Apparently Kid somehow managing to take over a local newscast or a dad turning his kid into his own superhero, the spirit of kidding around is alive and well on YouTube and keeps us all feeling young at heart.

-- Marc Hertz

J Is for Jimmys: #10YearsofYouTube

May 11, 2015

Late night talk shows have been a TV staple for decades. But in the past 10 years the format has exploded with new hosts, more laugh-out-loud moments, and better accessibility to these shows than ever before. And between timely monologues, celebrity cameos, once-in-a-lifetime live performances and inventive sketch comedy, it turns out late night and YouTube are a match made in heaven.

In fact, late night shows are among the most subscribed to channels on YouTube and show no sign of slowing down. Take Jimmy Fallon’s 7.1 million subscribers, Jimmy Kimmel’s 5.8 million, or new kid on the block James Corden—who’s proven an instant sensation with over 200k subs and 58 million channel views just since February.

Late night comedians are also a consistent source of trending videos that, when combined, are watched for more than 810,000 hours each day. Jimmy Kimmel’s “Mean Tweets” and Jimmy Fallon’s “Saved By The Bell Reunion” are just two examples of wildly popular sketches that drive millions of views and that have gone viral on YouTube and beyond. Jimmy Kimmel’s Mean Tweets series claims more than 400 million views across its 15 clips, while Fallon’s one-off reunion parody has earned more than 30 million views - 17 million of which it received within the first 48 hours of its posting.

So here’s to YouTube’s partners in comedy, the Jimmys (and the Ellens, and the Jons, and the next generation of game-changing talk show queens and kings) - thanks for keeping us all laughing well past midnight and all throughout the day.

I Is for It Gets Better: #10YearsofYouTube

May 10, 2015

So far during this birthday celebration we’ve danced, sang, and laughed our way through trickshots, dance covers, and mischievous animal videos.

And now, it’s through the inspiring, impassioned, incredible letter “I” that we pay special homage to all those who’ve shown us that the game of life can and does change. From moms to presidents, to all those that have shared their personal stories so bravely and so proudly, this post is dedicated to the millions of you who helped spread the word that “It Gets Better.”

Over the last five years, the “It Gets Better” campaign - started by Dan Savage and his husband, Terry Miller in 2010 - has rallied individuals and organizations to take a stand in support of LGBT awareness and against LGBT bullying, and that has brought international attention to the cause - resulting in thousands of personal videos, including one from President Obama.

It also provided a foundation for the emergence and growth of another trend on YouTube: the coming out video. In the past decade, tens of thousands of "coming out" videos have been uploaded to our platform and watched by millions. This January, twin brothers Austin and Aaron Rhodes’ coming out to their father led to over 18 million views and an invitation from Ellen DeGeneres to appear on her show.

Coming out videos have also been uploaded by many of YouTube’s most prolific creators and famous faces - from Tyler Oakley to Troye Sivan to GigiGorgeous to Olympic athlete Tom Daley. Some, such as Hannah Hart and Ashley Mardell, have even created entire web series around their coming out process and the topic of gender identity.

As a genre, coming out videos have not only provided support to the LGBT community, but educated viewers around the world as well.

These brave voices have, for many, provided a personal reason to care about the issues of bullying, sexism, and the LGBT community and put a face (or thousands) to these critical concerns. So today, we say “thank you” to all the gamechangers who helped us see that it really can, and does, get better - and how much better it can still get:

H Is for How-To: #10YearsofYouTube

May 09, 2015

Mankind has searched for answers to life’s great questions for thousands of years -- perhaps since the times of the Babylonian philosopher Ptahhotep in 2880 BCE -- and we’ve passed down our learnings through dialogues, epic poems, essays and other texts. (Shout out to Confucius, Aristotle and Montaigne!)

And in the 10 years since YouTube’s launch, practical knowledge has been made more accessible than ever before -- for everyone from Tokyo to Tuscaloosa -- thanks to the humble how-to video.

There are more than 135 million how-to’s on YouTube, addressing every need, whim and question that can be typed (or voice-commanded!) into a search bar. A review of the top how-to YouTube searches reveals that, in large part, we all have similar sartorial concerns and scientific inquiries. We also turn to YouTube for style tips (how to make loom bands or curl your hair with a straightener), hygiene help (how to get rid of acne) and culinary curiosities (how to slice a mango).

Top 10 ‘How To Educational’ Searches 2012-2015

1. how to kiss

2. how to tie a tie

3. how to draw

4. how to get a six pack in 3 minutes

5. how to make a starburst bracelet rainbow loom

6. how to make a cake

7. how to curl your hair with a straightener

8. how to make a bow

9. how to make a paper airplane

10. how to dance

Some of us go through periods of ambition (how to become famous - or get a six pack in 3 minutes), others rebellion (how to make a paper airplane). In the end though, most of us are just trying to find someone to connect with. And while Plato might have told us “Love is the joy of the good, the wonder of the wise, the amazement of the gods,” you can’t learn the finer points without YouTube.

Watch our playlist below for some more classic How-Tos:

G Is for Gangnam Style: #10YearsofYouTube

May 08, 2015

In the world of YouTube, there are hit videos and then there is Gangnam Style. Standing at a jaw-dropping 2.3 billion views, to refer to the perennial favorite as “viral” would be a gross understatement -- this video was a global pandemic unlike anything the world had seen before.

Just how big is Gangnam Style? With 11,000+ years of watchtime, the total amount of Gangnam Style served up by YouTube thus far would be enough to fill nearly 50 million standard VHS tapes (remember those?).

At its peak, the track was searched for more than 5 million times in a single day and raked in as many as 14.9 million daily views. And that’s not counting the hundreds of thousands of covers, parodies, flash mobs, dance routines and tributes to the now ubiquitous clip. From Ellen to President Obama to the Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-Moon and beyond, nobody has been immune to the reach of Psy and his mesmerizing dance moves. The list of achievements goes on and on and on.

But the influence of Gangnam Style cannot just be measured in the video’s total views, watch time and sheer numbers of fans. Perhaps even more remarkably, the K-pop crossover hit helped introduce a whole new infectious sound to the rest of the world. Prior to Gangnam Style, a typical K-pop track would receive the lion’s share of its views from Asia. Take Big Bang’s early 2012 clip for “Fantastic Baby,” which received more than 50% of its first month’s views from Asia, with 15% coming from South Korea directly. Just a year after Gangnam, however, global views of K-pop videos jumped to ~30 million views a day, with more than 95% of their views coming from outside their country of origin. The effect helped formerly regional South Korean favorites like 2NE1 and the aforementioned Big Bang crossover into YouTube’s mainstream, earning a combined 1.5B views and 7,600+ years of watch time since Gangnam Style was first unleashed on the world.

While Psy still currently resides in a class of his own, all signs point to the 1+ Billion Views Club not being so lonely for Psy in the months and years to come. Already joined by Justin Bieber -- “Baby” crossed the historic threshold two months after Psy -- tracks from the likes of Katy Perry, Shakira, Taylor Swift, Meghan Trainor and Miley Cyrus have the big 1,000,000,000 mark well within their reach. Not to be outdone, Psy himself is looking to again join in on the fun, with his 2013 chart-topper just 175 million shy of the billion-view milestone. Your move, Biebs.

Curious who else ranks up there with Psy? Here are the top 10 most-viewed music videos on YouTube.

-- Kevin Meenan

F Is for Fails: #10YearsofYouTube

May 07, 2015

It’s comforting to remember that everyone fails from time to time. And if you ever forget, just go on YouTube.

That said, it wasn’t long ago that if you fell on your face doing something, the people present for your tumble were the only ones who got to see it. (Can you imagine?) Thankfully, in 2015 we share mishaps and faceplants at a global level in minutes. And make no mistake, fails are now an international phenomenon.

In 2008, the top three countries whose citizens were most likely to search YouTube for the word ‘fail’ were the United States, Australia, and Canada. In 2015, the top three are now Lithuania, Norway, and Latvia -- countries whose official languages don’t even include the word. In fact, Lithuania has topped the list of countries whose citizens are most likely to search YouTube for fails each year since 2011.

There are fail-loving standouts in the US, too. According to YouTube search data, Utah has the highest density of YouTube searches for the word ‘fail’ out of any state. Alaska ranks second, followed by Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, North Dakota, and Iowa. The state least interested in searching for fails? Virginia. Turns out a Virginian is about half as likely to search for fails on YouTube as a Utahn. So Virginia is for lovers, just not lovers of fail videos.

Videos of people failing have been a part of YouTube's DNA from the very beginning -- the second video ever uploaded to YouTube was someone falling off his snowboard. Here’s to 10 more years of failing (safely!) and never forgetting that everyone’s human (or, in some cases, animal).

Happy Mother's Day (Love, YouTube)

May 06, 2015

Everyday, mothers around the world turn to YouTube to learn, connect, grow, and take (and offer us) a well-deserved break. In celebration of this upcoming Mother’s Day, we wanted to take a moment to share a special “thank you” to the millions of moms out there making the world go ‘round. YouTube wouldn't be the same without you. (For more Mother’s Day appreciation, head on over to our Agency Blog.)

Happy Mother's Day, Moms, and thank you for all that you do!

Posted by Netta Gross

D is for Dance: #10YearsofYouTube

May 05, 2015

So you think you can dance? Apparently so do countless YouTube fans around the world who’ve uploaded more than 24 million dance-related clips in the last ten years. And while some might be a bit more graceful than others, these twerkers, shakers, flashmobbers, b-boys and ballerinas can have some serious, serious moves.

Since launching 10 years ago, YouTube has been the internet’s go-to place for dance fanatics and aficionados alike. For proof, look no further than the now classic 2006 video Evolution of Dance. The one time most-viewed video on YouTube has earned more than 291 million views to date, and is still being watched almost 1000 hours a day, on average, nearly 9 years later. And given the way dance has evolved on YouTube in the years since, it might be time for another sequel. Series like Where The Hell is Matt? -- which to date has been viewed more than 48 million times in more than 200 countries and territories -- have helped make the world feel like a much smaller place, while mesmerizing dancers like Marques Scott have propelled once niche dance communities into the forefront of our cultural zeitgeist.

Dancing on YouTube has even transformed the way some of us express love, with dramatic proposals and in-depth wedding dance routines making endless headlines while clocking in hundreds of years of watchtime. We’ve seen epic dance routines from the likes of Psy, Maddie Zeggler and Kiesza launch careers and witnessed a twerking phenomenon that nearly broke the internet.

And then of course, there’s the Harlem Shake, which at its peak brought in almost 40,000 videos a day to YouTube, nearly topped Google search trends in 2013 and pushed an artist with no previous chart history to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. All things told, the estimated 2.3 million Harlem Shake clips have driven more than 4.7 billion YouTube views. To put things in perspective, there was a two month span where “Harlem Shake” had more trending search interest on YouTube than the word “Dance.” Let that sink (or shake) in for a minute...

If history has taught us one thing, the next 10 years of YouTube are guaranteed to be filled with an endless evolution of new dance trends. Until then, here’s just a small taste of what we’ve seen so far.

-- Kevin Meenan

C Is for Covers: #10YearsofYouTube

May 04, 2015

One of the most powerful ways a talented star-to-be becomes known is by putting his or her unique spin on a hit song and simply pressing "upload." Below, a few highlights from the first decade of creative covers and collaborations on YouTube:

In 2011, when a multi-talented couple covered Chris Brown's "Look At Me Now" with spunk and a stripped-down hip-hop sound, the world listened, lifting the duo known as Karmin to fame. Quickly after, Karmin signed to Epic Records, released an EP in 2012 that peaked at 33 on the US Album chart, and topped singles chart with "Hello" and "Brokenhearted." Still on an upward trajectory, they’ll release their second album this fall.

In 2012, Lindsey Stirling, a female violinist from Santa Ana, California, emerged as a rising star after collaborating with Pentatonix on a cover of the Imagine Dragons hit "Radioactive." (That was after being told she wasn’t "good enough" on "America's Got Talent," Season 5. Thank goodness that didn’t stop her.) She’s since started a channel on YouTube that’s grown into a force backed by over 6M subscribers, placing her in the top 25 trending music channels on YouTube.

When the songs of Frozen hit YouTube in late 2013, "Let It Go" became the anthem for people of all ages, but no one cover hit the top spot. Instead, another song from the movie -- a wistful duet between two sisters -- became one of the biggest covers in the history of YouTube. That’s thanks to a talented family and film crew called Working With Lemons. They brought that duet to life in music vid form with their rendition of "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" (which is now at 139M views and counting). The family continues to cover and parody more songs from Frozen and Tangled for their 400,000+ subscribers.

Check out our Spotlight Playlist for more from YouTube’s talented collaborators and cover artists:

B Is for Beauty: #10YearsofYouTube

May 03, 2015

In the past 10 years over 5 billion hours of beauty tutorials and explainers have been uploaded to YouTube. That’s about 100,000 years worth of contouring, eyelash curling, makeup reviews, and hairstyle how-tos.

And today, beauty tutorials are among the most viewed instructional videos on the platform, due in part to the intimate, immediate access they provide to the world of beauty. For the first time ever, every makeup artist, hair stylist, beauty guru, and his/her unique techniques and experiences are available to anyone who wants to look and feel their most fabulous -inside and out.

Among those gurus are the prolific Michelle Phan and the U.K.’s most popular beauty creator, Zoella. For Zoella in particular, her 7.8 million subscribers see her as a role model they can trust—and whose closet they’d love to raid. In the five years since she launched her channel, Zoella has also found widespread success offline, first by starting her very own makeup line and then by publishing a novel that surpassed even J.K. Rowlings’ debut in first-week book sales.

Through these accessible and personal how-tos, YouTube also provides a space for previously under-represented beauty communities to take center stage. Shameless Maya is one beauty creator who gives the African American community guidance on how to style curly hair. And the one and only Bunny Meyers (Grav3yardgirl) proves that personality is the most essential ingredient of any and every look. And that’s truly a beautiful thing.

In the spirit of celebration, let these classic tutorials make your world a little more creative and a little more gorgeous, just as they did for millions of other viewers:

A Is for Animals: #10YearsofYouTube

May 02, 2015

By the time you’ve finished reading this post, YouTube viewers around the world will have watched just about 2.5 years worth of animal-related videos. From corgi stampedes, to otters holding hands, to tiny hamsters going on dates, screaming goats, lions, crocodiles, even buffalo battling it out in the wild—still one of YouTube’s earliest and most memorable hits - pet and animal videos stand out as a classic YouTube genre loved by viewers everywhere.

And then there are the cat videos. Everybody’s heard the joke that YouTube’s success is owed to our feline friends. And while this isn’t quite true (little known fact: dog video searches began surpassing cat searches back in 2010), we proudly dedicate this first birthday post, in part, to those tabbies that continually warm our hearts and touch our funny bone.

Indeed: there are approximately 10 million cat videos on YouTube right now, meaning the world has uploaded an average of one to two cat videos per minute over the last 10 years.

For some, one upload leads to global stardom. Grumpy Cat, for instance, was featured in two New York Times best selling books and a Lifetime movie starring Aubrey Plaza. The Keyboard Cat meme, a 2007 video showing a cat playing the piano, has become so popular it made appearances at the MTV Music Awards and The Colbert Report. Nothing less than trailblazers, these kitties paved the way for cats such as Maru, Lil Bub, Colonel Meow, and Simon’s Cat to become some of today’s biggest stars on YouTube.

So, from surprised kitties to talking dogs to sassy honey badgers, thanks for sharing all that’s awesome, “awwww” worthy and awe-inspiring about our dearest furry friends.

Here are some highlights from the wide world of the YouTube Animal Kingdom:

Celebrating 10 Years of YouTube

May 01, 2015

On April 23, 2005, history was made. An 18-second clip about how cool elephants are was shot at the San Diego Zoo and uploaded to a then-private video sharing site called YouTube.

That May, YouTube launched in beta before becoming available to the wider public six months later. Ten years have now passed, and that site has grown to become not just the biggest video platform on the web—a community of more than one billion people, where hundreds of millions of hours of video are watched and billions of views are generated every day —but one of the largest and most diverse collections of self-expression in history.

YouTube is a portrait of our global culture, seen through the lenses and perspectives of people around the world. It is a portrait built by a creative community of bold and fearless individuals. Built by comedians, gamers, activists, artists, performers, teachers, and pranksters. Built with cats and rainbows and blenders and ninjas and unicorns. It was built on the silly. It was built on the profound. It was built by you.

And 10 years in, you continue to redefine how the world experiences music, entertainment, and news. How the world laughs and how the world learns. How we shape political events and how we connect over the things we love.

You’ve helped turn creators into the biggest names in entertainment. You’ve given people opportunities to share their voice and talent no matter where they are from or what their age or point of view. You built a world where little ideas can bring about amazing things and where amazing things can bring little delights to each of us.

So in honor of our 10th birthday, we’re celebrating you, our YouTube community. Every day over the next 26 days, we’ll take a look back at some of the most memorable moments, from the silly to the profound, that you’ve shared on YouTube in the last 10 years. It’s YouTube from A to Z. Literally.

You can follow our celebration throughout the month of May on our YouTube Trends blog.

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