YouTube has come a long way since the first-ever video, "Me at the zoo," was uploaded on April 23, 2005. What started as a simple website for sharing personal videos has evolved into a massive platform hosting over 500 hours of new content every single minute. But even with over 3.7 million videos uploaded daily in 2023, those earliest vintage clips remain popular viewing.
These landmark videos provide a window into YouTube‘s origins. They represent seminal moments in the history of online video and internet culture itself. Though pixelated and mundane by today‘s high-production standards, these videos signify the democratization of media creation and broadcasting. Their continued views and comments illustrate the power of nostalgia and how much we enjoy looking back.
Join me as we explore the top 7 oldest YouTube videos still publicly available. We’ll analyze not just what they showed, but why they became popular and what cultural moments they signify. Understanding where YouTube came from gives us appreciation for how far it has come.
Brief History of Early YouTube
Before digging into the oldest videos themselves, it helps to understand YouTube‘s beginnings. The site launched in February 2005 by former PayPal employees as a simple video sharing platform. After making uploads available to the public on April 23, adoption exploded. The ease of uploading and watching user-generated videos filled an obvious need.
YouTube represented a major shift of media control and access from large institutions to everyday individuals. As internet speeds increased in homes globally throughout the 2000s, YouTube provided the infrastructure for codifying video as a centerpiece of online culture.
Those initial months of public uploads established many firsts. Let’s explore the specific videos themselves to understand this seminal period.
1. "Me at the zoo"
Uploaded on: April 23, 2005
Uploaded by: Jawed Karim (YouTube co-founder)
Views: 284,693,000+
No surprises here, the very first YouTube video came from a founder himself. Shot by Jawed Karim at the San Diego zoo, he simply turns the camera towards himself and says:
“Alright so here we are…in front of the, uh, elephants. And the cool thing about these guys is that, is that they have really, really, really long…trunks. And that’s, that’s cool.”
Lasting only 19 seconds, the video is far from viral by today’s standards. But it encapsulates the initial spirit of YouTube—sharing slices of everyday life in bite-sized, user-generated pieces. Uploaded the same day YouTube made video sharing publicly available, “Me at the zoo” will forever live on as the genesis of a platform that has reshaped media and culture itself.
2. "My Snowboarding Skillz"
Uploaded On: April 23, 2005
Uploaded by: mw
Views: 3,100,000+
Uploaded only hours after Jawed’s trip to the zoo, user mw tried his hand at early YouTube fame with some snowboarding footage. The 11-second clip shows mw attempting a small jump and losing control, followed by falling down into the snow.
Though it predates the concept going “viral,” the outtake represents the type of authentic, personal media newly enabled by online video sharing. This genre—documenting failed stunt attempts—remains incredibly popular today. But in April 2005, capturing funny home videos for the internet was still a novel concept.
3. “Tribute”
Uploaded On: April 24, 2005
Uploaded by: gp
Views: 1,700,000+
The brief trend of oddball homemade videos continued with “Tribute” uploaded by YouTuber gp only a day after the initial batch. Lasting just 5 seconds, it shows someone jumping up and down balancing on their feet in a hallway.
With over 7,000 comments but little context of who or what is being “tributed,” it exemplifies the non-sequiturs common in early internet video. Modern memes and viral trends often don’t make literal sense either. But in the Web 1.0 era, pointless absurdity itself was enough to draw clicks and views.
4. “Premature Baldness”
Uploaded On: April 29, 2005
Uploaded by: Paul
Views: 554,000+
Besides its nostalgic significance, “Premature Baldness” holds the distinction as the first edited video uploaded to the platform. The 2-minute video uses clever cuts between takes for comedic effect.
It shows a young man trying to guess what he’ll look when he’s 50-years-old. Funny sound effects and zooms make the edit feel akin to America’s Funniest Home Videos—fitting for early internet video aesthetics.
This modest production gave a glimpse into YouTube’s potential beyond just documentation. The ability for anyone to edit and modify video digitally separated it from traditional analogue videotape. This fusion of computing power, the internet, and video creation spawned a new generation of entertainers.
5. “Carrie Rides a Truck”
Uploaded On: April 30, 2005
Uploaded by: Jones4Carrie
Views: 47,000+
While dozens of users uploaded videos in YouTube’s first week, one prolific user was Carrie. Her friend Jones4Carrie posted numerous clips of Carrie’s adventures including her riding a toy truck.
Lasting only 0:15 seconds and silent, “Carrie Rides a Truck” mirrors the tone of early personal vlog entries. The clip provides an endearing authenticity in its simplicity—no production, effects, just documenting life’s small moments.
6. “The Chicken”
Uploaded On: April 30, 2005
Uploaded by: Jones4Carrie
Views: 21,000+
Carrie’s friend shared another charming artifact the very same day with “The Chicken.” It shows Carey silently holding and poking a stuffed animal chicken. Though mundane, both clips have amassed tens of thousands of views and comments continuing today.
Their nostalgic traction proves how novel authentic slice-of-life clips felt in 2005. As YouTube grew to host more polished influencers and productions, the platform retained its roots in homemade footage like Carrie’s.
7. “Vernal Lullaby”
Uploaded On: May 2, 2005
Uploaded by: Adam Quirk
Views: 41,000+
Rounding out the oldest YouTube videos is Adam Quirk’s song cover “Vernal Lullaby.” Clocking in at 1:24, it features Quirk dramatically staring into the camera lip-syncing and playing air-instruments to the Queens of the Stone Age track.
It endures as likely the first fan-made music video on YouTube, though production value and concept would soon dramatically evolve. Yet its legacy remains as one of the initial seeds planted for YouTube’s massive music video ecosystem nurtured over the next decade.
Why The Oldest Videos Still Endure
In an internet increasingly obsessed with the newest, shiniest content, what explains the continued popularity of these old, obsolete clips?
Beyond their historical significance, I believe it comes down to nostalgia and novelty. For those who grew up analog, grainy digital footage represents the pinnacle of technology at the time. My generation remembers taping school plays on VHS camcorders similar to how Carrie documented her days.
Moreover, while modern videos strive for sleek aesthetics, hot takes, and shocking content, the mundane nature of these clips makes them novel today. Hundreds of millions have now seen Jawed’s banal trip to the zoo nearly 20 years later. Their simplicity contrasted with today’s extremity provides refreshing innocence.
The childhood joy of Carey and her stuffed chicken or Adam pantomiming to his favorite song transport us back to simpler times. And the earnestness of uploading these moments for the nascent internet now seems quaint compared to modern viral fame chasing.
In many ways, the soul of YouTube traces back to these first videos filled with innocence, authenticity, and community. Before algorithms, advertisements, and creators ethically questionable pranks, it really was just normal people sharing video glimpses into their lives.
That untarnished novelty hundreds of millions continue find charming. Just like the San Diego Zoo’s tribute pinned comment on Jawed’s video, we feel honored to have witnessed the genesis of this history-defining platform.
Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed this nostalgic walk down memory lane exploring YouTube’s oldest videos. It’s incredible Jawed’s zoo clip from 2005 remains the site’s most-watched video today, viewed over 280 million times.
And the continued engagement on other early uploads proves the lasting cultural impact of these digital artifacts. Beyond just documenting the platform‘s progress, they represent pivotal moments in internet history itself.
Next time you browse YouTube considering its vast scale and dizzying variety, remember its humble roots. Just 19 years ago, it all began with a dude talking about elephant trunks, a failed stuntman, and a little girl named Carrie.
Those authentic glimpses into everyday life democratized media for an entire generation. The rest becomes history still in the making.
