Man recreates first ever YouTube video 20 years later and the differences are astounding
The first video ever posted to YouTube was a simple clip at the zoo
Featured Image Credit: YouTube
A man has recreated the first ever YouTube video a whopping 20 years later and the differences are astounding.
It’s crazy to think that the first video was posted to YouTube all the way back in 2005.
Now, the platform is a launch pad for careers in content creating, with YouTubers performing hair-raising stunts and raking in more views than many TV channels.
However, the video sharing site all started with a simple 19-second clip titled ‘Me at the zoo’.
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In fact, the first words ever spoken on YouTube were simply, ‘Alright, so here we are, in front of the elephants’.
These words came from YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim and to this day, it is the only video on his channel, amassing hundreds of millions of views since.
Karim was 25 years old when he unknowingly uploaded the world’s first vlog of him standing in front of the elephant exhibit at San Diego Zoo onto the website which now has nearly five billion active users visit each month.
He co-founded the video sharing platform with Steve Chen and Chad Hurley, who had all met while working together for PayPal.
The trio had initially planned to start a dating site but turned their attention to creating a place for people to share their home videos online.
A year after Karim uploaded his now-famous zoo video, YouTube was sold to Google and he cashed in a whopping $64 million for his share of the company.
And a lot has changed in the 20 years since he uploaded that clip, with another YouTuber following in his footsteps to recreate it.
Cody Hales posted a video for his 107,000 subscribers titled, ‘Me at the zoo - 20 years later’.
In the video description, it read: “Same location. Same outfit kinda sorta. 20 years later.
“Travelled from Australia to San Diego Zoo with my awesome brother and mum to recreate this iconic video, was such a cool experience.”
Hales recreated the clip to celebrate YouTube’s birthday and it even caught the attention of Karim himself.
Commenting under the video, Karim wrote: “Hey that's my jacket.”
Other users couldn’t believe the difference in the two videos.
One person said: “The difference in quality is IMMACULATE. Both are great in their own ways.”
A third commented: “This isn’t just a remastered, it’s a piece of art right there!”
And a fourth user added: “Bro is honoring the one that started it all.....”