YouTube turns 5

[scandal 951]

YouTube turns 5

Steve Johnson

April 22, 2010

On Friday, YouTube celebrates the fifth anniversary of its first video posting, a modest tourism clip that would launch an Internet revolution. In that almost shockingly short time, the video site has become a verb, a logo used to help sell Casio cameras and the dominant player in its field several times over. It is almost everybody's first resource for online video, the place we look for that clip we heard about and the place we, too often, lose ourselves in a chain of video distraction.

Because it is on the Internet and therefore infinitely measurable, it has also generated statistics galore. Here is an anniversary look at YouTube by (some of) the numbers:

sajohnson@tribune.com

19 In seconds, the length of the first video uploaded to YouTube, of co-founder Jawed Karim at San Diego Zoo.

Feb. 14, 2005 The date YouTube registered its domain name.

April 23, 2005 The date the first video was uploaded to YouTube.

1.96 million The number of times the first video has been played, as of midweek.

185.39 million The number of times the most popular video on YouTube, Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance," has been played.

252 In seconds, the average length of a YouTube video, according to Sysomos, a Toronto firm that analyzes social media.

24 Hours of video uploaded to YouTube each minute, a milestone reached in March 2009.1 billion Views per day, the almost ridiculously high popularity threshold the site says it reached in October 2009.

3.15 The factor by which YouTube's number of unique monthly viewers (96.1 million) exceeds that of Yahoo (30.5 million), the second-place U.S. online video site in that category, according to Nielsen.

6.6 The factor by which YouTube's number of monthly video streams served (4.67 billion) exceeds that of Hulu (707.5 million), the second-place site in that category, according to Nielsen.

$1.65 billion In dollars worth of stock, the amount Google paid to acquire YouTube in November 2006.

51 The number of languages into which Google's automatic speech recognition technology can translate YouTube videos and create captions.

5 The maximum number of stars available in YouTube's old on-site ratings system, replaced in the March redesign by a simpler "likes/dislikes" model.

1 Out of 100, the number of YouTube comments that actually have something interesting to say (this author's estimate).

2 The number of "highest rated" comments YouTube lists immediately under videos, its recent attempt to fight its bad-comment problem.

68 Estimate of the number of parodies of the Hitler in the bunker scene from the film "Downfall" posted on YouTube and other sites, according to the Guardian.

April 2, 2010 The date news broke that YouTube was removing the "Downfall" parodies because of copyright concerns.

2.14 million The number of subscribers to NigaHiga's channel of Asian-themed comedy videos, the most subscribed to on YouTube.

$30,000 The amount the video "David After Dentist," of an incoherent little kid in the back seat of a car, has earned for its uploader through an ad revenue sharing program, according to YouTube.

60 The number of matches of the Indian Premier League cricket season YouTube will have streamed after it shows the final match live April 25, its biggest foray into free sports streaming.

31 The percent of YouTube videos embedded by bloggers that are music videos, according to a study by Sysomos.

14,600 The number of videos that comes up when you search for "kittens" on YouTube.

3,820 The number that comes up when you search for "trampoline accidents."

[spookyturtle 9,466]

Youtube was invented in Australia.

[scandal 951]

Youtube was invented in Australia.

Al Gore invented Australia. He did it online. It's a virtual country.

[IR5FORMUMSIE 850]

YouTube turns me into what, an Australian. :bonk:

Edited April 23, 2010 by IR5FORMUMSIE

[Danno 1,228]

I often wonder how many people got "discovered" via Youtube.

I'm just a casual viewer and two people I have followed ended up going from Youtube to being signed.. one with a recording deal and one with a TV gig.

[Calypso 464]

Thanks for the info. A fellow Pinay gave me a ring this afternoon to ask how she could make a slideshow of her photos on Youtube.

I have never uploaded a video there. I don't even have a Youtube account. Yet, I might sign up. My cat follows me to the bathroom most of the time. He is so smart that he can open the bathroom door although I shut it tightly. Perhaps I should take a video of him opening the bathroom door.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

Trust me, it was not started by an Australian. One of the co-founders is a client of ours.

[scandal 951]

Trust me, it was not started by an Australian. One of the co-founders is a client of ours.

No,no. You're wrong. I saw it right here on VJ so it must be true. It's definitely Australian.

[dakay ♥ 10]

One of the most famous videos "Edgar falls" :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsFcWqETCuE