Happy 21st, YouTube! How the platform changed video-sharing culture
Buckle up – we’re taking you back to the YouTube era, and you are going to love it! YouTube, an American video-sharing platform that holds a special place for many, is celebrating its 21st birthday!
On 14 February 2005, the legendary platform was officially launched by Chad Hurley, Jawed Karim, and Steve Chen, who developed the idea together. According to a story often repeated in the media, Hurley and Chen experienced difficulties sharing videos they shot at a dinner party and realized there might be a better way for people to do so. YouTube, with a logo designed to mimic a red TV screen, quickly began gaining users!
Read more stories about record-breaking individuals in our Arts and Entertainment section.
The founders tested the app themselves. The first video uploaded to YouTube was called Me at the Zoo, shot by Jawed Karim at San Diego Zoo on 23 April 2005. The clip was only 20 seconds long and had been watched over 386 MILLION times since then. What a great start!
Over the past 21 years, it’s fascinating to see how YouTube’s content has evolved – from casual, quick videos shot on early devices to carefully staged, meticulously planned content that has become a full-time career for many.
2010 marked a shift that many called the “golden age of vlogging”, when YouTubers became full-blown internet celebrities – filming vlogs about their lives, games, and travels. Felix Kjellberg (Sweden), known as PewDiePie, made history as the first Youtube channel to surpass 10 billion views on 6 September 2015, achieving a Guinness World Records title. Such a major milestone in digital-video history!
More than 10 years later, the most viewed video on YouTube is an upbeat song Baby Shark, achieved by Pinkfong (Republic of Korea) on 4 February 2026. The track was first uploaded on 18 June 2016, and still holds the record today. Another legendary music video is “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi, featuring Daddy Yankee (both Puerto Rico), that achieved a Guinness World Records title as the most liked video on YouTube on 31 August 2018. Despacito is still going strong, reaching over 8.9 billion views to date.
Alongside these milestones, age is also no barrier on YouTube! Hamako Mori (Japan) is the oldest videogames YouTuber, who has been gaming online for over 10 years. She achieved a Guinness World Records title in November 2019. Today, Hamako aka Gamer Grandma, is 96 years old and regularly streams herself playing games like GTA V, Call of Duty, and Resident Evil.
Also t
And lastly, it is hard to forget the most subscribers on YouTube – a Guinness World Records title that belongs to Jimmy Donaldson (USA), also known as MrBeast. His channel has 474 million subscribers, and officially set a record in October 2025. MrBeast is undoubtedly one of the biggest figures in YouTube’s history, especially with his extravagant challenges and stunts.
More than two decades on, YouTube continues to share stories!