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Library/Creator moment/"Me at the zoo", YouTube’s first video
Grade A23 sourcesHIS-01455

"Me at the zoo", YouTube’s first video

Creator moment · 2005 · Notable

50Editable slideCertificate

YouTube's first upload had over 386 million reported views by its twenty-first birthday.

Original · Jawed Karim (@jawed)
Clip · World Animal Protection USA on YouTube
Me at the zoo
jawed on YouTube
The V&A's reconstructed 2006 watch page and its gallery display.
Victoria and Albert Museum
Us Still At the Zoo | World Animal Protection US
World Animal Protection USA on YouTube
YouTube's first video recently received a MrBeast-style thumbnail update - Tubefilter
Tubefilter

Spread Score

How it works
Reach67ContagionNo data yetBreadth80Velocity0Longevity2550

Numbers

Seed video only, over 386M views (April 2026)
386M
As of Apr 23, 2026 · YouTube · Self-reported · Guinness World Records
Peak proxy date
Week of Apr 28, 2025
Apr 23 ’05 to Week of Apr 28, 2025
Platforms
4
Started on YouTube
Origin
Seeded
Technology

Mechanics

  • Maker originPrimary
  • Platform jump
  • Controversy
  • Revival
  • Press loop

How it spread

Trace the origin

Karim uploaded the zoo clip as YouTube's first video. Anniversary coverage revisited it, and he used its description to protest platform changes. The clip later became an animal-welfare campaign reference and a V&A museum exhibit.

Proxy date; not a directly measured attention peak. Dates use the stated precision; chart positions are date anchors.

Wikipedia viewsJul ’04Jan ’06Apr ’08Aug ’10Jul ’13May ’15Jan ’18Nov ’20Oct ’22Sep ’24Dec ’25Nov ’26Peak proxyYouTubeOpen webPressReddit
YouTubeOpen webPressReddit

13 more events on this chart

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Timeline (16)

  1. April 2005

    Jawed Karim (@jawed) seed · Apr 23 ’05

    Karim uploaded footage of himself at San Diego Zoo's elephant enclosure, filmed by Yakov Lapitsky.[1][2]

    Me at the zoo
    Open the first post ↗

  2. October 2006

    Google commercial · Oct 9 ’06

    Google announced a $1.65 billion stock deal for YouTube, the platform that hosted the clip.[3]

  3. April 2010

    The Observer press · Apr 10 ’10

    The Observer opened its retrospective on YouTube's stars with Karim's zoo clip.[4]

  1. press · Apr 23 ’10

  2. press · Apr 23 ’14

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Why it worked

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Origin
Seeded
Sector
Technology
Region
US
Seed video only, over 386M views (April 2026)
386M
As of Apr 23, 2026 · YouTube · Self-reported · Guinness World Records
Evidence
Grade A

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