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Me at the zoo

jawed · 447.7M views · 2005-04-24 · 0:19

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Overview

The first video ever uploaded to YouTube, in April 2005. Co-founder Jawed Karim stands in front of the elephants at the San Diego Zoo for about 19 seconds.

On Hacker News

HN mentions it as a historical reference, for dates and as the first YouTube video, not as a recommendation.

Discussed on HN; no positive recommendation is recorded in this export · HN mentions 2016–2021

Topics

Internet culture & memes
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youtube historyjawed kariminternet historyfirst video

What people said

propogandist · 2021-12 · Criticism

>I don't think there is deep evil thinking behind dislike change this isn't a small change, it's a major platform decision that impacts user experience, usability and engagement -- it's also received strong criticism from the community including from the original founder of Youtube [1] (see description), but they're pushing it through anyway You're being too naïve about the corporate agendas behind this change. [1] [VIDEO]

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sorenjan · 2021-09 · Reference

> 16 years later, home video is still the core value of YouTube Is it? I guess it depends on what you mean by home video. Is it "Me at the zoo"[0], or independent content creators like PewDiePie or Veratassium? Compared to Hollywood most if not all Youtube channels are completely different, but when I think of home video and early Youtube I think of personal family trips, not NileRed. [0] [VIDEO]

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drivers99 · 2021-08 · Reference

Nice. Here’s the first official video on YouTube (not just a test which was then deleted). “Me at the zoo” by jawed (a YouTube founder) 2005-04-23 [VIDEO] 19 seconds long

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Sources

Video by jawed, played through YouTube.

Data and selection notes

HN summaries and labels may contain AI errors. HN dates refer to discussions, not video publication.

HN Library: HackerTube export (2026-10-31) and open-index/hacker-news. Upstream summaries and classifications may contain AI errors.

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