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Ten years on, revisiting YouTube’s first viral sensation
- foldor 10y agoI distinctly remember being 17 years old and being fascinated watching these videos on YouTube. It was really one of the first things to get me interested in logging into YouTube actively as opposed to simply being linked to the site from elsewhere. Nice to see that the actors didn't come out of it for the worse :)
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- swang 10y agoSide note: Holy cow. I was initially posting to say I distinctly remembered Lazy Sunday coming out in 2004, because I remember posting it on my blog in my dorm room freshmen year. Then I remembered if it was in 2004 I was almost done with college, and so it couldn't have been from my dorm. Then I check the Wikipedia and realized he was right about the Dec 2005 date, which means I had already finished school. The mind is weird.
- CyberDildonics 10y agoIf I remember correctly what really rocketed youtube from being a website with nothing but crap to a site worth going to were the home videos from tourists caught in the the Tsunami in Thailand.
- nommm-nommm 10y agoThe earthquake/tsunami was in 2004 but youtube didn't launch until 2005. Unless you are talking about another tsunami.
- CyberDildonics 10y agoNo, I'm talking about the same tsunami and your dates are correct, but there no reason that video taken from the tsunami wouldn't be posted later once there was a platform for them, which is what happened.
- dublinben 10y agoIn my experience, it was actually the Lonely Island video mentioned in the article that launched professional-quality video on YouTube.
- goodJobWalrus 10y agoWatching Lazy Sunday again made me go check whether Mapquest still exists. It looks weird now.
- donatj 10y agoFirst video I ever saw in youtube[1] is still up, worse than I remember, and has less than 500k views. That strikes me as so strange. 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwVslAo8Cz8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwVslAo8Cz8
- danso 10y agoThe first YouTube viral video that blew me away, in terms of content and in showing the potential of democratized video, was the anonymous Korean kid shredding Pachelbel's Canon in D in his bedroom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjA5faZF1A8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjA5faZF1A8 The Times wrote a story about it here: "Web Guitar Wizard Revealed at Last" http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/27/arts/television/27heff.html?ref=arts&_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/27/arts/television/27heff.htm...
- themartorana 10y agoI remember watching that, and now re-watching it, it's still amazing. This kid has serious skill, I could watch it over and over. My father, a life-long musician and music teacher, always told me the hallmark of a good piece of music is that it can be transposed and arranged into any other genre of music and still sound amazing. I don't know if he was right or not, but this seems like decent evidence he wasn't all wrong.
- bane 10y agoI agree in some sense, an astonishing number of Bach pieces have been rewritten for a bewildering array of instruments and sound absolutely amazing. But Bach is kind of like Math, it's true regardless if it's written in chalk on a chalk board or in mustard on an umbrella. Yet there's also plenty of great music that really only sounds good on the instrument, something about it is very "subjective" with respect to the particulars of the orchestration. I'll sometimes spend hours digging into covers of favorite songs on youtube, and it really is amazing how different kinds of music can survive this kind of instrument shifting. just some sharing here's a well known Bach Suite https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGQLXRTl3Z0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGQLXRTl3Z0 now on guitar https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGipFrts650 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGipFrts650 on piano https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhfxM5FOzjQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhfxM5FOzjQ flute https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWKQevA68DY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWKQevA68DY on Nyckelharpa https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zs3aUCM8BX8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zs3aUCM8BX8 electric guitar https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bsr0MyH-3IU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bsr0MyH-3IU another electric guitar https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8OVpjdBevs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8OVpjdBevs Baritone Saxophone https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXz67syyse0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXz67syyse0 Michael Hedges https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfnm__lNNUg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfnm__lNNUg Bass Guitar https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-tzPu7e2pg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-tzPu7e2pg Recorder https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PAhkoATipk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PAhkoATipk Tuba https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neiTiiFp0bM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neiTiiFp0bM Banjo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLyM4gCrn1k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLyM4gCrn1k Rock version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIo59bHw54Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIo59bHw54Q Bobby McFerrin (not quite the same, but still...) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14LcvpXmb74 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14LcvpXmb74 Pipe Organ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRMrGo2UTH0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRMrGo2UTH0 Marimba https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0eVALniBKE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0eVALniBKE Ukulele https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MC230wdYl1c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MC230wdYl1c Clarinet https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdTh4plaV9E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdTh4plaV9E Dubstep https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7qxeXNqCHw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7qxeXNqCHw Mandolin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdKGI5zfkE0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdKGI5zfkE0 Harp https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUWU4DdxdwU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUWU4DdxdwU Horn https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNsdcmDoDY0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNsdcmDoDY0 Chapman Stick https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbWkDlPM8oI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbWkDlPM8oI Bassoon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMl7j-Q1DEE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMl7j-Q1DEE Accordion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGE4l7ObPvQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGE4l7ObPvQ Trombone https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqvapAxXsVE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqvapAxXsVE It survives completely intact across instrument types, performance arenas, recording methods, synthesis, voice, octave...it's absolutely astonishing.
- tacos 10y agoSo many articles from just ten years ago are dead links now. But I found this amusing: "lonelygirl15 is the hottest thing on YouTube at the moment (18,222 subscribers, 1.5 million views)" https://www.theguardian.com/technology/blog/2006/aug/28/islonelygirl15 https://www.theguardian.com/technology/blog/2006/aug/28/islo... 18,222 subscribers! And they're still talking about it a decade later. Meanwhile rocketboom.com was serving up QuickTime that required a plugin to install before you could view a video and claiming 400,000+ downloads per episode. (Later investigated and disproved by BusinessWeek.) Early web video was a debacle. So many shady companies. Cool times, though. Fun to watch the history get re-written. Note how CAA was in on it from nearly day one.
- fredleblanc 10y agoIt looks like they might be doing something for the 10 year anniversary, as a new video was posted to the lonelygirl15 page today, the first in 7 years according to the comments: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qwklfIbSAgA https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qwklfIbSAgA
- smaili 10y agoDoes anyone remember those Darth Vader parodies? Those were pretty good but totally forgot the name of the series.
- blatherard 10y agoDo you mean Chad Vader: Day Shift Manager? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wGR4-SeuJ0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wGR4-SeuJ0
- aidenn0 10y agoThe first video I remember downloading from the internet was The Spirit of Christmas in 1996[1] followed by Troops[2] the following year. 30MB takes a long time to download over a 28.8 modem. Streaming was out of the question. 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spirit_of_Christmas_(short_film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spirit_of_Christmas_(short... 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troops_(film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troops_(film)
- walrus01 10y agoSouth Park definitely set a precedent. There was also a very active community of sharing MPEG1 recordings of Futurama in the warez 'scene' from the very first episode which aired in March 1999.
- aidenn0 10y agoI remember when VCD (subset of MPEG1) was the standard for releasing movies online. I was even in a group that converted them from VCD to MPEG4 for those for whom 2CDs (1400MB downloads) was just too big.
- walrus01 10y ago... and god help you if you were a 'scene' group and released a movie in anything other than a multi-part RAR set of 15MB files containing 2 x 700MB files. nuked!
- overcast 10y agoAhhh those days from 98-99, being a courier for the biggest releases was frantic! Getting a PRE on your box was like Christmas.
- soylentcola 10y agoThe funny part is that I remember downloading videos in various formats and then converting them to VCD because DVD writers were still pretty expensive and I was a broke college student but my cheapo DVD player played VCDs as well as DVDs so I could watch stuff on the TV without dragging my PC down to the living room. There was also a point where said cheapo DVD player broke and I was converting to a specific VCD format that would play on my roommate's Dreamcast. I think I either needed to boot to one disc that loaded the player into memory and then pop in the special Dreamcast-compatible VCD to play but I could be wrong. It's been a while. All this because DVD burners and blank discs were still just outside of my budget.
- sotojuan 10y agoPretty crazy to think some YouTube series like AVGN have been going on for ten years—only a few TV shows make it that far.
- godzillabrennus 10y agoI'm glad the dude behind AVGN found success with that show. Seems like most YouTube personalities are broke.
- sotojuan 10y agoI've been watching him since I was in middle school—I graduated college this year. It's pretty crazy and it speaks volumes about the power of the Internet and YouTube. James Rolfe studied film in college and spent his whole childhood/teenagehood making home movies. It's probably a dream come true that he's able to entertain millions and got a "real" movie out. Pretty cool!
- runn1ng 10y agoIf I remember correctly, AVGN didn't start on YouTube
- sotojuan 10y ago? AVGN started with a YouTube video he made for fun in 2004. Yeah he got help from ScrewAttack, GameTrailers, and he has his own site, but only after success in YouTube. I'd argue most of his watchers only watch him on there too.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- Razengan 10y agoI was expecting Numa Numa for some reason.
- nommm-nommm 10y agoThat was pre youtube- it was on Newgrounds originally.
- maruhan2 10y agoThat girl is super cute, but having been a Youtube addict back in 2006/07, I don't really recall her being that popular. As mentioned in the comments, the big one was Canon in D. Pokemon parody by Smosh. Evolution of dance. Urban ninja.
- gcb0 10y agoso every social site lately required fake users? this is not as direct as reddit own staff posting but pretty close
- soylentcola 10y agoIt was still user generated content. It was just telling a fictional story in a faux-realistic format...the vlog. Not much different that the fake documentary style horror movies like Blair Witch. They just managed to keep the fantasy going for longer.
- asb 10y agoI also fondly remember "The Show with Ze Frank" from back in 2006: http://www.zefrank.com/theshow/ http://www.zefrank.com/theshow/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvL6NITEozY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvL6NITEozY (sadly the frame-rate in this reupload is messed up)
- soylentcola 10y agoI know a lot of people (myself included) aren't huge fans of that frenetic, jump-cut-heavy style of vlog/video that's so common on YouTube but I'm pretty sure The Show was one of the first to really popularize it. Still, I also loved The Show. At the time, I was used to IRC and forums and the comment sections of goof sites like Fark but it still felt like something really cool and unique when Ze would put out calls for submissions or contributions that would then be featured in episodes. I'd done much smaller collab projects with forum friends in the past but his personality and fairly large fan base made it seem a lot more fun and like being part of a bigger crowd. edit: it also led me to find the "pilot" for a show that was never produced: The Remnants. I'd watch that over The Walking Dead any day. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQFv0Le2DyI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQFv0Le2DyI
- rasz_pl 10y agoYou might think this format died after lonelygirl15 was exposed, but there are plenty of moderately successful copycats, like "14 year old" Pupinia Steward https://www.youtube.com/user/Robloxobbystar/videos https://www.youtube.com/user/Robloxobbystar/videos All it takes is one good troll video landing you on top of reddit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYsi6Z6sXY8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYsi6Z6sXY8 (All about my Incest) hitting 1 mil views and you get the ball rolling. Throw in a plot twist of being madly in love with Trump (and into older men in general) and you have a success on your hands. Might even be Jimmy Kimmels long con for the election, like the Olympics wolf inside hotel video.
- norea-armozel 10y agoIt's sad how much of the original spark that made Youtube interesting is long gone. I use to had a vlog myself where I would discuss issues particularly from a right-libertarian perspective (most of those vids are private or deleted now since I don't believe anything I've said back then anymore). I think the first thing that killed such vlogs at least in my opinion was the removal of the whole comment system. It wasn't the best thing in the world but you could actually setup reply videos which made conversations possible. It's weird how YT's dev team never though to reintroduce the reply system like that again. That was the best part of YT at least for vloggers even if they didn't like each other (Me and FringeElements/ConfederalSocialist didn't get along. Same with HannibalBarca/HannibalVictor.) because you could see if a thread going on via video replies. I doubt YT will ever reintroduce such a feature again since it led to weeks long flame wars that did eventually lead to some people getting doxxed like thunderf00t (I know a few others were doxxed well before him, but he's one that I remember in detail, especially with his spat against DawahFilms).
- Declanomous 10y ago> It wasn't the best thing in the world but you could actually setup reply videos which made conversations possible. I had completely forgotten about that system. I really enjoyed video replies. Not only did they foster discussion, it was a great way to learn, discover music, and the replies allowed a great collaborative humor to develop as well. I seem to remember that they were starting to become very spammy about the time they disappeared though. >That was the best part of YT at least for vloggers even if they didn't like each other I remember reading a scientific paper a while back that suggested social networks grew much better when they had [likes/eprops/upvotes/etc] than they did without, but allowing negative feedback (beyond comments) stifled growth. We naturally try to surround ourselves with like-minded individuals as well. Our natural tendencies coupled with incentive social networks have to censor information that we disagree with means we all live in bubbles where our ideas are rarely challenged. The YouTube reply system made viewing content from the "other side" really easy. I'm pretty sure I watched more vlogs from people I disagree in a single month before that feature was taken away than I have in the entire time since, especially with the new changes to the "recommended videos". Which is a shame. It makes it much easier to demonize the other side. As a side note, someone on Reddit made a snide joke about the Demosthenes/Locke story arc in Ender's Game and how unrealistic it was; the point being nobody gives a shit about two bloggers having a fight. That story arc might actually make sense on YouTube, given how much better we empathize with people in a video than we do with people who are hidden behind the written word.
- NTDF9 10y agoFor me it was smosh pokemon theme song lip sync. Unfortunately, Smosh were sued for using the theme song and had to take it down. Here's a duplicate of it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOX3OmUhQoo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOX3OmUhQoo
- Arzh 10y agoWow, I was watching YouTube from the beginning and I have never heard of this. I guess I was more in the sketch comedy and sudo public access side of it.