Me at the zoo

"Me at the zoo"
"Me at the zoo"
Produced by	Jawed Karim
Starring	Jawed Karim
Cinematography	Yakov Lapitsky
Release date	April 23, 2005;
Running time	19 seconds
Country	United States
Language	English

"Me at the zoo" is a YouTube video uploaded on April 23, 2005, recognized as the first video uploaded to the platform. The 19-second video features Jawed Karim, one of the co-founders of YouTube, being recorded by his high school friend, Yakov Lapitsky. In the video, Karim is seen standing in front of two elephants at the San Diego Zoo in California, where he briefly comments on the length of their trunks. Multiple journalists thought the video represented YouTube as a whole and stated it was a milestone of the platform's history. Karim has later updated the video's description several times. As of April 2025, the video has received more than 361 million views.^[1]^[2]

^ Alam, Zoheb (April 28, 2024). "YouTube's first-ever video was published 19 years ago and it was filmed at a zoo". GOOD Magazine. Retrieved September 19, 2024.
^ Staff, National Desk (April 23, 2025). "YouTube's first video turns 20". WLWT. Retrieved April 24, 2025.

[GOOD-1] Alam, Zoheb (April 28, 2024). "YouTube's first-ever video was published 19 years ago and it was filmed at a zoo". GOOD Magazine. Retrieved September 19, 2024.

[:0-2] Staff, National Desk (April 23, 2025). "YouTube's first video turns 20". WLWT. Retrieved April 24, 2025.

[1]

[2]