It’s safe to say that YouTube is popular. Over the years, the video-sharing platform has evolved from short prank videos to hours-long true crime podcasts. Today, the platform sees over 3.7 million user-created videos uploaded daily. Plus with the average video length being 4.4 minutes, we can calculate that that’s over 500 hours of content uploaded every minute.
Even if you’re not a social media person, you’ll find it easy to discover videos on a multitude of topics. You can find YouTube videos depicting everything from how to find the best cowboy hats to classic cat memes. But which videos are the oldest YouTube videos in history? Luckily for us, these gems still exist, and you can find them with just a click of your mouse. Not only are the oldest videos still available, people are still watching them. All of these older videos on this list have millions of views, which are increasing daily.
This article will explore the top seven oldest YouTube videos in history. We’ll find out who posted them and just how popular they are. Also, we’ll see which one features some of the first milestones. These milestones were the first woman, the first edited video, and the first song ever to appear on YouTube.
The Oldest YouTube Videos
1. Me at the Zoo
The very oldest video on YouTube was published the day YouTube began to allow user-created uploads. That day is April 23, 2005. Not surprisingly, it was the co-creator of the social media site who uploaded the first video, entitled “Me at the zoo.” Jawed Karim, whose YouTube channel is simply Jawed, uploaded the now iconic 19-second-long video depicting him in front of elephants at the San Diego Zoo.
In the short video, Jawed talks about how cool the elephant’s long trunks are. This YouTube video has over 284,693,000 views. It also has over 11,123,000 comments, with new ones coming in seemingly daily. Today, the Jawed channel has 3.95 million subscribers, which is quite a feat, as its only video is “Me at the zoo.”
Fun fact, The San Diego Zoo has a pinned comment in the comments section. This comment says “We’re so honored that the first ever YouTube video was filmed here!”
2. My Snowboarding Skillz
The second oldest YouTube video is more action-packed than “Me at the zoo.” Titled “My Snowboarding Skillz,” it depicts user mw failing at a snowboarding trick. Also posted on April 23, 2005, this 11-second video has amassed over 3.1 million views. Despite mw not having any other videos on their YouTube account, they have over 24.7 million subscribers.
Also, “My Snowboarding Skillz” has received over 25,000 comments and 130,000 likes. We wonder if his snowboarding skills have improved, and if so, will we ever get to see them in action?
3. Tribute
YouTube user gp posted the third oldest YouTube video on April 24, 2005. Called “tribute,” this five-second video has over 1.7 million views and 45,000 likes. In the shortest video on this list, an adult male is seen jumping up and balancing on his feet in a hallway. It’s not really clear if this is an authentic tribute to anyone or what exactly is going on in the classic upload.
However, there are over 7,100 comments and counting. The channel gp continues the trend of only one video uploaded, and yet, with over 9.2 thousand subs, it remains a popular channel. We think this is a good argument to show that nostalgia is powerful and people fondly look back on these early videos.
4. Premature Baldness
What first appears to be a HairClub For Men commercial, “Premature Baldness,” is considered the first edited video posted on YouTube. Uploaded on April 29, 2005, this two-minute video shows a young man attempting to guess what he would look like as a 50-year-old man.
YouTube user Paul has a handful of other YouTube videos uploaded, but none of them have the over 554,000 views that “Premature Baldness” has. Paul has amassed over 2,510 comments on his first YouTube post, and people continue to comment to this day.
At the bottom of the Premature Baldness video, a working website address appears. The website is www.chasebrown.com. Today, the site features four creepy-looking gifs. Sadly, you can’t click on the gifs or interact with anything on the site.
5. Carrie Rides a Truck
The following two videos on our list come from the same YouTuber, Jones4Carrie. The first one, “carrie rides a truck,” features about 15 seconds of a young woman riding a mechanical vehicle, probably meant for younger children. This video was posted on April 30, 2005, exactly one week after “Me at the zoo”. “carrie rides a truck” has over 47,000 views and around 2,000 comments. The channel itself has about 2.91 thousand subscribers and has a few playlists. However, despite having such playlists as “fall out boy” and “david cross,” it appears that Carrie4Jones has stopped uploading content for now.
6. The Chicken
The next video on our list, posted by the same user that uploaded “carrie rides a truck,” features the girl we assume is named Carrie. The video was also uploaded on April 30, 2005. This time, Carrie has her hands around a toy chicken. The user, Jones4Carrie named named this video, “carrie chokes the chicken.” Neither video of Carrie on the truck or with the toy chicken has any sound, but this video has over 21,000 views. Just like their previous upload, while the comments are on the lower side at only 805, people are still commenting today.
Interestingly enough, if you look at the Top 100 Oldest YouTube videos playlist, you’ll notice that a handful of the top 10 come from the Jones4Carrie channel.
7. Vernal Lullaby
The final YouTube video on our list of the oldest in the social media’s site history is titled “Vernal Lullaby.” The video was posted on May 2, 2005. User Adam Quirk shows his love for the band Queens of the Stone Age with this 1:24 long video featuring their song, “The Lullaby.” Possibly the first video ever posted with music, “Vernal Lullaby” has over 41,000 views.
The channel has over 2,100 subscribers. The user has uploaded other videos, mostly depicting everyday life. The most recent videos on the Adam Quirk channel show chickens and the progress of growing sprouts. Sadly, we haven’t seen anything posted on this channel for over three years now.
The Oldest YouTube Videos
Watching the oldest YouTube videos may make us wish for simpler times. Or it may make us ponder how far the platform has come. From its short and humble “Me at the zoo” beginnings to today’s 8-hour-long marathons, YouTube has come a long way in terms of user-created content uploads. Luckily, we can still all look back on the oldest YouTube videos.
The image featured at the top of this post is ©Alexey Boldin/Shutterstock.com.
