10 Years of YouTube Videos and Our Lives Are Changed Forever!

Happy Birthday, YouTube!

On April 23, 2005, the first video was uploaded to YouTube. It wasn’t made public until May 29, but yes, today is YouTube’s Birthday!

Watch the first ever YouTube video, ‘Me at the Zoo,’ here:

On Tuesday I received an invite from our local news station to join them live on air to talk about how YouTube has impacted our lives and in particular how YouTube has changed parenting in the last 10 years.

Here are some of the ways YouTube has changed my life as a mom

• The need for ‘how to’ books is no longer a need – if I have a question on ‘how to do something’, I will Google it and most often end up on YouTube.
• My kids now spend more time on YouTube than they do watching TV. They each get to ‘personalize’ their preferences and watch what they want, when they want it.
• I have access to anything my family might want to learn! This means less trips to the library and less in-person classes; more DIY learning. This also means more experimenting with cooking, exercising at home and fashion.
• Free entertainment on the go. As long as we have WiFi for the youngest one on an iPad we are good. The older kids all have iPhones and they are good wherever we are!
• Planning ahead is easier. College tours, planning a trip, learning about a new city; YouTube to the rescue.

Of course, the rise of YouTube and social media has also provided me with a new career. How has it impacted others?

Here are 80+ Amazing YouTube statistics. Some (almost unimaginable) stats are:

• YouTube has an estimated 4 billion views/day, 1 billion of those views are on mobile devices.
• Together these viewers watch an estimated 600 billion hours of video per month.
• The two most searched for keywords in 2014 were ‘music’ and ‘minecraft’
• The 2014 ALS Icebucket Challenge produced an estimated 1 billion views.
• YouTube’s estimated 2014 US ad revenue is $1.13 billion
• 80% of YouTube traffic comes from outside of the USA.
• The increase of parenting videos from 2013-2014 is 329% (I see a trend!)

Whether you are a busy parent or a business owner, a teenager or a retiree, YouTube can enhance your life in many ways and really has changed how we live life now, compared to 10 years ago!

Read more:

• Deploying YouTube Videos Wisely