What you didn't know about YouTube.

Summary

This video reveals the top 40 lesser-known secrets about YouTube, from its initial concept as a dating site to its current status as a video-sharing giant. It covers the platform's history, including the first video to reach a million views and the most viewed video ever. The video also explores hidden features, such as keyboard shortcuts and mobile gestures, and delves into YouTube's rating systems and scrapped features like annotations. Additionally, it touches on the platform's mysteries, like the 'Webdriver Torso' channel and the 'rickrolling' phenomenon, finishing with insights into YouTube's growth and the sheer volume of content uploaded daily.

Takeaways

• 🌈 Typing 'awesome' on a computer keyboard while on YouTube can make the timeline bar turn into a flashing rainbow color.
• 📺 YouTube was initially intended to be a dating site where people could upload videos to find their ideal partner.
• 🔄 The first video on YouTube was just 19 seconds long and featured one of the founders at the zoo.
• 🏆 The first video to reach 1 billion views was 'Gangnam Style', which was so popular it broke YouTube's view counter.
• 🎵 The most viewed video on YouTube is 'Baby Shark Dance', while the most liked video is 'Despacito' with 50 million likes.
• 🔍 The most searched term on YouTube worldwide is the Korean pop group BTS.
• 🔄 YouTube has undergone several rating system changes, from stars to a like and dislike system, and now to just a like counter.
• 🎥 Video responses, a feature that allowed users to upload a video reply to another video, were scrapped due to low engagement.
• 🔗 YouTube has a secret page at youtube.com/new for premium subscribers to test experimental features.
• 🏆 YouTubers can earn special play buttons for reaching subscriber milestones, with custom and ultra-rare versions for higher tiers.
• 🚫 YouTube is banned in certain countries like China, Iran, North Korea, and Turkmenistan to limit Western cultural influence.

Q & A

What was the original purpose of YouTube when it was first created?

The original purpose of YouTube was to serve as a dating website where people could upload videos of themselves talking about their ideal partner to find them.

Why did YouTube change from being a dating site to a platform for all kinds of videos?

YouTube transitioned from a dating site to a platform for all kinds of videos because no one uploaded dating videos, and the founders decided to open it up to various content types to encourage more uploads.

What was the first video ever uploaded on YouTube?

The first video ever uploaded on YouTube was a 19-second clip of one of the founders standing around at the zoo.

Which video was the first to reach a billion views on YouTube?

The first video to reach a billion views on YouTube was 'Gangnam Style' by PSY.

What is the most viewed video on YouTube as of the time the script was written?

As of the time the script was written, the most viewed video on YouTube was 'Baby Shark Dance' with almost 12 billion views.

What is the most liked video on YouTube?

The most liked video on YouTube is 'Despacito' by Luis Fonsi featuring Daddy Yankee, with 50 million likes.

What is the most searched term on YouTube worldwide?

The most searched term on YouTube worldwide is BTS, the Korean pop group.

What are some hidden features on YouTube for desktop users?

Some hidden features for desktop users include the ability to loop a video or copy its URL with a single right-click, and enabling picture-in-picture mode with a double right-click.

What is the current maximum length for a YouTube video?

The current maximum length for a YouTube video is 12 hours.

Why did YouTube decide to set a limit on video length?

YouTube decided to set a limit on video length because no one was going to watch hundreds of hours of content in one go, and they would have to pay for the servers to store those videos.

What is the origin of the term 'Rickrolling'?

The term 'Rickrolling' originated in 2007 when a user tricked people into clicking a link to watch a trailer for Grand Theft Auto 4, but instead sent them to Rick Astley's 'Never Gonna Give You Up' video.

How many employees did YouTube have when it was acquired by Google?

When Google acquired YouTube in 2006, it had only 65 employees.

How much content is uploaded to YouTube every minute?

Every minute, users upload 500 hours of content to YouTube.

Outlines

00:00

🌈 YouTube's Hidden Secrets and History

The paragraph reveals fascinating secrets about YouTube's inception and evolution. Initially intended as a dating site, YouTube transformed into a video-sharing platform. It's named for its video upload feature and the old CRT televisions. The first video was a short clip of a founder at the zoo. The video discusses the first videos to reach certain view milestones, like the Nike ad with Ronaldinho and Psy's 'Gangnam Style.' It also covers YouTube's most viewed and liked videos, and the most searched term, which is BTS. The paragraph ends with a mention of YouTube's hidden features, such as the ability to loop videos and use picture-in-picture mode on computer, and mobile gestures like swiping up for fullscreen.

05:02

🔍 YouTube Mysteries and Platform Evolution

This paragraph delves into YouTube's mysteries, such as the 'number file' video with a glitch showing 301 views, and the 'Seinfeld without people' video. It also discusses the ability to create a video with no title using a zero-width non-joiner character. The paragraph mentions 'Webdriver Torso,' a channel that sparked conspiracy theories due to its abstract content, later revealed to be a Google test channel. It also talks about YouTube's reward system, including the silver, gold, and diamond play buttons, and the materials they're made from. The paragraph includes lesser-known features like using arrow keys to navigate videos and sharing video links with specific timestamps.

10:05

🚫 Banned in Certain Countries and YouTube's Growth

The final paragraph discusses YouTube's ban in countries like China, Iran, North Korea, and Turkmenistan. It covers the history of video length limits, with a mention of the longest video by 'multitaster' and the continuous live stream by 'Lo-Fi hip hop radio beats to relax.' The paragraph also touches on YouTube's lawsuit with Universal Tube and Roll Form Equipment and the platform's acquisition by Google. It provides statistics on the amount of content uploaded per minute and the hypothetical time it would take to watch all uploaded YouTube videos. The paragraph concludes with a thank you for watching the video.

Keywords

💡YouTube

YouTube is a video-sharing platform where users can upload, share, and view videos. It is central to the video's theme as it discusses the history, features, and peculiarities of the platform. The script mentions YouTube's founding, its evolution from a dating site concept to a universal video platform, and various milestones like the first video to reach a billion views.

💡CRT Televisions

CRT stands for Cathode Ray Tube, which is a type of display technology used in older televisions. In the context of the video, it is mentioned as part of the origin story of YouTube's name, where 'tube' was a colloquial term for a television, highlighting the historical context of the platform's naming.

💡Gangnam Style

Gangnam Style is a viral music video by South Korean artist Psy. The video is mentioned as the first to reach 1 billion views on YouTube, showcasing the global impact and virality that the platform can enable. It also led to YouTube having to increase its view count cap due to the overwhelming number of views.

💡Baby Shark Dance

Baby Shark Dance is a children's song video that became the most viewed video on YouTube. The script uses this example to illustrate the diverse range of content that can achieve massive popularity on the platform, and how a seemingly simple children's song can outpace other popular videos in view count.

💡Despacito

Despacito is a song by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee that received the most likes on YouTube. The video discusses the song as an example of user engagement metrics, highlighting how certain content can resonate with audiences to the extent of receiving millions of likes.

💡YouTube Rewind 2018

YouTube Rewind 2018 is an annual video compilation by YouTube that recaps the year's trends. The script mentions it as having the most dislikes, which is a measure of user sentiment and engagement. It reflects on how community feedback can shape content reception on the platform.

💡Annotations

Annotations are a feature on YouTube that allows creators to add interactive notes or comments on their videos. The video script discusses how this feature was useful for correcting mistakes but was eventually dropped, indicating the evolution of YouTube's features and user interface.

💡Video Responses

Video Responses were a feature on YouTube that allowed users to upload a video reply to another video. The script mentions that this feature was discontinued due to low engagement, illustrating how YouTube's features are adapted based on user interaction and platform analytics.

💡Secret Page (youtube.com/new)

The secret page youtube.com/new is mentioned as a place where YouTube premium subscribers can test new experimental features. This keyword highlights YouTube's commitment to innovation and user feedback, showing how the platform involves its community in the development process.

💡Play Buttons

Play Buttons are awards given to YouTube creators when they reach certain subscriber milestones. The script discusses different types of Play Buttons, indicating the platform's recognition of creators' achievements and the symbolic value these awards hold within the YouTube community.

💡Rickrolling

Rickrolling is an internet prank where users are tricked into clicking a link that leads to the music video for Rick Astley's 'Never Gonna Give You Up'. The video script explains the origin of this phenomenon, which is tied to the viral nature of content on YouTube and the platform's role in internet culture.

Highlights

Typing 'awesome' on a computer keyboard makes the video timeline turn to a flashing rainbow color.

YouTube was initially intended to be a dating website where users could upload videos to find their ideal partner.

The first video on YouTube was just 19 seconds long and featured one of the founders at the zoo.

The first video to reach one million views was a Nike ad featuring Ronaldinho.

The first video to reach 100 million views was Avril Lavigne's 'Girlfriend'.

The first video to hit 1 billion views was 'Gangnam Style', which broke YouTube's view counter.

The most viewed video on YouTube is 'Baby Shark Dance' with almost 12 billion views.

The most liked video is 'Despacito' with 50 million likes.

The most searched term on YouTube worldwide is the Korean pop group BTS.

Right-clicking a video once allows you to loop it or copy the URL, and right-clicking twice enables picture-in-picture mode.

On mobile, you can swipe up to fullscreen a non-fullscreen video and swipe down to minimize it.

YouTube originally started with a star rating system, which was later replaced by a like and dislike bar, and now just a like counter.

Video responses, which were like video comments, were scrapped due to their low click-through rate.

Annotations, which allowed creators to add text boxes to their videos, were dropped because they didn't work on mobile.

YouTube has a secret page at youtube.com/new for premium subscribers to try out experimental features.

YouTube views would freeze at 301 due to an old glitch, which was highlighted in a video with exactly 301 views and 3.3 million likes.

There's a video titled 'Seinfeld without people' that shows what the show would look like with new people.

It's possible to create a video with no title on YouTube using a zero-width non-joiner character.

The channel 'Webdriver Torso' was part of a conspiracy theory until it was revealed to be a Google channel for testing.

YouTubers can earn custom play buttons for hitting certain subscriber milestones, such as 50 million and 100 million subscribers.

The diamond play button is not made of real diamond, and the materials of other play buttons are also revealed.

YouTube is banned in China, Iran, North Korea, and Turkmenistan to limit Western cultural influence.

The longest video on YouTube was 596.5 hours long before the platform set a 12-hour limit on video lengths.

The most viewed playlist on YouTube is 'Clean Vines for the children of Jesus' with 3.6 billion playlist views.

When Google acquired YouTube in 2006, it had only 65 employees and was valued at 1.65 billion dollars.

Every minute, users upload 500 hours of content to YouTube, which would take 200,000 years to watch.

Transcripts

if you're on a computer right now you

can type the letters awesome on your

keyboard and the timeline bar of this

video will turn to a flashing rainbow

color welcome to my top 40 secrets that

you didn't know about YouTube from the

bizarre way it started to the unexpected

things people search for to the cool

tricks that you didn't know you can do

on it so the site is actually called

YouTube because it allows you to upload

your own videos and two because back

when everyone was using those old CRT

televisions based on cathode ray tube

technology tube is what people used to

call their TV and it was actually meant

to be

a dating website it's crazy to think

about now but the entire concept of

YouTube back in 2005 was for people to

upload videos of themselves talking

about the partner of their dreams with

the hope to find them but no one did

which led the founders who were

basically a set of three ex-paypal

employees to even start offering random

women twenty dollars to upload and get

the ball rolling and still none of them

said yes which is when they made the

best decision of their entire lives to

open YouTube up to all kinds of videos

not just dating requests and then to

start things off with the very first one

which was no joke just 19 seconds of one

of these founders

standing around at the zoo can you

imagine telling this guy back then that

this video would ever get to tens of

millions of comments and hundreds of

millions of views okay time for a

lightning round the next eight facts are

all of the biggest things that have

happened on YouTube since it started the

first video to ever hit a million views

was a Nike ad featuring Ronaldinho which

even today is pretty mind-blowing the

first to 100 million was Avril Lavigne's

girlfriend song though people suspect

she used paid adverts to pump up those

numbers and the first to hit 1 billion

was size Gangnam Style which became such

a movement that it happened people

across the entire world dancing away

like budget Cowboys in fact Gangnam

Style's views were so explosive that

they actually broke YouTube's view

counter and so since then YouTube's

decided to massively raise the cap of

how many views a video is allowed to get

to now over nine quintillion which

should keep us going for a while unless

you all like this video and it somehow

becomes a global phenomenon but that

leads us to today where the most viewed

video ever is now at almost 12 billion

views and it is

baby shark dance that's not the most

liked video though

definitely not the most liked the most

liked is in fact the song despacito with

50 million likes and the most dislike

used to be Justin Bieber's song Baby but

that's now been replaced by YouTube's

very own rewind 2018. so thanks for this

gem YouTube and finally the most

searched YouTube term worldwide is BTS

the Korean pop group now

oh

okay I had this really cool transition

planned but it's not working oh my god

oh

the things come out

the diamond I can't believe that

just leave it there for now then I guess

now one of the most useful things that

you didn't know about the platform is

that there are two hidden menus when

you're watching on a computer when you

right click once on a video you can Loop

it or instantly copy the URL and then if

you right click twice in a row you

unlock the option to use picture in

picture mode that lets you drag this

mini window around on your desktop while

you work on something else and then if

you're on mobile there's some really

cool gestures you can do like if you

want to full screen a non-full screen

video you actually just swipe up and

then to minimize when full screen is

wiped down I didn't know half of this

stuff till I started working on this

video so if you are finding it

interesting then the sub to the channel

would be you Mungus

over the years YouTube has gone through

a number of different rating systems

they originally started with stars where

you could give any YouTube video you

watched a rating from one to five and

the overall result will be displayed in

search results before you clicked on it

this was then dropped for a like and

dislike bar which has now been dropped

to just a like counter and essentially I

think that because the algorithm has got

more and more intelligent and better at

using user Behavior to figure out which

videos are goods and which aren't it

doesn't now need that level of manual

user input that it used to be and the

rating system isn't the only thing that

YouTube scrapped over the years another

key way that viewers used to be able to

interact with videos was by uploading

video responses which were basically

like comments but filmed on your busted

webcam they were dropped because well

plenty of people made video responses

but on average they only got a

click-through rate of

0.0004 percent which is just abysmal no

one wanted to watch them but one thing

that I really do miss is annotations it

used to be a case that if you ever made

a mistake in a video you could just go

into your YouTube editor and add a

little text box to your video at a

specific time code to correct it which

is just way better than what you have to

do now that is basically delete the

video make the change and then re-upload

it again YouTube apparently dropped the

feature because it didn't work on mobile

but then presumably the solution would

just be to make it work on mobile

YouTube has a secret page at youtube.com

new where they let YouTube premium

subscribers try out new experimental

features they're working on then also

pay people for completing feedback

surveys and speaking of Secrets we're

now in the top 20. and so it's time to

talk about some of YouTube's Biggest

Mysteries like this video by the channel

number file titled why do YouTube views

freeze at 301. it was about an old

glitch on YouTube where a video's view

count would basically stop updating for

a few hours after it hit 301 and this

video has exactly 301 views with 3.3

million likes yeah YouTube is basically

trolling everyone if you type in

Seinfeld without people you will find a

video that shows what the TV show would

have look like with new people on a

video that has no description and even

more bizarrely no title as for how you

can make a video with no title YouTube

technically doesn't allow it but you can

loophole it by using a character called

a zero with non-joiner it's the thing

that goes between two letters to join

them together except that when it's on

its own it is invisible or even stranger

yet with these YouTube Mysteries is

Webdriver Torso this channel popped up

in 2013 and all it does is upload these

weird abstract clips of red and blue

rectangles with strange tones and

gibberish titles there are plenty of odd

channels on YouTube but this one is so

baffling and almost creepy that it

started a full-blown conspiracy theory

within the YouTube Community people

wanted answers what's the purpose why do

they have 600 124 000 videos of this

stuff and who was behind it all

well of course it was Google it turned

out to be an internal channel that the

company used to test out external

features before they roll them out to

others but this being Google they also

made sure they trolled as many people as

possible on the way and to commemorate

all the conspiracies that this thing

generated Google has now made it so that

if you search for Webdriver Torso on

Google the logo will change to these red

and blue rectangles number 15 now and I

want to touch on rewards Pacific

starters you might know that YouTubers

can earn themselves a silver play button

when they hit a hundred thousand Subs a

gold one when they hit a million subs

and a diamond one when they hit 10

million Subs but YouTube has now also

started giving some channels a custom

play button when they hit 50 million

subscribers and then an ultra limited

red and black diamond when they hit 100.

the play buttons aren't made of what you

think they are though the silver play

button is made of nickel carbon and zinc

which you know that makes sense lots of

channels hit 100 000 subscribers they

would struggle to give everyone

something made of actual silver but then

to be fair for the gold play buttons you

do get a hollow brass construction and

then a real layer of 24 karat gold in

them and then the diamond play buttons

are a not Hollow very thick metal slab

coated in real silver and no this is not

a real diamond now what you also might

not know about these play buttons though

is that when your channel hits these

Milestones you can choose to buy extras

for your team and they are not cheap

while the diamond play button probably

costs about a hundred dollars to

manufacture based on their raw materials

I paid 3 700 each and now just before

the top 10 these are a couple of my

absolute favorite unknown YouTube

features so you've probably realized

that on a computer you can use the arrow

keys to navigate forward and backward

five seconds at a time but the secret is

that you can also use the angle bracket

keys to go forward or backward one frame

at a time useful for catching all those

fun little Easter eggs we drop in our

videos if you're ever sharing a YouTube

link with someone but you're only trying

to show them a specific part of the

video then just add and T equals to the

end of the URL followed by whatever

timestamp you want the clip to start at

and that custom URL L will take them

straight to that point right it's top 10

time these are the most surprising

things about YouTube so first of all

YouTube is banned in China Iran North

Korea and Turkmenistan to limit the

Western cultural influence on those

people the current lent limit for a

YouTube video is 12 hours but before

YouTube added that limit there's a

channel called multitaster who managed

to make the longest ever video at 596.5

hours YouTube decided that they had to

set a cap because no one was actually

going to watch hundreds of hours in one

go and they were the ones who were going

to have to pay for the servers to store

those videos online but that cap does

not apply to live streams while YouTube

will only save 12 hours once the live

stream ends it won't interrupt your live

stream if you're past that figure and

aside from news stations there is one

channel who is well and truly run with

this you better come across this video

Lo-Fi hip hop radio beats to relax 32.

okay how long do you think that this

live stream has been continuously going

forward with no interruption 10 days 30

days

two years but it's actually kind of

tragic because in July 2022 the stream

was suddenly stopped when YouTube

incorrectly said that there was a

copyright claim so because only 12 hours

can actually be saved on YouTube this

channel Lo-Fi girl they lost no joke

years of their content and have now had

to start the live stream again from

scratch YouTube got sued when they first

started by a company called Universal

tube and roll form equipment because

they felt like it was infringing on

their website

youtube.com thankfully our YouTube won

but if it hadn't we might well be

watching videos right now on

I don't know we tube actually probably

not YouTube so you might have heard

about this thing on the internet not our

Channel just general internet thing

called brick rolling the idea of

tricking someone into clicking a link

that actually takes them to Rick

Ashley's never going to give you a

YouTube video but something that I've

just learned is how this 15 year old

internet tradition actually started so

in 2007 the entire world witnessed the

first ever trailer for Grand Theft Auto

4. it got so many views that the entire

website crashed and so people had to

resort to using other people's links to

watch re-uploaded copies of it and this

was when one user decided to take the

opportunity to instead send people to

this masterpiece the clickers found it

equal parts annoying and also hilarious

that is the beginning of the Rickroll

the most viewed playlist on the entire

platform is not something like top 40

music tracks or relaxing videos to calm

yourself down like you might expect it

is actually Clean Vines for the children

of Jesus with 3.6 billion playlist views

what now you might already know that

YouTube was originally created as its

own independent company and then in 2006

was acquired by Google who still owns it

today what you probably didn't know

though is that when Google bought it

YouTube only had 65 total employees and

was valued at 1.65 billion dollars which

is pretty

hard to imagine when you realize that

now they have 3 000 people at a

valuation closing in on 200 billion not

a bad investment and then just to give

you some context on how enormous

YouTubers become now every single minute

that passes people are uploading 500

hours of content which means that let's

say YouTube wanted to manually check

each video before it went live they

would need 30 000 employees working

every hour of every day just to keep on

top of the current rate and the even

more staggering stat that this

translates to is that if you wanted to

sit down on the sofa one day and watch

every single YouTube video that's been

uploaded so far you would be on that

couch for 200

000 years so thank you for spending 12

minutes of your time on this one