It can not be denied that social media is permanent. It will not be going away anytime soon. With businesses pursuing this broad platform in this digital age, social media has continued to grow tremendously. Especially now with the pandemic having raged for the past year, it has brought all generations together to connect on it. This includes multiple different sites like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, Twitch, and especially YouTube.
YouTube has been around for the past 16 years. It was first created back in February of 2005. It originally was meant to be a dating website, but it soon turned to become a place where people could just post random videos. The first video ever posted on the website was back on April 23rd, 2005 where it showed one of the founders at the San Diego Zoo.
From there, other videos soon began to be posted. Today, it has grown to become the second largest search engine and the most active video platform on the Internet with over two billion users active by the end of 2020. The most watched video ever on the platform is a kids dance song which now has over 8.4 billion views.
In comparison, that is more than the current number of the human population.
With YouTube being so popular and well known, it has caused major influences on society. For one, it continues to allow people to connect with one another through videos and texts called comments. Communities have and still continue to be built with people sharing similar tastes in entertainment, hobbies, and even ideologies. On the website, there are different genres for people to see like education, movies, sports, music, and gaming. Other sections include YouTube Kids for showing kid-friendly content, YouTube TV for people to watch television channels online, and even places to encourage people to learn how to become a part of YouTube like Creator Academy and YouTube for Artists.
Not only has it helped in creating communities, it has also allowed people to become celebrities in many different genres. Examples are Rosanna Pansino in teaching how to bake amazing desserts, James Charles in fashion designing, Dude Perfect in providing entertaining sports videos, and Markiplier with his video gameplays. All of these people would not be iconic celebrities without YouTube. In turn, this has created a brand new career for people to try and pursue. Many of these new celebrities earn millions of dollars every year.
YouTube also has brought in a wide range audience. From young children to senior citizens, they have become more familiar with the platform. Some have even participated and started their own content on it. A senior named Tim Rowett has entertained millions by his massive toy collection. On the other spectrum, a young teenager named Ryan Kaji plays video games like Roblox and Minecraft which tend to attract tens of thousands of viewers per release. It shows that age does not hold much importance when it comes to making content on the platform.
With all of these amazing people and communities continuing to thrive, YouTube has changed the way many get their entertainment. It has not always provided the best people and content like Logan Paul’s infamous video at a place called “the suicide forest” in Japan. But, the platform has overall maintained positive influence on what younger generations will do in the future. Whether it be a way to express themselves or as a new career option, YouTube has changed both itself and human society. Like Bob Dillan’s song, “The Times They Are a-Changin” the world continues to shift into a new direction, and YouTube is helping lead the charge for the next generation.
The Beat @APU 