What was the first-ever video uploaded on YouTube about? Details explored as it turns 20

The very first video uploaded on YouTube, titled Me at the zoo, was shot in the San Diego Zoo. In the video, the co-founder of YouTube, Jawed Karim, was seen calling the elephant trunks cool. The original script goes like this:

"Here we are in front of the elephants. The cool thing about these guys is that they have really, really, really long trunks. And that's cool. And that's pretty much all there is to say."

The 19-second clip was uploaded in 240p quality and has over 356 million views and 17 million likes as of this writing. The video also got the attention of the San Diego Zoo's YouTube channel, which has further commented on the video,

"We're so honored that the first ever YouTube video was filmed here!"

The comment is liked and pinned by Jawed Karim. As of now, Karim's channel doesn't have any more videos other than Me at the zoo.

How Jawed Karim co-founded YouTube

Jawed studied at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign but left before graduating to join PayPal. It was at PayPal where Karim met Chad Hurley and Steve Chen in 2002. Three years later, the trio founded YouTube. When YouTube launched in 2005, he remained mostly behind the scenes.

Karim made his own YouTube channel on April 23, 2005 PDT and uploaded the Me at the zoo video, which is now famous for being the very first video on YouTube. Later, the platform was acquired by Google.

Karim is the founder of YVentures. His company is an investor in big brands like Airbnb and Reddit. As per Celebrity Net Worth, his net worth is calculated to be around $300 million in 2025.

Is Jawed Karim active on YouTube?

Jawed Karim likes to keep a low profile, and this can be seen on his YouTube channel, which has only one video to date. However, fans have seen the change in his video description from time to time.

In 2021, Jawed Karim used the description of his YouTube video to express his disagreement with the platform's decision to remove public dislike counts. As of 2025, fans can see an updated description that aims at raising awareness about the harmful effects of microplastics on the brain.

On April 24, 2025, a user on YouTube, @ChristianMaracleOFFICIAL, commented on his first video,

"Happy 20 years of YouTube!"

The comment has been liked by Jawed Karim, showing he is still active on YouTube.

Jawed Karim likes to keep a low public profile and does not have verified accounts on other social media platforms. His official YouTube channel has over 5 million subscribers.

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