YouTube | How It All Started

[@nationsquid]

This video is sponsored by your mom. Check out and subscribe to Zack's channel! www.youtube.com/@ZackarySmigel

[@frostdash-aviation]

FIRST!!!!!

[@Brughmang]

Wow what a great sponsor

[@thegameplaymemer3248]

​@@Brughmangyeah your mon is indeed a great sponsor

[@iulianarianofficial]

:O

[@Ṯaxəṣ]

My mother watches the same videos as me...Greeeaaaattt.

[@heavenlydusk]

Imagine being all hyped up for this new site - KZbin, - it turns nothing like you expected but you are now a part of history.

[@internet_userr]

How the hell were you here when it was uploaded 1 hour ago

[@heavenlydusk]

@@internet_userr livestream! i unfortunately couldn't be a part of it though

[@groovydominoes52]

i saw you on some short a few days ago and now youre here

[@sihamhamda47]

And imagine if you uploaded any random videos on YT in 2005, and 15 years later you noticed that your videos starting to get millions of views every week

[@WhatisAPaladin]

@@groovydominoes52 who watches shorts lol.. pls get help

[@WarumnurAdam]

If you think about it, it's really crazy that KZbin is older than some users.

[@Bird_Of_Flames]

Not just some, a very large amount of users. Every person under 18 and even some who are 18

[@evan2623]

Crazt how time works 🤯

[@minoena]

@@evan2623found the child

[@AwesomeYena]

@@minoena How?

[@blogdesign7126]

Yes from failed Dating site in 2005 to a late 2000's version Tik Tok and now TV.

[@GusVIII]

I remember the first time I saw KZbin. It was early into my first semester in college. I was working in a computer lab and looked over at my friends monitor. He was watching Naruto. I thought something like “video playing on a web browser?” Kind of blew my mind. I asked him the name of the website and typed it in. Originally thought it was specifically made for anime. Was surprised that there was a bunch of random stuff on it. Ah yes, and no ads. It was a magical time.

[@matildalitsey143]

Now unless you pay them every month, you get ads even on SONGS.

[@supizgamerpro101]

Adblock Plus exists, but it only works in the browser.

[@mobbs8229]

fun fact: I never ever see ads on KZbin. Unless I have vpn turned on. Reason? based in Sudan.

[@YakutistanOnTop]

​@@mobbs8229happens to me too, it's normal

[@soniablanche5672]

@@matildalitsey143 ublock origin ftw

[@Zombie_Trooper]

I completely agree with Gladwell, and I think it extends to pop culture. As Walter Cronkite once said, had Star Wars been a year early, it would've been another Buck Rogers, too late, and it wouldn't have captured the imagination. It came out at the precise time after Vietnam and Watergate when movies were downbeat and negative. I think some people and projects strike gold, not necessarily because they're the best or smartest, or most innovative, but the timing was just too perfect.

[@obeseperson]

REAL ‼️

[@micosstar]

literal magic that is time!

[@ducksongfans]

So many shows that would have been popular if released at a different timr

[@odb3699]

Not enough people talk about timing! It's such a key factor in success stories sometimes.

[@leejay-zd8zj]

animal crossing: new horizons reminds me of this principle since it definitely wouldn’t be the second bestselling switch game without the pandemic (also, star wars mentioned !!)

[@merydorago]

3:58 "welcome to KZbin history" KZbin: "here, have this yt premium ad cuz we have an excellent timing"

[@JamesR624]

4:42 I am so happy more people are aware of that video guide. It's the most 90's thing ever.

[@swandive46]

If you're doing a history of KZbin, please, please make a video about KZbin Streams. It was a chatroom feature on the site from around 2008, that was way ahead of its time, allowing content creators to chat with subscribers/friendslist, share videos, etc. It was the predecessor to stuff like Twitch or Discord, but KZbin nuked it as it was getting really popular. You can only find a few videos showing the topic these days, as it's all been muted out by 'livestreaming' or 'streaming services' instead. I would love to see this topic get covered, so younger generations can see what they missed out on in the early KZbin days.

[@slightlyevolved]

Anyone remember annotations?

[@swandive46]

@@slightlyevolved Was an innovative feature, but also led to so much spam in videos.

[@radanju3]

Video responses were amongst my favorite things to exist, especially during the peak of the RayWilliamJohnson era between 2009-2011.

[@shirshouky2382]

holy shit, i thought everyone forgot about this. i can’t find any record of it online.

[@AC-te9dr]

It was the women ceo that was hired as CEO of youtube in 2015

[@PsRohrbaugh]

I was a freshman in college when KZbin came out. I had a web server that I'd upload videos to and send the links to friends, saying "why would someone want to watch a video, and not have a permanent copy in their archive?". Well obviously most people didn't care. But I still use software to archive many of the KZbin videos I watch. There's nothing more troubling than the media you remember one way, being edited into something else. When you've got the file, you've got an unchanging reference.

[@Dumb_Killjoy]

Yeah, I learned that lesson the other day. I was looking for a TF2 SFM, found it, but then realized it was edited due to a copyright strike. I thankfully managed to find it on Reddit.

[@ram2slaughter]

finally someone who acknowledges the super bowl incident as one of the contributing factors to the creation of youtube. janet DID get a lot of shit for something that was NOT in fact her fault. 🤦

[@90sNath]

I always found that stupid. Why did Janet get so much flack for that? It truly wasnt her fault yet everyone went to give her backlash? Then again, I'd be the kind of person to brush that kind of event off even if I saw it live. It just seems so whatever to me. In fact that's not even how I found out who Janet was. I found out who she was cause she sampled Sonic 1's Bridge Zone music. Funky.

[@ZackarySmigel]

I can't believe he let some wacky guy with a greenscreen take over his channel for 3 minutes and 34 seconds. I am shocked!

[@nationsquid]

Me too!

[@Skuu]

your section was cool and interesting, well done :)

[@ZackarySmigel]

@@Skuu Thanks so much!

[@JaydenIronBlade]

i like ur section, just that u shoulda reworded that "age is just a number" part

[@ethanmahlstedt6057]

Your part of the video was a great addition to the content!! Nice job.

[@K-MasterGirl]

Holy cow that face reveal… I saw you lips moving with the audio and I was like “wow that’s pretty good how you said it exactly like that guy” and then I realized-

[@JK-gm6kk]

Being an early adopter of broadband in like 02 or 03 was so amazing. Was like a dream in comparison to AOL 2 and 3.0 on 56k, which was my introduction to the internet as a kiddo.

[@slightlyevolved]

I got a cable modem in 1998 (beta tester for my area). 384up/128kbps down. I. WAS. SPEED. It also stayed at $35/mo for most of the 2000's, even after the speeds had been bumped multiple times to 10/1Mbps.

[@sillyfoxgirlnya]

i love how you recreate the way someone viewed the internet back then

[@Mynameisevan33]

Fr

[@wma7271]

Great job, Shirley- I mean NationSquid! ;) I can't wait to see what the rest of this series holds!

[@youresuchadork]

KZbin lore??? Jokes aside, this was amazing. I never knew this stuff. mad respect

[@andresz2341]

I like so much the way you narrate, thank you so much for your videos. You have an underrated channel.

[@mr_ice117]

My first interaction with KZbin was back in 2005 in a middle school computer lap watching funny videos with 10 other people standing behind me. I really do miss early KZbin when it was the wild west still. It was ruined for me around 2014 or 2015 when ads started appearing all of a sudden and channels became more professional

[@Webkins9009]

the tsunami videos i’d watch on youtube as a child gave me a tsunami phobia and i’m 25 with a fear of the ocean now 💀💀

[@Pride_Pumkin_Puperthegac-lu6do]

Just finished! That was great and I'm excited for more parts to KZbin History!

[@pewgarpolls]

,

[@ZipplyZane]

Just one thing: it seems pretty clear at this point that there was no Janet Jackson slipup. And people could tell once they got uncensored versions of the video. Jackson clearly had her nipples covered up, ready to be shown. And, of course, Timberlake was in on it, yet never got the backlash that Jackson did.

[@SauceTheSecond]

This is gonna be an awesome series. Cant WAIT to see how it goes!

[@LavaCreeperPeople]

yes

[@TealTunic]

Man, I *love* the work that you put into these videos!

[@Chrischi3TutorialLPs]

What i think makes KZbin so unique is the fact that it wasn't mainstream. Nothing required your content to have mass appeal. Want to make a video about cheesemaking? Sure, go ahead. Might take you a while, but you'll find people who enjoy it.

[@monicarenee7949]

My first KZbin video (on a different account) was my birthday at a Mexican restaurant with the workers singing me happy birthday. No need for mass appeal, indeed

[@benbrist]

12:42 - ChatGPT came out after OpenAI initially released their invite-only API. The reason you got so many AI apps at the time was developers playing with the very same API (GPT-3 (also Dall-e for image generation)) that powers ChatGPT - ChatGPT is just more of an official free user-friendly sandbox frontend for that API.

[@SpongeSebastian]

I hope you talk about one of the big reasons (i would argue the main reason) why KZbin blew up - piracy. In the early years of KZbin, it was insanely easy to binge-watch a TV show or watch a music video recorded from MTV2.

[@volactic5240]

With Google that's when yt became like tv

[@core27LD]

And don't call me Shirley. As soon as I thought about it, you said it. 5 stars to you.

[@RageDasher_7751]

I find it absolutely fascinating that cat videos are essential in KZbin's original roots.

[@TeamBlueToad]

3:51 "Absolutely not, and don't call me Shirley." I freaking love that reference, man. Airplane! is such a classic.

[@gran_turismo_fan]

KZbin opened a lot of opportunities for online videos on the web and it also gave lots of opportunities to a lot of people in a lot of different ways on platform. We've came so far in technology for almost 20 years of youtube's existence and among other technological improvements and growth over the years. Now we as the people who helped fuel the foundation of the video streaming concept at the beginning of youtube's existence spreading like wildfire, we look back at it and recognize that we made history that shaped to what youtube is today along with the technology improvements that eventually came into fruition over the years. It amazes me how much we evolved and changed over the span of the glory days for youtube that it was once was.

[@mariovsluigi9000]

It's sad kids these days will never experience the golden age of KZbin.

[@jescis]

I was there and I STILL don't remember any of this!! But I'm thankful for creators like this that can allow me to remember what I went through!! 🤔🤔

[@poppunk-z7d5k]

KZbin is trash youtube vidoes is garbage dvd music cd and blu-ray is so much better then garbage youtube playing music on youtube is trash youtube videos are garbage movie discs are better late 2000s is trash KZbin is garbage 90s ealry 2000s is better movies is better then garbage youtube vieos

[@rakusko33]

So nostálgic seeing the look of KZbin back in 2005. Simpler times😢

[@romanempirelolfn]

You joined 16 years ago not 19

[@romanempirelolfn]

Still og so respect

[@rakusko33]

@@romanempirelolfn I created an account in 2008 but I was already using the page in 2005

[@poppunk-z7d5k]

KZbin is trash youtube vidoes is garbage dvd music cd and blu-ray is so much better then garbage youtube playing music on youtube is trash youtube videos are garbage movie discs are better late 2000s is trash KZbin is garbage 90s ealry 2000s is better movies is better then garbage youtube vieos

[@kaliou]

Some people don't have their original account from back then.​@@romanempirelolfn

[@flare0080]

Great video, Shirley. I look forward to the next installment.

[@danieln6700]

KZbin was a big change in the internet age. KZbin is such a common part of life now that for alot of ppl its always been there. it's kinda hard to imagine how things would be if it didn't exist.

[@RobbieStacks90]

It's not hard to imagine at all. I first came to this site in December 2005 and made an account a few months later. The internet didn't suddenly change because KZbin existed. You're feeding into the perception of KZbin in the monetization era. It's only hard to imagine if you're from Generation Z or you're a millennial who didn't use the internet or were internet illiterate in the 2000s.

[@teghanshaer2005]

I was born in the early 2000s, so I don’t know much about it. But I do remember when I was little I experienced the “Technological Explosion” and technology around me went from slow and boring to insanely fast and diverse. Sadly, I still have an iPhone 11, and we decided to keep the disc player and Cassette tape player. I do have an Apple TV, an Android TV, and an Xbox. :) 14:26 you should work with Gubby, he’s good!

[@jairuszebedee9605]

Mans came in clutch, because there was an assignment about what software you want to talk about and I chose KZbin, and I got lucky finding this video.

[@lain44]

This series is already so fire

[@davidfrischknecht8261]

When I first discovered KZbin, I was still on dial-up internet and the videos buffered so much I tended to avoid the site.

[@wafflesncatsup5323]

Noob

[@hcbs1986]

8:07 It WAS literally the same exact thing. The layouts of it in July 2005 and Flickr logged in July 2005 are SCARILY similar.

[@danieln6700]

The early days of youtube was pretty cool to experience looking back really. So many random videos just made for fun. Alot of young ppl don't even know not wasn't made by Google now.

[@mechface]

YAHOO!!!!! so excited for this series and so so joyous omg :3

[@listening2kesha]

i know for a fact this series is going to be the best, keep it up!!

[@saifhader133]

Man, You gotta love all the research made

[@ImaginaryAlchemist]

I remember when I first discovered KZbin, I think it was sometime in 2006. I'd spend hours watching KZbin Poops and Warrior cats videos. It's been a wild ride, and I'm im looking forward to seeing you cover it!

[@matildalitsey143]

Warrior Cats. Amazing series.

[@microsoftword92]

Totally awesome video man. I really look forward into this series. I remember I first started watching youtube in march of 2008. God, I loved Michelle from the anythingsarcastic channel

[@romanempirelolfn]

U joined 2017

[@microsoftword92]

@@romanempirelolfn peanut3920 hits diff

[@nathananderson8720]

This is one of the channels that gave me the courage to start my KZbin channel 8 months ago about self development. Now I have 1,096 subs and > 900 hours of watch time. I know it’s not comparable with others but I’m still proud I started because I’ve been learning so many lessons that I could haven’t learned without getting started in the 1st place.

[@poppunk-z7d5k]

KZbin is trash youtube vidoes is garbage dvd music cd and blu-ray is so much better then garbage youtube playing music on youtube is trash youtube videos are garbage movie discs are better late 2000s is trash KZbin is garbage 90s ealry 2000s is better movies is better then garbage youtube vieos

[@magicalgirlmelanie]

Love your content, excited for the series and fun to see you in it! Keep up the great work.

[@86-panda]

14:49 real estate wizard guy! Zack!

[@WickerBasket9]

KZbin back then: Broadcast yourself. Right here on KZbin! KZbin nowadays: Tube. I mean… I'm not wrong. Right?

[@sunnyshiiiine]

Very excited about the new series! (I was literally thinking about the beatles when you mentioned them haha 😄)

[@nationsquid]

Great minds think alike!

[@Iredecent]

Hey @NationSquid take your time your dont have to work yourself so much, take breaks and always keep ur health in check, i love your videos and ill see u next one!

[@annasummerpetal9583]

Woo! Can't wait! Love your videos!!! ❤ God bless! ❤

[@ayylien00]

8:07 i was not expecting to see a my immortal gag in 2023 but here we are, very nice lol

[@incompetech_kmac]

Hooray for KZbin :)

[@savvasstephanides2210]

As soon as you mentioned StupidVideos, the jingle automatically started playing in my mind. Brilliant video as always!

[@apexblodhunder]

cant believe youtube was made so that the owners could share cat videos

[@MatthewConnellan-xc3oj]

Yeah

[@MatthewConnellan-xc3oj]

Let’s use it for its intended purpose.

[@rileyhoward7344]

MORE OF THIS!! more of. any of your videos actually you really brighten my day and broaden my knowledge :)

[@NayakaSukaKartunJepang]

This is gonna be great

[@achmed6679]

KZbin without ads and clickbait trash was amazing. Makes me nostalgic

[@ps123fan]

they should bring back 5 stars

[@YoutuberSho1]

such an effort dude,thanks for your content

[@blastradius7193]

At the time there were a lot of different KZbin like sites. But most of them hosted illegal uploads. And it was a back door place for hackers to communicate with live chat windows. You tube was a clean version of it

[@SailsPlays]

Imagine watching a youtube video on youtube within youtube.

[@robert-jamesnagy2886]

I’m so happy Smosh got the highlight it deserves

[@YuriDyatlovYD]

This series is gonna be great!

[@pogsterplays]

3:33 It took me so long to realise that that was you

[@statostheman]

In my first apartment in Sweden, I had 100/100 broadband connection in 2005.

[@giovannimorabito4393]

Loved the LisaNova mention

[@kaisgamesandthings]

Here in first hour (ps, cant wait for video, sure it will be great as allways 😁)

[@Listersmate2]

I've always heard that KZbin started as a site where families could upload their family videos to, to share it with other family members in remote areas & for others to see if they wanted.

[@obscene_kris]

I'm so excited for this new series!

[@creativegamer_03]

lmao i love that collaboration part

[@worldsbestgravy1324]

Excited for this series!

[@jonbourgoin182]

You should do a video on how dial up internet evolved into the wifi we have today. I think that topic is right up your alley and I'm very curious about it.

[@Kolbatsu]

As someone who's been there. In my humble opinion. People like Smosh and those "influencers" and "content creators" (bleg) wasn't what made early KZbin. It was the AMVs, the KZbin Poops, the Abridged series and parody fandubs, and the wannabe AVGNs. It was transformative media (and also pirated stuff). Like sure Smosh was important and big and whatever but they're a portion of what old KZbin was.

[@Mallen151]

For what it’s worth, I do love the stuff the stuff that you mentioned but I would argue that they are also just one piece of what made early KZbin great. KZbin was and is great because literally anyone can post videos that they’re passionate about and everyone has easy access to it. I loved channels similar to Smosh, geriatric and LisaNova but I had already been watching KZbin for years before I ever checked Smosh out and I had never even heard of geriatric or LisaNova before this video. However, it’s clear that those three did have large followings. The stuff that you mentioned was great and it was popular but it also wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea. The beauty of KZbin for me is that if someone did want AMVs or YTPs, they could find them. If someone came across, AMVs and YTPs but didn’t care for them, they could go back to the search bar and find a million videos that did interest them!

[@ZackarySmigel]

I agree that poops, abridged series, AMVs, and others were transformative and a monumental influence. I could have covered plenty of other content creators or trends in that section, but I tried to highlight a few unique examples that really stood out during that 2005-2006 era. Smosh, Geriatric1927, and LisaNova were three of the most prominent creators in terms of subscriber count. Smosh and Geriatric1927, specifically, both at one point, had the most subscribers on the platform; that's a testament to their impact back then. With all that being said, I agree, and perhaps later on, we can cover more of those content creators, video trends, and styles that had a colossal impact on the platform!

[@MrLoserProductions]

Came across this video on a recommended to me, appreciate your video a lot! Really cool idea that I haven’t seen on YT, excited for the series. New subscriber because of this video!

[@cheeseburgermonkey7104]

KZbin claiming the monopoly in video sharing before it even left beta is insane

[@danieln6700]

Right idea that worked at the right time. Crazy how fast it took off.

[@HungerGamesFan00]

"a time when many people were even still using dial-up" bro i remember those ads with the tortoises, it was still enough of a thing in like 07 to warrant ads saying "hey r u using dsl? you are? loser. use our service". hell remember when having an unlimited number of texts was a selling point? like, in america, in ads targeted towards at least sort of well off people???

[@anyaanimation]

Thanks for the video! It made me feel better. The expirience you tell is fascinating, thanks :)

[@danieln6700]

at school so many ppl would be watching those dbz AMVs and stuff in the early days. Ask a ninja, will it blend, early smash. So many random things. I remember using yahoo video before youtube. Smosh original videos like pokemon and mortal kombat themes were pretty popular and cool when 1st seen.

[@WickerBasket9]

Remember when we used to customize our KZbin pages with CSS? Yeah, me too. :(

[@Theopress24]

This is a great video! Side note, love the background muisic.

[@Pivot_Media_TV]

Subscribed!

[@LuneLovehearn]

I had the chance to watch KZbin feom the beginning. This account was made on those years when KZbin was not a Google subsidiary, so ik the OG KZbin. I when remember the days of Altavista when finding videos was hell. Vimeo helped bit KZbin made it accesible. The only downside is KZbin deleting videos or songs that are lost media. That's why the internet archive or archive users came to be by downloading a copy of the videos. I even remember the fall out boy being paet od the KZbin revolution. Had great high school days thanks to it. Looking forward to the next part of this documentary.

[@GewoonDani]

This is great, excited to see what's next!

[@CYLITM]

Excited for the series!

[@Rye_Smile]

Loving this new series!

[@hudson15200]

Good stuff can't wait for more!!

[@jimdude7782]

I can't wait to see the next video in the series

[@MamaMia84oo7]

As usual the face of the narrator I’ve been listening to matches absolutely nothing with what my mind had imagined. This happened to me every time a face reveal if someone who inly had a voice initially .

[@k4nj1]

13:03 RIP vine

[@SalarKhosrouyar]

I used your video for my presentation ❤ it was very helpful

[@eeeeeeee57478]

Great video! really high quality :)

[@Pinwheelsystem]

I don't know why but your video always make me want to cry.

[@borntoclimb7116]

Nice work, youtube is definitily one or the most iconic sites who ever createt.

[@heavenly2k]

Was anyone else surprised by how conventionally attractive NationSquid is?

[@alphillips5478]

Wow! Wish I had shares in KZbin!

[@fennecfoxfanatic]

Anyone remember google video? Is there a way to access that backlog again?

[@Hollowdude15]

KZbin is one of the best social media app ever and great video man :]

[@awesomedude906]

17:09 my uncle also told me age is just a number what a coincidence