Main points
- The Victoria and Albert Museum in London has acquired the rights to show the very first YouTube video, “I'm at the Zoo,” and a reconstructed version of the platform's early interface.
- The video, uploaded by Javed Karim in 2005, has become a museum piece, showcasing the dawn of the Web 2.0 era and the impact of digital design on modern culture.
The first YouTube video can now be seen in the museum / Peter Kelleher/V&A Museum
The very first video uploaded to YouTube has been officially recognized as a cultural heritage site. The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London has acquired the rights to display the video “Me at the Zoo” and a reconstructed version of the platform's early interface.
At the museum, this exhibit showcases the beginning of the Web 2.0 era and reflects the impact of digital design on modern culture, opening up access to the origins of global video hosting, notes CNN.
The institution acquired the service's reconstructed early page, along with the first video uploaded by the platform's co-founder Jawed Karim . In the 19-second video, titled “Me at the Zoo,” the 25-year-old developer poses against a backdrop of elephants at the San Diego Zoo.
YouTube elaborates on this in a blog post: “A 19-second clip by YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim, shot on a low-resolution camera in 2005, is widely considered a seminal moment in the evolution of user-generated content, opening up new avenues of expression and transforming the way media is created and consumed.” This is where the popular social media features we use every day come into being.
Fun fact! Since its publication on April 23, 2005, the video has garnered over 382 million views and over 18 million likes.
How was the first YouTube video turned into a museum exhibit?
The process of preparing the exhibit required significant effort: the museum's digital preservation team worked for 18 months to recreate the platform's design and interface.
The site was based on the state of December 8, 2006, the oldest documented timestamp preserved on the Internet. The project involved both YouTube employees and the London-based design studio Oio.
The first YouTube player interface / Photo Peter Kelleher/V&A Museum
YouTube CEO Neil Maughan emphasized that restoring the original watch page allows the public to travel back in time to the beginning of a global cultural phenomenon.
Curator Corinna Gardner added that this digital snapshot of the early days of Web 2.0 is a milestone in the history of the internet and design.
The video is currently on display as part of the Design 1900 – Present exhibition in South Kensington, and details of the technical restoration of the page are available for viewing at the museum's Stratford branch.