Me at the Zoo

Although most other reviewers on IMDb have analyzed Jawed Karim's short, nineteen-second clip that became the first video ever uploaded to YouTube in terms of acting quality, setting, etc., one really cannot do this without sounding rather ridiculous from overdoing their analysis of such a simple clip. If one looked at it reasonably for what it is, they would have to say "Me at the Zoo" probably was entirely unscripted, a short video Karim made just to get something up on YouTube and nothing more. The acting comes off as 'great' because it wasn't acting: too natural to be memorized; one can't expect this to be a Hollywood blockbuster of any sort. It is thus important only for being one of the great 'firsts' in history, and there is nothing else one can say about it without overdoing their interpretation. This is also the reason why I have not bothered to give it a rating in the first place; if any rating was necessary, it would probably have to be a 10/10, but since IMDb has a voting average of 4.6/10, one can tell most people don't even look at it for it's historical context and rate it simply like they'd rate any professional film - a sad mistake to be sure. The only real analysis to be taken out of the video is how much it varies from the videos YouTubers upload today - a drastic difference that few tend to recognize as fact.

"Me at the Zoo" consists of a man - Jawed Karim himself - standing in front of the elephants at a zoo, explaining how they have really long trunks. This is all there is to it, and due to the simplicity of the video, it comes off as more of a home movie than a YouTuber trying to become famous. In fact, to get right down to it, that was all the website was back then: not a big buck business, not a way for people to become popular, just a place where one could upload little snippets of their personal life for others to enjoy. No commercialism, no advertising, that was all. Videos still got smash hits, but this was not to cash in on the popularity of a person, just to present people with simple entertainment. That's all "Me at the Zoo" is, and if there is any entertainment value to be had out of watching this video, it is that alone.

Nowadays, at least in my mind, YouTube has declined in this sense: it is no longer about producing enjoyable, brief clips for casual viewers to enjoy, but all about the YouTubers themselves, trying to make themselves popular and sell merchandise. It has transformed from being a fun site with which to share one's enjoyable moments of life into an actual job, resulting in becoming yet another one of the entertainment industry's numerous minions. A sad thing, considering how great it used to be before all the commercialism came in and took it over in just fifteen years, and amazing how it doesn't take long for something to go too far and go in over its head. "Me at the Zoo" is a hence a reminder of YouTube's past: a man enjoying a day at the zoo, telling us about the elephants he's watching, a simple home movie. Too bad home movies don't garner any interest on YouTube anymore; shows how far away we've gotten from what used to be a great thing.

I like this video a lot because the means of it. He just went into a zoo, filmed a couple of seconds of him describing the place. And it was the first video on YouTube! very good!

Youtube is currently the most popular video hosting page but not many know the beginning of Youtube, "Me at the zoo" was the first video which was published in April 2005 by one of the Creators of Youtube, this video is currently a relic of the internet and currently has around 200 million views.

In the video we see Jawed at the San Diego Zoo talking about elephants and it's just that, but despite its simplicity this video left a great legacy followed by millions and millions of videos that made YouTube the page we know today.

Being a short video I don't have much more to say.

For everything I said before, I give this video a 6.

This concept of someone being at the zoo is done to perfection, and really creates a commentary vibe on the state of zoos nowadays. Don't listen to the critics, this short film is very underrated.

In less than one minute YouTube creator succeed it in making a video landmark. Simple, amusing and without a higher meaning than just be what the title says it is, Jawed Karim delivered the vision of how future videos would become, much of what YouTube originally was and just a percentage of its porcentage: to present ourselves to the world, as we are and with what we are doing that can be viewed as good or fun, simply from what it is and with a wide audience connected to their services.

So, this is me writing about him at the zoo watching the elephants behind him. In almost two decades, "Me at the Zoo" has more than 7 million views, a huge part thanks for being the video plataform's first video ever; and another part because we are curious in seeing the origins of a phenomenon that changed the world, connect people in many ways and one of the best things on internet, surpassing the long kingdom of television for exclusive things to show. Main reason: just as the video, we can all contribute with something, to express ourselves without big budgets, people to interfere and control what we do - sure, there's the plataform's guidelines but they're there to define what's acceptable and what it's not, from copyrighted material use to prejudicial speech.

Jawed Karim's short is a curious sensation, an adorable and memorable video that offers us a truthful good moment of him visiting the zoo and admiring the elephants. Time and again, there are channels with false advertisiments, attractive titles that don't mean a thing, mere trolls just getting the views they want. With this short, Karim was merely making an experiment, seeing his creation would work and it's up to each viewer to see it for what it is. It's obvious he wouldn't show up with something too extraordinary (singing, doing magic tricks, or teaching how to cook, for example); it had to be a reflection of what he wanted to achieve with YouTube, and the most original one could get and just wait for future results, future creations and see how far we could go. With time our past, present and future would fill the place in an instant way and YouTube went a long ride from just one man at the zoo. As you read this, you've probably clicked on million of videos, watched a bunch and never seen how it all started...and when you click into it, there'll be 10-something seconds of a lovely delight.

Gets the most praise it can get due to its essential importance on internet's history. 10/10