Was the first video on YouTube planned or spontaneous?

The first video on YouTube, "Me at the zoo," appears to be spontaneous. The video features Jawed Karim, one of YouTube's co-founders, standing in front of an elephant enclosure at the San Diego Zoo, talking about the elephants' long trunks and their ability to pick up things with their trunks.

The casual, off-the-cuff nature of the video suggests that it was likely an unplanned, spur-of-the-moment decision to capture and share the moment. This spontaneous style is consistent with the early days of YouTube, when the platform was focused on sharing personal moments and experiences in a simple, unpretentious way.

Over time, as content creators have sought to produce more polished and professional videos, the planning and preparation that goes into creating videos have become more extensive. However, the first video on YouTube remains a testament to the platform's original purpose and the accessible, user-generated content that helped it gain popularity.

The first video on YouTube, titled "Me at the zoo," was spontaneous. It was uploaded by YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim on April 23, 2005. The 18-second video shows Karim standing in front of an elephant enclosure at the San Diego Zoo, commenting on the elephant's long trunk.