A reconstruction of an early YouTube watch page from 2005, featuring the first video ever published on the site, has been acquired by and put on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum’s (V&A) South Kensington site.
Visitors can now watch YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim’s “Me at the zoo” in the V&A’s Design 1900-Now gallery. The 19-second recording, which has been viewed nearly 380 million times to date, was first published on 23 April 2005.
Filmed on a low-resolution digital camera, this video is widely considered a foundational moment in the rise of user-generated content.
The Design 1900-Now gallery explores how design reflects and shapes the way people live, work, travel and communicate.
The video, set within a reconstructed YouTube watch page, might be on show at South Kensington, but the process of its reconstruction will be examined at the V&A East Storehouse.
The reconstructed page marks an early example of user interface design conventions, such as badges, rating buttons, sharing and recommendation features.
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YouTube, as a tech startup, did not archive the design of the platform when it first began in 2005. It was only when Google bought YouTube at the end of 2006 that the interface design was saved.
To create an accurate reconstruction, the V&A’s curators and digital conservation team have worked with YouTube’s user experience team and interaction design studio oio.
Corinna Gardner, the senior curator of design and digital at the V&A, said: “This snapshot of YouTube during the early days of web 2.0 marks an important moment in history of the internet and digital design.
“The acquisition opens new storytelling opportunities for us to showcase and explore the ways in which the internet has shaped our world, from the birth of mainstream video sharing platforms through to today’s hyper visual world and the media and creator economy that go with it.
“In addition, the ability to work with YouTube to bring the early watch page into the collection has enabled us to forge new ground in how we collect and preserve complex digital objects for the future.”
Neal Mohan, YouTube’s CEO, said: “It's wonderful to see 'Me at the Zoo' join the Victoria & Albert Museum's collection. What started as a simple 19-second moment of self-expression became a new way for people to share their stories with the world.
“By reconstructing an early watch page, we aren't just showing a video; we are inviting the public to step back in time to the beginning of a global, cultural phenomenon. It is a proud moment to see this piece of digital history housed in the V&A where we hope it will inspire generations to come.”