I have a feeling not many Internet frequenters can even remember a time when YouTube didn’t exist. So why am I suddenly obsessed with something everyone has known about for eons? My best answer is I’ve come across an unusual number of YouTube-related news this week due to its seventh anniversary on April 23. We may all be aware of YouTube now, but merely a couple of years ago, it consisted entirely of one video titled “Me At the Zoo.” It featured one of the founders, an average-looking white guy, talking about elephants at the zoo for less than 18 seconds. Interestingly enough, two of the founders studied computer science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Boasting over four billion views a day, YouTube has risen from its modest beginnings as a startup company above a pizzeria. You can find a video about anything on YouTube, and even my grandmother uploads videos these days. I’m not joking, and you should look her up: GracieSpeaks (I’m sure she’d love new viewers).

I remember the first YouTube video I ever watched. It was the old-school classic “End of Ze World.” If you haven’t had the pleasure of seeing it, look it up. Call me weird, but no matter how many times I watch it (and mouth along with the words, which I know all by heart), it still makes me laugh out loud. As soon as I was on the floor and dying of laughter, I was hooked. YouTube can provide hours of endless unproductivity, whether you are disturbed by or can’t stop watching the “Chocolate Rain” by Tay Zonday, hearing about how you need to “hide yo kids, hide yo wife” from Antoine Dodson or listening to the sarcastic and provocative rants of Jenna Marbles. Despite being an addictive outlet for procrastination, YouTube contains millions of useful videos, including those with quick fashion tips, out-of-the-box craft ideas and high quality music videos. I may have been guilty of jamming out to “Single Ladies” on the BeyonceVEVO channel. It is also not difficult to find full-length movies and television shows on YouTube. How they got there, I am not exactly sure (I swear), but who’s complaining?

There are tons of ways to utilize the features of YouTube. Some people just enter a generic term like “funny cat” and see where the whims of the right-hand column “related links” tab takes them. I’ll admit, if you see me giggling behind my computer screen, chances are I’m browsing clips of funny felines. Another great way to get a cheap laugh is to visit one of the hundreds of websites that cherry pick their favorite videos of the day. One consistently hilarious one of these catalogued sites is www.bestofyoutube.com. Other people who are a little more YouTube savvy have their own accounts and subscribe to other channels. The most dedicated and hardcore YouTubers are the self-proclaimed “vloggers,” who document their everyday life for the World Wide Web to see through that tiny YouTube video window. Although I will never be one to join their ranks, without them and the creation of YouTube, the world would be a much less amusing place.

– Genna Krecicki