What was going on with the Internet in 2005
In 2005 YouTube launched on Valentine's Day!
YouTube started with only 10 employees, plus its cofounders, Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim (who agreed not to be an employee and acted as an advisor). Karim uploaded the first video, Meet at the Zoo, an explanation of what's cool about elephants, on April 23, 2005. As of March 4, 2024 it has been viewed over 310 million times.
YouTube quickly transformed the way people consumed and created content on the Internet — growing into a cultural phenomenon that enabled users to upload, share, and view videos on virtually any topic imaginable. From music videos to do-it-yourself videos, on everything from fixing cars to fixing home appliances, to ... well almost anything.
Google bought YouTube in November 2006 for $1.65 billion.
Today, almost a third of all people on the Internet actively use YouTube. That's 1.5 billion people logging in every month.
Also in 2005 the social media platform Reddit launched. 19 years later, on March 24, 2024 Reddit raised $748 million in an IPO — giving Reddit a market value of about $6.4 billion.
In 2005 the number of websites with their own designated URL was 64,780,617*.
* www.internetlivestats.com