The YouTube videos that changed the way we think about ourselves


The YouTube videos that changed the way we think about ourselves

Published 3 March 2025 YouTube started out as an off-beat video sharing site. But at its 20th anniversary, the platform's content has fundamentally altered the way we think, feel and interact with each other. In 2006, Time Magazine named its annual Person of the Year: you. "Yes you," the magazine read. "You control the Information Age. Welcome to your world." Its cover featured a mirror to reflect reader's image – emblazoned on a computer screen tuned to a site modelled after YouTube. It was just a year after YouTube's launch, but already, it had shifted our understanding of the role we would play in the coming era. This year marks the 20th anniversary of YouTube. It's gone from a novel tool to an unshakable pillar of technological infrastructure. Some 2.5 billion people log on every month. The company says people who watch YouTube on their TVs consume a billion hours of video a day, to say nothing of time spent on the app and website. But as much as YouTube changed how we use the internet, it's had an equally significant impact on our offline lives.