YouTube at 20 🎂📹

👀 TLDR

In this week’s What’s Appening, we look back at 20 years of YouTube. Conceived as a dating platform (how ‘bout that for a pivot?), the founders saw the potential for video uploading and ‘broadcasting yourself,’ planting the seeds for a platform that’s become indispensable today. Happy Birthday, YouTube. We also have news on the Argentinian President in hot water over a crypto scam, OpenAI taking its time with GPT-5, a man’s quest for 8,000 Bitcoins, and more!

🎬 Our Top Take

🎂📹 YouTube – 20 Years Since the Birth of Game-Changing Platform

On Valentine’s Day 2005, a trio of former PayPal employees decided to launch a dating-focused website with the slogan “Tune In, Hook Up.” It didn’t really work, but the founders did notice that the platform had exceptional video-uploading potential. They also noticed that they could not find a copy of the video of Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson’s infamous Super Bowl ‘slip’ anywhere on the internet. To remedy this, YouTube was born. The last twenty years have been quite the ride, battling copyright claims, wading into rows about free speech and misinformation, becoming a hub for artists and musicians, and, of course, launching the careers of countless creators like MrBeast. But today’s numbers speak for themselves: 2.7 billion users worldwide; 62% of American internet users access the platform daily; trillions and trillions of views; and $50 billion in revenue per annum. Beyond the creators, it’s also become an indispensable tool for business marketing. We use it ourselves, creating videos for 3Advance promos like our latest 30 for 30 v1 app offer, our What’s Appening podcasts, and affiliated projects like Shift. The future looks bright, too, with YouTube now becoming more popular on television sets than mobile. There are challenges, though, including whether AI will be a boon or a drag on content creation. Regardless, it’s become the platform many of us cannot live without. Happy Birthday, YouTube. You’ve been the friend of procrastinators and the ultimate boredom killer for two decades. #HBYT Read more here.

📲 App of the Week: Forest

Staying productive throughout the workday can be difficult. There are, of course, many tools to help us stop being distracted, such as the Brick app. Yet, we love the simplicity of Forest, an app that adds a little gamification to keep you off your phone. It basically works like this: Open the app, select a little tree to grow, and then choose a length of time during which you must remain productive, i.e., not doomscroll on your phone. If you manage to stay off your phone for the allotted time, you get rewarded with a little virtual tree😃🌳. If not, then your little tree dies☹️🌳. It might sound a little silly, but, hey, if it works…. Forest costs a one-off fee of $3.99 for iOS users. Check it out here.

🧐 Stat of the Week: $800 million

📈📉 Bitcoin – British Man’s Quest for Lost Hard Drive Continues

In 2013, James Howell’s (now ex) girlfriend accidentally threw out his portable hard drive. These things happen, yet this particular drive contained 8,000 Bitcoins. Today’s value? Somewhere around $800 million. Howell hasn’t given up, though, and has spent the last dozen years fighting lawsuits against the local government organization that manages the landfill site where the hard drive has supposedly ended up. Howell’s fight for the right to scour the dump has become a cause celebre, and his latest plan is to buy the site from the government. Imagine how he will feel if he finally locates it? #HardTimes Read more here.

🗞️ Other Stories

📍 Meanwhile at 3Advance

Our latest Clutch review is in! 🎉  Huge thanks to Dan from Timeless Traveler for trusting us to bring his vision to life… and for providing this stellar review 🙌. Footsteps with Jesus is a mobile app that helps people connect faith and fitness by virtually walking the path of Jesus. It’s a beautifully designed app that connects to your phone or watch’s step counter. From concept to launch, we worked closely with Dan to make sure every step (literally) aligned with his goals. And now, with positive app user feedback and a 5-star Clutch review, we’re proud to see this idea making an impact. Check out the app on the AppStore or Google Play, and let us know what you think.

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