Founded five years ago, YouTube is now a full-fledged grown-up by Internet standards. Its days as an impulsive startup–replete with a cluttered office located between a pizza parlor and a Japanese restaurant–are long gone; and is incredible growth over the past half-decade has changed how we live, play, and do business.
Within a single year, the overachieving startup rocketed from posting the first YouTube video (founder Jawed Karim talking about elephants at the zoo) to becoming an “independent subsidiary” of Google. Today, the site even has a corporate brand channel, which teaches users how to “advertise with YouTube and plan effective campaigns.”
Here is a look at how these developments have changed our everyday lives–from creating instant celebrities to practicing citizen journalism to expanding the reach of campaign debates. Happy birthday and welcome to adulthood, YouTube.