YouTube Turns 20—How Have Its 20 Billion Videos Changed Us?
CFA Dean Harvey Young shares how the platform has helped emerging artists introduce themselves and be discovered
YouTube Turns 20—How Have Its 20 Billion Videos Changed Us?
BU faculty experts: the social media platform has impacted our mental health, helped small businesses, artists, and musicians, birthed a do-it-yourself generation, and exposed us to dangerous misinformation
Photo by Markus Winkler/Unsplash
This article was originally published in BU Today on April 29, 2025. By Doug Most
Excerpt
In the 20 years since YouTube launched, 20 billion videos have been uploaded to the social media platform, the average person now spends almost 50 minutes a day watching the content, and the most popular YouTube video, called “Baby Shark,” is of a couple of singing kids with 348 million views. What has this video revolution taught us?
As YouTube celebrates turning 20, BU Today reached out across the Charles River and Medical Campuses to ask a range of Boston University faculty experts for their take on its impact on society.
Sheeran, Bieber, and T Swift alongside hobbyists and influencers
Harvey Young, dean, College of Fine Arts
YouTube gave emerging artists a platform to introduce themselves and allowed established artists an opportunity to get paid when people stream their videos. A generation ago, people patiently waited for MTV’s Total Request Live or one of VH1’s video countdowns and even earlier would tune in to Casey Kasem and Rick Dees on the radio with the hope of hearing a certain song. Today, it’s all on demand and immediate. With the change, people in large numbers abandoned those traditional platforms.
When you think about it, a group like Blackpink, with 96 million subscribers, or an artist like Taylor Swift, with nearly 61 million subscribers, have been able to create an impact that rivals the Beatles through their YouTube presence—despite the proliferation of television and social media channels competing for our attention. YouTube uniquely functions as a common ground—the basis for water cooler conversations thanks to algorithms that push content our way—as well as a place where we can discover the newest songwriter who just uploaded their first recording. That’s pretty amazing when you think about it.
With more than two billion users worldwide, the impact of YouTube on culture is undeniable. Overall, it’s been a good thing. There are plenty of downsides, especially user addiction to the relentless flow of content. Sprout Social recently noted that people spend more time on YouTube than any other social media service.
But what is exciting about YouTube is that it still exists as a space where an artist can be discovered. Ed Sheeran famously used the platform to fan the flames of his growing popularity. And a decade ago, Teen Voguepointed to Justin Bieber and Carly Rae Jepsen as folks whose YouTube presence led to record contracts.