2008: The Year In Video

It has been a busy and exciting year here at YouTube. With 13 hours of video uploaded every minute, hundreds of millions of views a day and 23 country-specific versions of the site, apart from anything else we were faced by a mountain content to sift through and myriad factors to bear in mind when compiling our end-of-year list of memorable moments. Which is why we turned to our estimable team of statisticians to help formulate the selection – if only to avoid unseemly bust-ups around the office.

With the help of our all-powerful analytics tool, the aim was to balance the raw power of heavy video views with a subtle blend of community engagement metrics including ratings, favorites and the ability to stir up a comments storm. The net result was a cluster of memorable video moments which this year we have whittled down to 24 and will reveal at the rate of one an hour until 2009 dawns and the whole process can begin in earnest again. Until then, revel in the videos that made the cut last year:

At the stroke of midnight (Pacific Time) you can expect a more detailed run-down of the clips on the list complete with some background information to place them in context. Until then, it would spoil the surprise to breathe a word of the videos to come. So sit back, enjoy your New Year’s Eve and prepare yourself for a jog through the most memorable YouTube moments of 2008.


Have fun,

The YouTube Team