Latest news with #RickRoll
Irish Examiner
21-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
20 years of YouTube: 'We couldn't have predicted how the platform would evolve'
What toppled Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, launched the careers of Justin Bieber and Ed Sheeran, and gave the world Gangnam Style and K-pop, sneezing pandas, and Mr Beast? Yes, YouTube. Happy 20th birthday to the video-streaming platform with three billion users in 100 countries, the world's second biggest search engine, and a billion hours of content a day. Crikey. Has it really been 20 years? Beloved of everyone from primary school kids to their grannies and everyone in between (in our house it's a verb), the existence of YouTube came about thanks to two very different events in 2004 — the Asian tsunami and Janet Jackson's nipple at the Super Bowl. Back then — for very different reasons – it was hard to find footage of these two events online. This gave three tech bros working at PayPal an idea for a video-sharing platform. Originally launched on Valentine's Day 2005 as a potential dating site — the three co-founders, Jawed Karim, Steve Chen, and Chad Hurley were self-declared geeks in need of dates — its initial slogan was 'tune in, hook up'. But the stampede of people uploading dating video profiles failed to materialise, so the three guys opened the platform to everyone — the first video, uploaded in April 2005, was a grainy 19-second clip of Karim at San Diego zoo in front of the elephants, titled 'Me At The Zoo'. Not long after, in October 2006, Google bought YouTube for $1.65bn — a year after Rupert Murdoch's NewsCorp had bought the now long-dead platform MySpace for $580m. 'We're the stage, you're the performers,' Hurley told the public. And behold, a new internet species was spawned — the YouTuber. Nobodies in their bedrooms became somebodies earning serious cash — remember Zoella? PewDiePie? Today's top three biggest YouTubers are Mr Beast (390m subscribers), T-Series (293m subscribers), and Cocomelon (193m subscribers). You might not know who these people are if you're Gen X and use YouTube for music, film, or how-to tutorials rather than following the YouTube-famous. Yet so many YouTube cultural moments are cross-generational — a YouTube 20th video in the form of a RickRoll has had a billion plus views to date (YouTube has its own constantly evolving language — the Rick in a RickRoll is Rick Astley). In Ireland, some YouTube classics include The man who fell on the ice, Singing priest, Irish man fights with sat nav, and The Spark. Silly, fun, heart-warming, shared and shared and shared. Alison Lomax, MD of YouTube in UK & Ireland: 'We've seen a lot of growth in the Irish YouTube community and economy and want to bring it together. If you're a YouTube creator and work on your own it can be quite lonely — having that peer group [of fellow creators] means people can learn from each other". Photograph Moya Nolan. A LIGHTBULB MOMENT Alison Lomax is CEO of YouTube for Ireland and the UK. After 11 years at Google — she's been working in tech and creativity since the days of dial-up — she moved to her current role at YouTube two years ago. Based in London, she regularly pops over to Dublin — on the day I speak with her, she's here for an event celebrating Irish YouTubers. 'What's fascinating about my job is that no two days are the same,' she says. 'It's incredibly broad and varied, there's always a lot to think about — everything that's happening in the UK and Ireland is happening in my inbox. 'We've seen a lot of growth in the Irish YouTube community and economy and want to bring it together. If you're a YouTube creator and work on your own it can be quite lonely — having that peer group [of fellow creators] means people can learn from each other. "When the first video was uploaded in 2005, there was no such thing as a creator, let alone a creator economy. People have gone from vlogging in their bedrooms to building studios and having meaningful careers off the back of their YouTube business. 'Another big difference we've seen is, as well as all the genres involved, is the breadth of partners involved — now we work with news publishers, sports partners, broadcasters like RTÉ, businesses keen to partner with YouTube to reach younger audiences and also reach a more global platform.' This involvement of traditional media outlets began in 2005 when US broadcaster NBC had a lightbulb moment. Early YouTube uploaded an NBC-owned Saturday Night Live clip, Lazy Sunday, and NBC sued — before realising that an SNL clip going viral on YouTube was actually a good thing. A very good thing. 'That change in decision making was quite a pivotal moment in YouTube's history. What we see now with big partners globally is their understanding of the role YouTube plays, how it can complement what they're trying to achieve. We are a redistribution platform,' says Lomax. Creators — the people uploading self-created content — and YouTube split the revenue from the uploaded content 55%/45%. 'Over the past three years, we have paid out $70bn to creators, partners, and musical artists. YouTube is a unique revenue-sharing model that no other platforms have at this scale. It's what has allowed creators to build their businesses on YouTube. It's revenue that they get week in week out.' Being famous on YouTube can open all kinds of doors. The Sidemen, a group of eight friends who post comedy, vlogging, and gaming content, are popular with teenagers — they're worth around $50m. 'The Sidemen launched 10 years ago, and are now probably the UK's biggest creators,' says Lomax. 'They have a vodka brand, chicken shops. They had a charity football match at Wembley recently and it sold out faster than any other football match, they raised £6m. They're celebrities. 'Anyone with a phone and an idea or a passion can build a business, which means the representation is from all over, from rural as well as urban areas, all over the world,' she says. 'Global distribution means that for a local creator, the majority of their content is watched outside of their country, so they can reach a global audience. 'Allie Sherlock is a great example, from the days of busking in Grafton St, she now has a huge YouTube channel [6.28m followers] and is well known in the US. I think YouTube is super-interesting when it comes to music, you have big artists who have launched their careers on YouTube, and genres like K-Pop. It's really positive.' Well, mostly. But like every other corner of the internet, there's toxicity, particularly in the so-called manosphere. Alison Lomax, MD of YouTube in UK & Ireland: 'Our view is that generative AI is going to power human creativity, not replace it. But with AI, there are obviously areas where the platform has needed to evolve, and areas where we've needed to look at our policies to see how they've needed to change." Photograph Moya Nolan. THE DARK SIDE OF THE TUBE Recent research from Dublin City University showed how the recommender algorithms on YouTube and TikTok fed 10 sock-puppet male-identifying accounts on blank smartphones 'masculinist, anti-feminist, and other extremist content irrespective of whether they sought out general or male supremacist-related content, and that they all received this content within the first 23 minutes of the experiment'. Yikes. So what does YouTube do about harmful content — misogyny, white supremacy, far right extremism? Why is the algorithm allowed to push toxic content with the potential to reinforce and influence harmful behaviours? To spread misinformation, to amplify the deranged toxicity of fringe groups and individuals? To proliferate far right content? Is it because, as outlined in Facebook whistleblower Sarah Wynn Williams' book Careless People, spreading hate and far right extremism is extremely profitable? 'It's a societal challenge,' says Lomax. 'We have guidelines and policies about hate speech, and policies which prohibit content that has hatred towards any individuals or groups based on certain attributes, and we enforce this really rigorously. We have a 20,000-strong trust and safety team, and we work around the clock to make sure that any content which violates our policies is removed from the platform.' Andrew Tate, the online face of toxic masculinity, was permanently banned from YouTube in 2022 (unlike on Elon Musk's X, where he currently has 10.7m followers). 'We terminated his channels for multiple violations. He cannot own or upload onto any YouTube channel, or reupload any content,' says Lomax. 'He has no channels.' She explains how the platform deals with removing harmful content, which is done retroactively, that is, it has to be up there in order to be taken down. 'We have AI, which everyone thinks is new, but has been part of our platform for a long time. That's the first step.' Content flagged by AI is reviewed by the trust and safety team which is made up of 20,000 humans. 'We publish quarterly reports where we share the percentage of content which violates our views — the last one was 0.1%. It will never be zero, but we want it to be as close to zero as possible. We have removed over 236,000 videos which violated our hate speech policies.' YouTube Kids, launched in 2015, is aimed at tweens too young to have access to the platform (you have to be 13 or older), with parental controls around content, watch time, and search history. 'We also work with independent child development specialists and we have an independent youth and family advisory committee made up of independent experts who consult with us on our safety and age appropriateness from a content and platform perspective,' she says. 'We are always looking at ways we can protect children at all different stages. It's critical for us. Online safety is the most important thing for the platform.' SHORT SHORTS YouTube is famous for mutating to survive. When, for example, TikTok came along, YouTube responded in 2020 with YouTube Shorts, offering YouTube users a TikTok-like experience. And while AI has played a long-term role in scraping harmful content from its millions of uploads, how is generative AI impacting the platform? 'Our view is that generative AI is going to power human creativity, not replace it. But with AI, there are obviously areas where the platform has needed to evolve, and areas where we've needed to look at our policies to see how they've needed to change. "Last year, we launched creative disclosure labelling, which means there's a label required if someone has altered the content. It's now required that this is disclosed, and in some cases a watermark is shown on the content itself. So this means creators are transparent about which content is AI and which isn't.' Another innovation is content ID — if you own content, and someone else uploads it in a user-generated content way, you can claim it and monetise it. 'It's protected under your copyright. Which is a good source of monetisation for creators and partners. It's a way of expanding systems we've built over the years to protect creators, because ultimately our business is only successful if it works for creators. It's an ecosystem based on trust. We want users to know what is real and what has been created by AI. And deepfakes are subject to our community guidelines the same as any other content.' As tech and our human responses to it continue to develop at warp speed, it's impossible to predict what YouTube, and the digital ecosystem in which it exists, will look like in the future. Or does Lomax have a crystal ball? She laughs. 'Looking back over the past 20 years, we couldn't have predicted all of the different changes and how much the platform has evolved. 'We're constantly responding to user behaviour changes and also to changes within the media landscape as well. We've made so many big pivots over the years that it's really difficult to predict the next 20 years.' She'd like to see more acknowledgement for the role of YouTube creator as a legitimate career path. 'How do we and businesses and the government support this creator economy and recognise its growth potential within the creative industries? It's a real incubation for talent. We want YouTube to be the most rewarding platform, creatively and financially.' Cork busker Allie Sherlock has been one of Ireland's great YouTube success stories. Pic: Marc O'Sullivan IRELAND'S MOST-FOLLOWED YOUTUBERS 1. jacksepticeye - 30.9M The Athlone-based gaming YouTuber started his channel in February 2012, achieving a milestone one million subscribers just two years later in August 2014. More than a decade on, he is Ireland's most-followed creator. He's also got his own coffee brand, Top of the Mornin' coffee. 2. Nogla - 7.41M After 12 years on YouTube, the Limerick YouTuber has cemented his place as our second most-followed content creator. 3. Allie Sherlock - 6.29M The 20-year-old Cork native regularly draws crowds busking on Dublin's Grafton Street, but her astounding success on YouTube has given her a global reach. She went viral smashing covers, but now she's releasing her own original music. 4. Inventor 101 - 5.89M This DIY channel says its based in Ireland, but its creator has kept their identity a secret. They upload "inventions and science experiments" every week. 5. Kauczuk - 5.24M The Meath-based 27-year-old has gained a following sharing videos of himself creating stunning pieces of art.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Ranking the Cincinnati Bengals' all-time greatest schedule release videos (2019-2024)
It's the Super Bowl of subtle jabs and viral memes: NFL schedules release Wednesday. In what has become a league-wide tradition to reveal the 17-game slate, the Cincinnati Bengals will likely premiere their 2025 schedule release video via social media Wednesday night. Advertisement To all NFL social media staff out there, we see you and we respect you. With that being said, we ranked the Bengals' schedule release videos from the past six seasons (2019-2024), with No. 1 being the best video. Here's where the Bengals' schedule releases stand. (We will update this ranking later once the 2025 video drops). No. 1: Pee-wee football-themed release, 2024 Coming in at No. 1 is the Bengals' 2024 schedule release video, which featured a cast of pee-wee football players in an intense game against numerous Bengals mascots. Plenty of kid-friendly special effects made their way into the mascot football game, including a tackle made with an electric guitar and a couple of plays cut short thanks to the use of a magic portal and a lasso. Throughout the video, NFL fans might've spotted a couple semi-subtle jabs at opposing teams (did you see the Kermit the Frog cameo right ahead of the baby Bengals' Week 2 standoff against the Chiefs?). No. 2: Technology-centered video (ft. Mayor Aftab Pureval), 2023 The Bengals' media team used the world wide web angle to its advantage for the 2023 schedule release, with the help of Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval. Advertisement Pureval took jabs at the Kansas City Chiefs ahead of their 2023 AFC championship game against the Bengals. In a video posted to social media, Pureval referred to Arrowhead Stadium as "Burrhowhead Stadium." After the Chiefs won, tight end and former UC player Travis Kelce responded by called the mayor a "jabroni." In the release video, a notification popped up, alerting that Pureval had tweeted. The video went on to, of course, have the mayor announce when the Bengals would face the Chiefs, noting that he had "nothing else to add." Bengals' offensive tackle, Orlando Brown Jr., who played for the Chiefs during the 2023 AFC championship matchup, recorded Pureval and said, "I think that was better than the last time." The video also featured multiple other cameos, include appearances from comedian Gary Owen, TV host Kay Adams and former Bengals wide receivers A.J. Green and Trenton Irwin. No. 3: Leaning into Burrow's cigar-smoking image, 2020 In a now-deleted tweet, the Bengals revealed their 2020 schedule by kicking things off with a "Rick Roll like it's 2011 again," CBS Sports previously reported. Advertisement The team leaned hard on the image of its No. 1 overall pick, quarterback Joe Burrow, by centering the video around the iconic image of the QB smoking a cigar after winning the 2020 College Football Playoff National Championship with LSU and current teammate Ja'Marr Chase. According to CBS Sports, the schedule was revealed "through individual cigars getting labeled with the corresponding opponents of each week, including one that just says, 'Bye.'" No. 4: 'The Legends Pack,' 2021 The Bengals used their legendary players and game moments to announce their 2021 schedule with a playful spin on football cards: "The Legends Pack." The 1980s-style video started with a static TV screen turning on. Each week was accompanied by a prominent former Bengals player and their legendary in-game moment. Advertisement Wide receiver Chad Johnson kicked off the video, followed by Jim Breech, Tim Krumrie, Willie Anderson, Bob Trumpy, Isaac Curtis, Boomer Esiason, David Fulcher, Lemar Parrish, Ken Riley, James Brooks, Ken Anderson, Reggie Williams, Corey Dillon, Dave Lapham and, lastly, Cris Collinsworth. No. 5: Who Dey zooms on a scooter, 2019 Who doesn't love a good mascot video? For the Bengals' 2019 schedule debut, the team had its favorite Bengal, Who Dey, "zoom" through downtown Cincinnati, the Bengals' stadium and the team's weight room on a Razor scooter to announce the schedule. The video was simple, but it got the job done. No. 6: Relying on Photoshop and bad animation, 2022 In another now-deleted post, the Bengals combined over 100 stock photos and bad animation to reveal their 2022 schedule, which the team dubbed "the biggest Bengals season ever." Advertisement "What happens when you combine 100+ stock photos, bad animation, and the biggest Bengals season ever?The 2022 Schedule Release!" the Bengals wrote in the deleted post. The Bengals' 2022 schedule release was among CBS Sports' "six best social media reveals" for its creative use of Photoshop. Enquirer reporter Grace Tucker contributed to this story. This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Ranking the Bengals' all-time greatest schedule release videos
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Totally Rad: Celebrate National 80s Day
It's not a federal holiday — but maybe it should it be. National 80s Day takes place annually on February 6. Ostensibly that's because it's the birthday of two 80s icons, American President Ronald Reagan and ultimate 80s one-hit wonder Rick Astley ("Never Gonna Give You Up" AKA the "RickRoll" song). But do we actually need a justification to look back on one of the most exciting decades in pop culture? Like, never! Celebrate this 80s day by looking back at the most-popular American films, TV series, and albums from the decade, listed below. What is more iconically 80s than Michael J. Fox (in a puffer vest!), in a Delorean, living in 1950s nostalgia, with a Huey Lewis & the News soundtrack? Nothing! Robert Zemeckis' zany time-travel comedy would earn $381 million at the worldwide box office, and ultimately become a trilogy series. Swinging in at the very end of the decade, Tim Burton's audacious adaptation of the DC Comics caped crusader was a massive success, earning $411 million at the global box office. Movie audiences had never seen Batman like this, a dark and gritty protector — ironically played by Michael Keaton, then known primarily for his comedy work — but it may be Jack Nicholson's Joker who stole the show with his gleefully menacing performance. Originally intended as the final chapter in the trilogy starring Harrison Ford's dashing archaeologist, The Last Crusade took Indy to Europe and the Middle East as he attempted to track down the fabled holy grail, a cup from which Jesus Christ himself drank. Some still consider it the best of the five Indiana Jones movies, and it's important to remember that in the 1980s, we all knew Nazis were the bad guys. The film earned $474 million at the box office. Speaking of the best movies in a franchise, The Empire Strikes Back may have been chronologically only the second of the nine (so far) Star Wars movies, but 45 years later it is still considered the pinnacle of the series. Improving in every way from the original film, and giving us twists that shocked the cinemas — plus that bold bummer of an ending — the film captivated audiences, earning a total of $538 million worldwide. Absolutely loaded with 80s iconography, from kids on bikes, to the Speak and Spell, to the Reese's Pieces of it all, Steven Spielberg's E.T. was the undisputed champ of the 1980s box office, and it wasn't close — it earned $792 million worldwide. While E.T. would not spawn any sequels (at least, not yet), it did introduce America to a young superstar in Drew Barrymore, now a wildly popular talk-show host, and the Atari video-game adaptation of the movie was such a monumental bomb it quite literally destroyed not only that company, but the home video-game market for the first half of the decade. The convergence of two things really taking off in the 80s — Miami, FL, and police procedural shows — made for an iconic series that helped define the style and sound of the decade, and arguably changed television as well. The show gave a flashy look at the illicit drug trade and organized crime, and it helped to launch the careers of Don Johnson and Edward James Olmos. Along with Hill Street Blues, Miami Vice is the reason we now have a proliferation of prestige police shows on virtually any TV network or streaming service. Medical dramas have aired on television almost since the beginning of the medium, but St. Elsewhere was something different. The medical answer to prestige police series Hill Street Blues (they were both produced by Mary Tyler Moore's production company), it focused on a struggling urban hospital in Boston's South End. The large cast and overlapping plots both personal and professional were novel at the time, but would heavily influence future series like ER, Grey's Anatomy, and House. The series featured early work from future stars including Denzel Washington, Mark Harmon, Howie Mandel, Alfre Woodard, and of course, Ed Begley Jr. That bonkers series finale also set a high bar for future small-screen twist endings. Let's acknowledge right out of the gate that the legacy of this show is incredibly complicated. That said, it is impossible to consider TV in the 1980s without mentioning The Cosby Show. From 1985 to 1989 it was the No. 1 show in the country every single year. It was not only popular, it was GREAT. The writing was excellent, the cast was truly extraordinary — Phylicia Rashad, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Lisa Bonet, Tempestt Bledsoe, Keshia Knight Pullam, and later in the series, Raven-Symone were quite literally family goals for any American. It also had a profound impact on pop culture, following an affluent African-American family, and showing that such a concept was not novel — it was in fact incredibly ordinary. While its inspiration and direct competition, Dallas, was arguably the more successful show, it lacked the pop-culture cache that Aaron Spelling's Dynasty held on global culture (aside from Dallas' "Who Shot J.R.?" stunt; that was major). Dynasty transformed to an earnest family drama exploring class differences in the Denver, CO, oil world to an outrageously sudsy primetime soap that arguably has never been matched. Evil twins! Secret children (not one, but two!)! Lead poisoning! Astonishingly physical catfights! Dynasty had everything, as well as glamour, opulence, and attitude courtesy of stars like Joan Collins and Heather Locklear. Leads Krystle and Alexis became household names, leading to perfumes, fashion dolls, and other tie-ins. What other 80s show is specifically namechecked by Prince in a hit song? Only Dynasty. Technically not a show, MTV was absolutely essential to the 1980s. Launching as a plucky cable start-up in August 1981, MTV's initial pitch to its young and restless viewing audience was to shout loud and proud, "I WANT MY MTV!" And it worked. Within a few years, MTV would become a dominant force in music and pop culture in general. Its 24/7 rotation of music videos could supercharge a burgeoning act's career (Michael Jackson, Madonna) or return a former superstar to relevancy (Tina Turner). MTV has now become unending repeats of internet-fail videos, Catfish: The Series, or Teen Mom, but for the entirety of the 1980s it was mandatory viewing for anyone in their teens or 20s who wanted to be part of the culture. Toward the end of the 1980s, the upbeat neon and pout of New Wave was pushed aside aggressively by the coltish, screaming energy of hair metal. Leading that charge was Guns N' Roses, a group of young and unapologetic L.A. musicians who welcomed us to the jungle and led us into the November rain. Appetite sold 30 million copies worldwide. As the album heads toward 40 years old, it remains an astonishing opening salvo for a band that would deliver some of the most seeing rock music of the late 20th Century. As crazy as it sounds now, movie soundtracks were massive business in the 1980s. After the astonishing sales of the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack in the 1970s, movie studios and record labels wised up and brought some of music's biggest names — or most promising newcomers — to work creating new songs for major films. Top Gun, Footloose, Pretty in Pink — there are so many iconic, successful 80s film soundtracks. But none of them beat 1987's Dirty Dancing, which sold 32 million copies on the strength of such hits as "Hungry Eyes" by Eric Carmen, "She's Like the Wind" by Patrick Swayze (who also starred in the film), and of course "(I've Had) The Time of My Life," the big finale that makes literally no sense in the context of the 1950s-set movie, but who cares, because it's that good. While the 1980s gave us no shortage of mega-watt music stars — Madonna, Bon Jovi, Sting and The Police come immediately to mind — absolutely nobody could touch Michael Jackson in that decade. Following up another album we'll get to in a second, Jackson delivered Bad with a more dangerous look and even more intense songs, including the title track, "Smooth Criminal," "Dirty Diana," and some more upbeat jams like "The Man in the Mirror" and "The Way You Make Me Feel." An unexpected entry, Back in Black marked a major comeback for the Australian hard-rock group, and the first to feature new vocalist Brian Johnson. Based on the strength of singles "Hells Bells," "You Shook Me All Night Long," and the title track, plus great album tracks like "Shoot to Thrill," the record would go on to sell 50 million copies and spend more than 200 weeks on the Billboard Hot 200 list, an incredible run. Simply put, Michael Jackson's Thriller was not an album, it was a phenomenon. Jackson had already experienced huge success as a member of the boy band Jackson 5, and as a solo artist in the late 70s with his Off the Wall album. But nobody could have predicted just how big Jackson would blow up due to both this album and his legendary Moonwalk on the "Motown 50" TV special. Thriller is widely regarded as a perfect album, generating smash singles "Beat It," "Billie Jean," "Wanna Be Startin' Something," "P.Y.T." and of course that title song, and its accompanying video, which completely revolutionized what music videos could do and how successful they can be. Thriller would go on to sell 66 million copies, and forever Jackson as an all-time great in the music industry, even accepting his complicated legacy.
