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How YouTube achieved total Internet domination

YouTube is one of the most addictive sites on the internet, and it's come a long way since its very first post in 2005. Tech journalist Mark Bergen is the author of Like, Comment, Subscribe: Inside YouTube’s Chaotic Rise to World Domination. He talks about the rise of YouTube, and how it came to dominate the Internet.

Tech journalist Mark Bergen has written the book on YouTube's chaotic and meteoric rise

CBC Arts ·
(FILES) In this file photo taken on June 28, 2013 a webcam is positioned in front of YouTube's logo in Paris. - Millions of children regularly use YouTube to watch video game tutorials, television shows and even to watch random people unbox new toys. But consumer and child protection groups are worried that the Google-owned video service is collecting data on young users at the same time, and failing to shield them from inappropriate content.These organizations argue that Google needs to make big changes, including putting all child-directed videos in its separate YouTube Kids app to comply with laws in the United States and elsewhere. (Photo by LIONEL BONAVENTURE / AFP) (Photo credit should read LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP via Getty Images)
A webcam is positioned in front of YouTube's logo in Paris. (Lionel Bonaventure/AFP/Getty Images)
24:58How YouTube achieved total Internet domination

The very first video was uploaded to YouTube in 2005. 17 years later, the online video sharing platform is one of the most popular destinations on the Internet.

Owned by Google, YouTube has a huge influence on popular culture, and has changed the game for content creators — turning YouTubers into celebrities. 

Host Elamin Abdelmahmoud speaks with Mark Bergen, tech journalist and author of Like, Comment, Subscribe: Inside YouTube's Chaotic Rise to World Domination, about how YouTube became an Internet superpower.

You can listen to the full discussion from today's show on CBC Listen or on our podcast, Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, available wherever you get your podcasts.

Interview with Mark Bergen produced by Jean Kim.