Early YouTube
David After Dentist, Charlie Bit My Finger, the genre-defining viral smile videos of YouTube's first decade.
Part of Smiles
16 moments in this segment.
- — Judson Laipply — Evolution of Dance. April 2006. Comedian Judson Laipply's 6-minute "Evolution of Dance" — from Elvis to N'Sync. The most-viewed YouTube video of 2006-2007.
- — Charlie Bit My Finger. May 22, 2007. The Davies-Carr brothers — 1-year-old Charlie biting 3-year-old Harry's finger. 900 million views; sold as an NFT for $760,000 in 2021. The first true YouTube viral hit.
- — Paul Potts Sings Nessun Dorma. June 9, 2007. Carphone Warehouse manager Paul Potts walks on stage at Britain's Got Talent and sings Nessun Dorma. The unguarded smile from Simon Cowell — the rarest of all televised smiles.
- — Dramatic Chipmunk. June 2007. Five-second video of a prairie dog turning its head. 60M+ views; spawned a thousand parodies and the "dramatic zoom" meme.
- — Frozen Grand Central. January 31, 2008. Improv Everywhere's 207 people freezing in place in Grand Central Terminal at 2:30 PM. The bewildered-then-delighted commuter reactions defined the flash-mob genre.
- — David After Dentist. January 30, 2009. 7-year-old David DeVore Jr. on the ride home from dental surgery: "Is this real life?" 142 million views.
- — Susan Boyle's Audition. April 11, 2009. 47-year-old Susan Boyle walks on stage at Britain's Got Talent and sings "I Dreamed a Dream." The Simon-Cowell-stunned and Amanda-Holden-emotional reaction shots circled the world overnight.
- — Sound of Music Flash Mob — Antwerp. March 23, 2009. 200 dancers performing "Do-Re-Mi" in Antwerp Central Station. The commuters' surprise → delight → singing-along defined the European flash-mob trend.
- — Double Rainbow Guy. July 3, 2010. Paul "Bear" Vasquez filming a double rainbow at Yosemite, weeping in awe: "Oh my god. What does this MEAN?" 51M views.
- — Sarah Churman Hears for First Time. 2011. Sarah Churman, age 29, hears her own voice for the first time after a cochlear implant activation. Her uncontrollable laugh-cry became the template for every "first time hearing" video that followed.
- — Baby Laughing at Ripping Paper. 2011. Micah, 8 months old, in uncontrollable belly-laughter as his father rips a Costco rejection letter. 100M+ views; one of the most-shared baby videos of all time.
- — The "Kids React" Series Begins. 2010 onward. The Fine Brothers' Kids React series — children watching old TV, music videos, technology. The pure joy reactions defined a YouTube subgenre.
- — Marine Comes Home — School Reveal. 2010-onward genre. US service members surprising their kids at school assemblies. The "Welcome Home Daddy" hugs became one of YouTube's longest-running feel-good genres.
- — Colour-Blind Glasses Reveal. 2013 onward. EnChroma glasses videos: colour-blind people seeing red and green for the first time. The brother/father/son reaction shots defined Father's Day viral content for half a decade.
- — Grandma Sees Grandkid on FaceTime. 2010s onward. Grandparent's first FaceTime call with a grandchild. The thumb-on-the-camera fumbles + the moment of recognition became the canonical "phone-from-a-grandmother's-POV" content.
- — Toddler Discovers Rain. 2014 viral video. 1-year-old's first encounter with rain. The face-tilted-up wonder reaction became the template for "first time" toddler-discovery videos.
