An entire generation of children abandoned television for YouTube. In many countries, it was the television. YouTube revolutionized supermarket tabloids and user manuals. In some parts of Silicon Valley, modernists envisioned YouTube replacing college professors and doctors.

And unlike any other website open to the masses, YouTube paid its creators. This innovation gave birth to an entire creative industry, a group of artists, personalities, performers, influencers, educators, and franchises—a new media outlet as revolutionary as radio and television, all within just a few years. YouTube made everyone presenters. It gave us "viral" videos like "Gangnam Style," Charlie biting his brother's finger, "Baby Shark," "It’s Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday," yoga with Adriene, lunchtime goblins with Mo, and videos from professional Minecraft players.

It showcased a vast, diverse crowd of creators with endless talent that old media had ignored or overlooked. Thousands of micro-celebrities whom you may not know, but who are certainly known by millions of young fans who watch them with such passion that they would never show for movie or TV stars.

YouTube was created alongside a series of other impressive internet startups, and it has surpassed almost all of them except Facebook. However, while Facebook has struggled to maintain the interest of young people since then, YouTube has never had that problem – it continues to attract ever younger audiences year after year. No company has done more to create the online attention economy that we all live in today.