Photo: AFP/ NurPhoto
With big hits like Charlie Bit My Finger, YouTube has been a central hub of viral sensations for 20 years.
Since its launch in February 2005, the platform has grown to be the second most used social media network worldwide, just behind Facebook.
And New Zealand is no stranger - with viral clips like Nekminnit making waves across the globe.
While having a viral hit can be exciting, journalist Paddy Gower detailed a love-hate relationship with his viral clip - which coined the now classic Kiwi meme "this is the F'ing news".
Paddy Gower knows what it's like to be a YouTube sensation. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
In 2014, the then political editor for Newshub took part in a skit by Auckland University's Law School.
Gower said the clip wasn't a part of the original skit, but it was later posted to YouTube.
"I woke up in the morning and it was over one million views.
"My boss, Mark Jennings, the director of news, absolutely freaked out. And his idea to stop it was for me to call YouTube and ask them to take it down."
Eleven years later, he said it has left a lasting impact on his life.
"In the beginning, I used to hate it. People yelling out 'this is the F'ing news' everywhere I went.
"I've heard it, I think, three or four times today alone, and there have even been four people who have had it tattooed on them.
"I've written a book called This Is the F'ing News. I've got a news brand called This Is the F'ing News. I've done a tour called This Is the F'ing News. I guess it'll be on any sort of headstone or whatever.
"It'll be the last thing people probably say about me. That's cool."
The Viva La Dirt League comedy and gaming channel was launched in 2011 and the three Kiwis who launched it, Rowan Bettjeman, Alan Morrison and Adam King, now have over seven million subscribers.
Bettjeman pointed out that the first few years were slow, but eventually, they were all able to make a career out of it.
"The point where we realised we could actually take the leap we had just started getting money on a platform called Patreon, and Alan and Adam both had fulltime jobs. And they were like, we're going to do it. We're going to quit our jobs, and we're going to just take the plunge. And it paid off."
He said back then, reaching one million subscribers was the milestone everyone aimed to achieve.
"We're on seven million, but nothing will ever quite compare to getting that first million.
"It was that milestone that we actually never thought we'd ever reach in the early days. We were like, imagine one day having a million subscribers."
But what does video content creation look like now?
The landscape has changed with the emergence of new platforms like Instagram and TikTok. Bettjeman said Viva La Dirt League has had to adjust.
"Even though we film all of our videos originally for YouTube, we have to kind of cut them and change the aspect ratio to fit onto these other platforms.
"TikTok is a big part of our source of videos now as well."
Who knows how videos on the internet will evolve in the next 20 years?
For now, though, it's nice to look back on the early days and remember that we will always have our old YouTube favourites like Nyan Cat.
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