as an older gen z, i can attest to how traumatizing the internet was growing up. Like clicking a link just to seeing violent (real) gore or 2 girls 1 cup or the tampon video, it all just really fucked me up. i’d be so down for a part 2 of this.

Old KZfaq was weird as hell but it was interesting and entertaining

For me the standout aspect of early KZfaq was the originality. There were no rules or even really advertising and it meant people were truly themselves, for better or worse 😂

The girls was UNHINGED. However I do miss the non monetized videos, when people posted for fun and not just trying to get on the right algorithms & trends😢.

Ah man, as a millennial (was around 15 when Charlie the Unicorn came out), these times were so strange but so fun. A lot of the "weird" YT vids also originated from Newgrounds and Adult Swim. It was all so weird, but also creative and I enjoyed that. And now people can't even say the word "dead", you guys have to say unalive. Wild.

I think we are entitled to mental compensation for the content we consumed back then 😂

I couldn’t handle Salad Fingers as a kid, I only saw bits of it and that was enough to scare me. I gave it a watch years later and I actually really appreciate it’s dark aesthetic and macabre sense of humour now! Looks like something I’d see in Smiling Friends now but I think that’s just a testament to how this series was really NOT for kids. Old KZfaq really set out to traumatize us. 😭

Old KZfaq was interesting, along with the weirdness amount of videos and content also the beauty of how youtube became an icon for gen Zs just like phones and social media platforms.

the storytime and beauty influencer eras raised me for sure. from tana mongeau to laura lee and tati westbrook's crying apologies

the amount of crazy things i saw in that era was absolutely insane, but it was so entertaining and i couldn’t stop watching

The fact that KZfaq got Happy Tree Friends to do one of their official educational videos (it was part of that series that taught about copyright and stuff you need to know to upload a KZfaq video) was wild. So much stuff KZfaq did officially in the early years, I don't think they would do now lol. I'd love to see more stuff about KZfaq history from you! I've been really interested in KZfaq and general 2000s internet history lately. I'm thankful that I didn't get recommended any violent videos as a kid lol, although I did come across some weird inappropriate stuff on my own. Of course, everyone I knew (and myself) was really into The Duck Song, Nyan Cat, and the Gummy Bear Song. Sometimes I would search for random words on the KZfaq app and there would be like, 5 results sometimes lol. That's how I discovered a music video uploaded from some educational DVD, titled "Just a Boring Square", and I still revisit that song sometimes. I think I mostly watched some more niche stuff that, unfortunately, isn't available on KZfaq anymore -- like some kids' video series inspired by the show H20, titled "Mermaid Scales" (I remember it being very impressive considering they filmed it themselves). There was this cool video I found of this girl demonstrating her "magical powers" to the song "Glad You Came", I think she just recorded herself throwing things and reversed it to make it look like she was using telekinesis. There were also a lot of videos made by kids that were like "spell to turn into a fairy" and whatever. I watched a TON of those lmao, but they would always include some stuff like "wear this necklace and don't shower for three days", and my parents wouldn't let me do that. Surprisingly, I never watched Fred growing up, but I joined the small Fred fandom some months ago lol. I know it was really big in EARLY early KZfaq. It's so funny that it became this relatively successful kids franchise that got picked up by Nickelodeon, when the original video series is kind of a dark comedy and has all this stuff in it that obviously could never make it onto Nickelodeon.

i think it's really great to take notice that most of gen alpha's humor is somewhat taken from what we had before. skibidi toilet, which i do find annoying, is rlly just a meme and other random shit coming together. which, a bit reminds of older memes. but iiiiiiiiiiddk

Charlie the unicorn came out with an incredible finale recently if anyone is interested 😂

Literally, as soon as you pointed out the similarities between Gen Alpha humor and old youtube when the text came up, I said "yep makes sense their Skibidi toilet is our crazy frog." Then you made the same comparison and I was like "yoooo! I just said that!" and had to comment. Lol! X3

it's funny to realize how many these things I grew up on and think that I'm fine, I still rewatch DHMIS all the time like I did when I was 6 and 7 years old. I really loved these videos at the age, I actually dont feel like I was 'traumatized' and I watched all of these videos

Whoever watched smile as a child deserves compensation

11:55 Younger Millennials were definitely traumatized by the internet too. I still remember how terrified and upset I was by that jumpscare maze game. Almost wish I could remember which of my friends sent it to me so I can hold a grudge against them lol

I miss it. It was entertaining and odd lol. KZfaq is way too serious now.

As an older millennial lucky enough to have one younger millennial and two Gen Z siblings, we watched KZfaq evolve together and bonded over the content and its creators. Now we have so many funny stories to share 😂❤

I'm 27 now and the mere mention of "Don't Hug Me, I'm Scared" evoked a visceral reaction from me. My KZfaq experience was a combination of catching those weird-ass viral videos and watching TV shows like Winx Club or Sailor Moon cut up into three ten-minute chunks.

the perfect timing is crazy

i love david firth so much lmao, there's new episodes of salad fingers, and mr fingers isn't actually malicious. David Firth has even said he didn't really mean for Salad Fingers to be scary, he more just wanted to create a dark and surreal series, similar to his other content as well. David even said there is no ending in sight.

I would love to see another video on old youtube. Also, I'd love to hear what you think about youtube "influencers" vs other platform's "influencers" because I have noticed a difference.

i always say ppls addiction to tiktok parallels with my addition to youtube. like i was super young on youtube to the point where i remember when the app was brown and there were fights about whether it was “youtube” or “utube” 😭.. i took ā deeper side of it though. i was obsessed with the illuminati and conspiracy videos to the point i would keep myself up at night :( i feel like i’ve seen every change to this app n it’s crazy. idk what i would do without youtube honestly.

I remember showing Charlie the Unicorn to my great-grandma and it went over like a lead balloon lol

I have been on youtube from the literal beginning, I was 17 in 2005 when I found the site, and from the beginning it was weird because people used it just as a place to share home videos, once lonelygirl15 hit the stage things changed. Watching the people that were "big" on youtube at the time like Renetto and Boh3m3 and Emmalina and TheWineKone all talking about what produced content meant for the platform was very interesting. Even then the gatekeeping existed, when things like Salad Fingers and Charlie The Unicorn started to crop up there was already a sentiment of the platform being dead. Its funny how time makes fools of us all.

I remember when I was like 9 I was obsessed with those body painting videos because I thought it was cool so I searched up “body paint” on KZfaq to try to find those videos and…. I saw some crazy stuff…😭

14:31 this video was so interesting! I would absolutely love to see you talk more about youtube's history. thanks for all of the effort you put into your videos

I’m a younger millennial and I had the same thing of those fucked up viral videos. I also had like mostly unrestricted access to the internet and it was a LOT easier to find fucked up things, and talk to full grown adults 😳 one slight positive is that the messed up things were clearly messed up, I don’t remember there being as much subtle problematic things as they were very in your face. Now it’s harder to tell

Old KZfaq was peak unhinged content. Weird video posted and HS would be crazy the next day.

I would love a part two to this. I remember the post Vine era creators with my kids. So many weird songs so they did not get demonized.

I used KZfaq to learn to solve the Rubik's cube in 2006. Now cubing has evolved dramatically because of it. It's funny when my husband shows me old KZfaq comedy content.

old youtube was weird as hell but man i remember the days when it went from just a bunch of 20 second skits i'd binge through to full on episodes and podcasts and documentaries on this bitch and it became my go to TV. speaking of old youtube, it just came to me that you are like the reincarnation of Kingsley seeing as how your channel is all about pop culture and all :)

nah cuz why were we watching happy tree friends in elementary school…???? it was so gory 😭

Loved the video and would love to see a deeper dive! I would say one of the things I miss most about old KZfaq is the excitement around the rewind every year, hoping that your favorite creator would be in the video

Great video! Would definitely be happy to hear you talk more KZfaq history!

Just statted the video but i will say this. Nostalgia and fondly remembering your youth isn't bad on it's own, but of course remember to have a critical lense plus usually (at least from what i have seen) people who tend to have alot of nostalgia tend to usually come from a privileged background and that there were people who didn't have a great youth whether its due to religious trauma, geopolitical issues, etc. Always keep a critical lense

Watching a video about "old KZfaq" that mentions Charlie the Unicorn as though it were some sort of artifact from antiquity is.... Well, it's a feeling, that's for sure. lol :) I distinctly remember watching that video as a college senior on a friend's giant brick of a laptop in the student lounge. That being said, I was also traumatized by Happy Tree Friends. So it wasn't just kids doing that to each other. Luckily, I managed to avoid being traumatized by two girls one cup. The person trying to trick me wasn't convincing enough!

Elmo had a gun traumatized me as a kid like 6 or 7 I think. After that, I thankfully didn’t rly encounter the uncanny side of KZfaq bc of the rise of the influencer era. Except when Annoying Orange came on Nickelodeon, I hated it bc the face of the fruits were not only unsettling to me, but the humor of it was actually very annoying and uninteresting to me. The Nickelodeon version took all the uncanniness of it out tho to meet kid friendly tv standards

Loved this and as a millenial it’s wild to have seen the changes in KZfaq. I would love if you made a history of KZfaq video, I would watch that !!

Yes pleaaseee to the full KZfaq eras history!!! I feel as though you have the same kind of KZfaq nostalgia as me and I'm soo here for it!!

The fact that Poppy, Lamas with Hats, and that video of the ice cream woman eating herself weren’t mentioned is a CRIME

Does anyone else remember when the copyright infringement information video that KZfaq made you watch if you got a copyright strike was a Happy Tree Friends video? Because that was an unhinged time in KZfaq lore.

I remember our senior slideshow having so many clips from youtube videos durng the section that covered the media during our high school years (2004-2008) Its funny to watch Smosh now because they were there from the jump and theyve come all the way back around to watching their old videos and commentating on them, including their Annoying Orange parts WITH the creator of Annoying Orange. The fact that they went for a period where they were even owned by Rhett and Link, another YT pioneer (thoufh they came about a few years later) whose stuck around, has really proved how cyclical the site can be. You can still look up and watch the old stuff and so many are and reacting to themselves watching them for the first time. Its crazy on here 😂

Millennial here. Salad fingers was my absolute favorite thing. And I had to be a freshman when I watched salad fingers. I Also really enjoyed happy tree friends. But I was at a stage in life where those types of things were hilarious. But I get how it could frighten little children. So i'm sorry that you are traumatized

It's worth remembering the role that Newgrounds had at that time. A lot of these 'unhinged animations' were just as popular on Newgrounds as they were on KZfaq and there was also a lot of overlap. Some of these series got their start on Newgrounds, with others it was on KZfaq, but there was a lot of influence between both websites. I actually remember being more into Newgrounds than KZfaq for a long time, until I realised how many similar animations were on KZfaq as well. XD

yeah, I knew a good portion of those videos would have been blocked by the school's firewall, but a friend's phone? nightmares

would love a video on more youtube history for sure!!!

Yes. A part 2 would be good!

love this video!! so nostalgic lol

STOP i remember some kid at camp in like elementary/middle school showed me salad fingers and I was scared of spoons for like a week 😭

The videos that stick with me are a bit newer bc I’m 15 but they were the mlp ones with all the gore and “sexual” stuff

People from my elementary school class were watching 2 girls 1 cup in lunch break

I love how crazy it was though. Made it so entertaining.

Went from salad fingers to skibidi toilet, both weird, just different eras lol

Yes, YTP was a nightmare for all. I never knew what to expect.

I was in high school when KZfaq came out and I remember sooo many of these videos! I don’t think they were dark per say but def very unfiltered and prob is why so many of us are so desensitized to things

I was on,one during the beginning of KZfaq and was a kid back then but thought it was weird even then. Also please do a full video about original content creators! It would be so interesting

Can we get the KZfaq era video? For me, I was heavy into anime chat rooms with non cannon story lines.

Alsoo, remember the musicians era (like Lindsey Stirling and The Piano Guys not tiktok musicians lol). Omgg I can't wait for a KZfaq eras video Roomie!

They were pre youtube comma but youtube made them far more accessible, Banana Phone, Numa Numa, and most of the stuff on ebaumsworld shaped my idea of comedy

I miss this old era of KZfaq so much. It was just so… innocent (i know it wasnt tho). Back then it was just weird and low budget videos, and people posted for fun, not for clout. It felt like watching everyone’s weird home videos (bc thats what it was) and other stuff that would never be given the time of day on traditional media. But now? It IS basically traditional media since most people dont even watch tv anymore. Everyone is on their phone either consuming content or trying to make it as a content creator. Its all about ads, engagement, views, clout… I am old enough to remember when the internet was our escape from the real world. Now it seems like its the opposite. The real world has become my escape from the craziness and emptiness of internet today

yeah I was definitely traumatized by a lot of these videos. Why were we allowed to have unlimited internet access

im letting you know.. I wants to see that full video!!

Bro happy tree friends 😭😭😭

There are so many facts in this video 👏🏻 Subscribed!

this is the video i didnt know i needed, clicked immediately lolol old youtube was...... somethin else fr

This was an excellent video and the first that I've seen of yours; I'm excited to check out more. But brother, I am begging you to google the term "uncanny valley" because it means something different than it seems like you think it does from the various contexts that you use it here. Especially with stuff like Charlie the Unicorn. He isn't in the uncanny valley - he's on candy mountain!

How animals eat raised me. Watching that man dive into a table multiple times sent me for some reason at that age

I watched like ONE happy tree friends video and was immediately scarred but I LOVED salad fingers.

Do a part 2 and a KZfaq history

Thank you for bringing up the fact that most every creator had a "messy" era on youtube. When the whole Shane Dawson thimg started they all turned their noses up like he was a monster but they were fully family friendly. They're family friendly *now* but back in the day raunchy humor was the norm. Some of the biggest people on the platform had content that was just as bad as putting on a fruit hat and calling themselves "Fruit Lupe".

nah 'Happy Tree Friends' is actually the most traumatizing thing iv ever watched! How they HELL did i watch that as a kid !

Old youtube was gold tier. It was the plethora of that weird "lolrandom" zellenial humor and creativity that we're never getting on the internet again. I ZOOMED home for every new Ray William Johnson =3 episode. I kinda hate KZfaq now because it's less animation and more just people TALKING and flexing all their money. Vloggers killed it and it started with the Paul Brothers.

old youtube is the reason why i love youtube

Im a gen z millinial cusp and I would LOVE to see a You Tube Eras series of deep dives from you

yes you should indeed do more deep dives on youtube thank you very much

Man old KZfaq was really something else. As a baby millennial it was just wild seeing all of the creative content

Watched this just for the salad fingers nostalgia 😂😂😂

I’m 31 and I’ll I’m going to say is “Mr hands” and “2 girls 1 cup” old you tube was like the g-rated version of what was really circulating on the internet in the early 2000s. The internet definitely has a dark side no matter what platform/website you use. We have to be careful What we expose our minds to.

Old KZfaq gave me nightmares lmao

I miss old KZfaq. I think most creators just said what they wanted without worrying about being canceled everything now it’s just like you have to say the right thing whether you’re a regular person or a content creator it’s too much. And I think the theory of canceling someone for something they did 10 years ago is so odd like 10 years ago I was 10 and on KZfaq I said some weird stuff that I wouldn’t say today I think we need to allow creative to evolve and change❤ but I love this video

At least it was entertaining. I miss Jacksgap and Caspar 😭😭

oh wow!! i forgot about happy tree friends!! This was so interesting!! Would love a part 2 of this!!

tbh i'll take weird/unsettling youtube over being sent actual real life gore as a prank. like of course you can find gore on youtube if you go looking hard enough but there was no prominent 'goretube' community

PLEASE DO A DEEP DIVE ON THE INFLUENCER ECONOMY!!!❤ you hear about people actually making a living off the media world yet not many of us aren’t motivated to start because it’s considered a cliche ! But i wanna know the statistics and psychology side of it, coming from an amazing person whose blessed me with an amazing platform to watch like this🥺❤️🌹 LOVE YOUR VIDEOS☺️🌹🌹🌹

The very first youtube video i saw was Charlie the unicorn. That one was so weird! It was about three unicorns on candy mountain and they end up drugging one of them named Charlie and when he wakes up he realizes they took his kidneys ... Lmao i was 11 years old when i saw this. And it was 2006 i believe.

How weird is it that salad fingers is obsessed with rusty spoons and then he says the feeling of them on his fingers is "orgasmic" .....like wtf

I completly forgot about happy tree friends until now, was definitely to young for that Salad finger was just strange and creepy

we were all traumatized as kids by something we watched, we didn't need to wait for youtube and Salad Fingers for that. if you were a kid in the 70s like me, you probably saw Watership Down when you were way too young. I was 4 when my father took me to see that bunny-slaughterfest in the movie theater.

The spoon guuyyyyy 😭

I grew up watching “Ren and Stimpy” so this all seems normal and fine to me 🤷🏻‍♀️

I would totally watch a video of the history of KZfaq

Does anyone remember Detective Mittens the crime solving cat? That was one of my favorites

I remember being in like high school and I made it that far not watching 2 Girls 1 Cup and then me and my girls decided to have a lil smoke sesh and watch it and whew! Baby that was a time!! Never again 💀💀💀

Nobody ever talks about that suicide cat video with repeating music in the background.😤

part 2 of yt pleaseeee

Millennials had a nifty little site called eBaumsworld that harbored early form memes, wild videos, and haunted conspiracy theory videos that scared the she-she out of us lol and joe cartoon to shock us yet make us laugh

Oh I remember Salad Fingers! So strange.

Do deep dive of everything you mentioned pls