YouTube is one of the most popular social media platforms in the world, only falling short of Facebook. YouTube allows people to create and upload their videos online for the world to see, and video topics can include tutorials, music, education, video games, and much more. As a social media platform, YouTube not only acts as a helpful source of information but also as a source of entertainment.
However, YouTube also includes several “easter eggs,” which are hidden jokes, references, games, or messages software developers include in their applications. Although YouTube is owned by Google, it doesn’t have nearly the same amount of easter eggs that Google has. Additionally, many easter eggs on YouTube have been removed due to redesign updates and interface changes. Nonetheless, below is a list of old and new easter eggs for you to try!
Old Easter Eggs
The following easter eggs are no longer working on YouTube, however, if you would like to experience these easter eggs for yourselves, please click the links below. These links utilize the Wayback Machine, a digital archive website that allows users to see and interact with how websites looked back then. Some rarer easter eggs, like Geek Week and the snake game have not been archived, but many popular ones have.
1. Doge Meme
If you typed in “doge meme” on the YouTube search box and hit enter, the entire web page’s text would turn into multiple colors of the Comic Sans font, a reference to the font used in doge memes. If you would like to experience this easter egg for yourself, click here.
2. Webdriver Torso
Typing “webdriver torso” into the search bar would turn the YouTube background red and blue, a reference to Webdriver Torso, which was a YouTube testing channel for features. This channel would generate videos varying in length, containing random blue and red rectangles. Although this easter egg doesn’t exist anymore, the channel is still on YouTube. It has over 600,000 videos published!
If you would like to experience this effect on your own, click here.
3. Use The Force, Luke!
Searching “use the force luke” would create a wavy effect, allowing you to move the videos around the screen with only the movement of your mouse. Try this classic reference to Star Wars here.
4. Geek Week
If you typed “/geek week” (or any other search term starting with “/”) into the search bar, it would turn your YouTube webpage into a retro-themed format using ASCII art, a form of art design based on graphical characters and symbols. This easter egg was released to celebrate YouTube’s first Geek Week, an event in August used to celebrate aspects of geek culture, such as gaming, Marvel, and anime by promoting recommended channels and content to users.
5. Snake
If you pressed the up arrow while a video was in its loading screen, the loading circle animation would turn into a snake, and dots would appear on the screen, acting as “food” for the snake. However, once the snake crashed into the video frame or itself, it would disappear and the video would resume where it left off.
New Easter Eggs
1. Rainbow Playback
If you type “awesome” while viewing a video (anywhere on the video frame, just not on the search box or comments), the video playback bar will turn into a rainbow and start flashing rapidly. Type “awesome” again to stop the effect.
2. Seinfeld Without People
Searching “Seinfeld without people” on YouTube will bring up a mysterious video with no title or no description. Indeed, this is a reference to what Seinfeld, a popular comedy TV series from the 90s, would look like without any people. Interestingly, some of the comments underneath the video are blank as well.
3. Tribute to Technoblade
If you type in “Technoblade” on YouTube, a prompting message will say “Did you mean: Technoblade never dies.” This is a tribute to Technoblade, a popular Minecraft YouTuber who died in 2022 due to cancer. “Technoblade never dies” is a popular catchphrase people use to commemorate his legacy and impact.
4. Too Many Cooks
Searching “too many cooks” on YouTube will bring up a bizarre yet interesting comedy video titled “Too Many Cooks | Adult Swim.” Clicking on the video reveals an enlarged video title with a yellow serif font, matching the font used within the video. This is the only video on YouTube that has a video title in a different font and color than the typical black Roboto font used throughout the site.
5. 301 Views
If you search for “301 views” on YouTube, a video titled “Why do YouTube views freeze at 301?” by Numberphile will show up, permanently stuck with 301 views. Oddly enough, while the view count displays “301”, there are almost 4 million views and 300,000 comments. This easter egg refers back to an old feature where YouTube views would stop at 301 so YouTube could check if views were being gained legitimately. After views were authenticated, they would behave normally.
Overall, YouTube can be much more than just a place to share videos and content. YouTube developers have hidden many interesting secrets alluding to popular media, figures, ideas, or events, as a joke or for fun. I would encourage you to try these easter eggs on your own or look for ones on the Wayback Machine on your own time for the best experience.
