Computer Engineer Starts a Dating Site, Accidentally Creates the Third Biggest Site in the World

In an alternate universe, there’s probably a version of YouTube designed to match potential couples — sort of like how its founders originally intended it to be: Tinder with video.

Speaking at the South by Southwest conference on Monday, YouTube co-founder Steve Chen revealed that the popular video-sharing site was supposed to be a dating site, reported CNET.

“We thought dating would be the obvious choice,” Chen said.

Videos wherein users would describe themselves, their match preferences and other details would serve as personal profiles. Such a service would be similar to the ‘80s-era video-dating services that were popular long before the internet.

The idea failed to materialize in five days of that format, however, as no one uploaded a single video. This is when the founders decided to open the platform to accept all forms of video content, birthing the YouTube that we know today.

Currently, YouTube is the world’s third most-visited website and an infinite source for reaction videos, fake pranks and makeup tutorials.

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