YouTube started out as a dating site. On Valentine's Day 2005 -- 18 years ago this month -- cofounder Chad Hurley registered the logo, trademark and domain name for YouTube.com. The idea was that users would upload videos talking about themselves and what they were looking for in a partner. There was even a dating tagline, "Tune in, hook up." There was also very quickly a problem: no one seemed to want to participate, not even after Hurley and his cofounders, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim, put ads on Craigslist offering $20 to women who would post videos.
HISTORY's Moment in Media: YouTube's Origin Story -- From Dating Site to Video Giant
