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Sharp and engaging The Times The intricately reported elegantly crafted story of the website that came out of nowhere to change everything Brad Stone author of The Everything Store and Amazon Unbound Now for the first time ever discover the story of YouTube how it started how it works and how it came to control our culture It has entertained us with cat videos flash mobs gaming streams and Charlie Bit My Finger It has educated us with makeup tutorials DIYs and delicious recipes It has changed us with advertising extremism and political propaganda Since its foundation in 2005 YouTube has existed on a pendulum Its emergence established a valuable space for unique and important voices to share themselves and their views and made global stars out of everyday people such as PewDiePie Shane Dawson and Ryan Higa It invented the attention economy we all live in today forever changing how people are entertained informed and paid online At the same time countless extremists have found a home on YouTube using it to spread misinformation and propaganda sometimes with real world life and death consequences The site is massively profitable for its parent company Google Alphabet which has a