[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNQXAC9IVRw&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

YouTube has come a long way from its first video showing founder Jawed Karim at the zoo.

This month, YouTube is celebrating its sixth birthday and has released some statistics in honor of the event that cement what we already know — people are really into online video.

According to spokesman Jacques Hebert, users are now uploading about 48 hours — yep, two days — of video to the site every minute. That’s a 100 percent year- over-year increase, he said. YouTube attributes this bump to more live streaming events (such as the royal wedding), longer upload times and faster upload processing times.

According to YouTube’s stats, global daily views have now exceeded 3 billion, a 50 percent increase from last year.

The site has been undergoing some major changes in the last few months and focusing more on content creation than it has in the past. It recently expanded its movie rental service and rolled out a channel devoted exclusively to live events.

Via Washington Post