Meme with headline about a GoPro swallowed by lava followed by a Minecraft lava screen labeled 'the recordings:'

GoPro

2007viral video genreclassic

Published August 25, 2026

GoPro is a brand of wearable action cameras whose first-person extreme-sports footage became a signature internet video style in the early 2010s. Clips of surfers, skydivers, seagulls, and stratosphere jumps racked up millions of views on YouTube and helped shape how adventure video looks online.

gopro memes early 2010s memes youtube viral participatory video memes street footage memes

Overview

GoPro is a brand of small wearable camcorders built for outdoor and extreme conditions. Founder Nick Woodman came up with the idea during a surfing trip and wanted a cheap way to film himself and his friends in the water1. The compact body and wide fisheye lens made it easy to strap the camera to helmets, boards, handlebars, and even animals.

The gear turned into its own YouTube video style. First-person skiing, biking, surfing, and animal-mounted GoPro clips spread heavily in the early 2010s, and by late 2012 the company had sold three million cameras in three years, which IDC ranked as the top-selling video camera in the United States1.

The camera picked up its own slang along the way. Urban Dictionary users described the "GoPro effect," where the wide lens flattens perspective and makes big drops or steep jumps look smaller than they actually are4.

Origin & Background

Platform
YouTube (viral spread)
Creator
Nick Woodman
Date
2007

GoPro was founded by CEO Nick Woodman, who wanted a wearable camera after struggling to film himself surfing on a trip abroad1. The company shipped its first camera system in 20043.

The earliest known GoPro clip on YouTube was uploaded by user HidalgoRides on October 15th, 2007, and showed a GoPro strapped to a BMW motorcycle on trails in Washington state2.

How It Spread

Music and surf video pushed the format past hobbyist circles. On April 20th, 2010, Jack Johnson's music video for "You And Your Heart" hit YouTube with GoPro footage shot from a surfboard, later drawing over 15.5 million views3.

Wildlife and animal clips fed the next wave. On June 23rd, 2011, Lukas Karasek uploaded a video of a seagull flying off with his GoPro in Cannes, France, which was reposted to r/videos two days later and picked up more than 2,000 upvotes3. That October, YouTuber mcsmcc posted a clip of a mountain biker blindsided by an antelope that drew more than 14.4 million views, and in September 2012 YouTuber hulafantastica shared footage from a GoPro mounted on a hula hoop at Burning Man3.

The camera hit its peak visibility on October 14th, 2012, when Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner wore a GoPro on his chest during his 24-mile stratosphere jump1. Within a week, the tech blog Gizmodo published a roundup of 12 standout GoPro videos, and the New York Times Bits blog wrote about the camera being mounted on Mach-5 jets and 100-foot surfboards1.

How to Use This Meme

GoPro-style shots typically use the camera's wide fisheye lens mounted first-person: on a helmet, chest harness, surfboard, handlebars, or a pet. Common conventions include point-of-view action framing, extreme motion close to the lens, and mounts that put the viewer inside the ride. Creators often lean into the fisheye look for the signature GoPro feel, even though it can make jumps and drops appear smaller than they really are, an effect nicknamed the "GoPro effect" on Urban Dictionary4.

Frequently Asked Questions