Origin[]
It is near impossible to find to find the very first Bob comment ever posted, however we can gain an insight as to around what time Bob started appearing in YouTube comments based on threads from forums and Yahoo Answers. These sources indicate that Bob started appearing sometime in early 2009 (possibly in April). Here are some examples (note the date).
What is Bob?[]
Basically, Bob was a chainmail/spam seen only on YouTube that involved a stickman named Bob and a message about how he was going to “take over YouTube”. The idea was that Bob could do this by being copied and pasted as much times as possible, however it never really succeeded fully in achieving this. However, Bob was able to spread quite fast, so in a way, Bob did achieve his goal, at least for a while.
How to make bob[]
Alt + 2 = ☻ Add a slash ☻/, then press enter and add another Alt + 221 = ▌ Finally press enter and add another couple of slashes Now you have Bob.
YouTube’s reaction[]
Like with most chainmails or spam, most people didn't like it. However, in order for this to spread, there had to be some people that did, which there were plenty of.