Even to this day, when you think of a YouTuber the first thing that springs to mind is often someone in front of the camera, talking directly to that camera as though they were having a heart-to-heart conversation with someone in the room.
It’s not exactly an image that would be appealing to many introverts.
That being said, being a YouTuber is appealing for many reasons, so while the aforementioned introverts might not want to climb in front of a camera and bare their soul for the world, there are still plenty of types of channel out there that are a little more palatable.
What is an Introvert? Am I One?
The definition of introvert is one of those things that often gets boiled down to one or two simple traits, when there is actually quite a broad spectrum of introverted behaviour.
The most obvious trait of an introvert is a lack of interest in external stimulation. This is often mistaken for a lack of interest in going out, which is not technically the same thing.
Introverts are less interested in stimulation outside their own thoughts, not their own house. It’s true, however, that the two often come hand in hand.
Shyness is another common introvert trait, as well as a preference for solitude. In other words, an introvert YouTuber isn’t likely to be interested in hitting the crowded streets with a camera for prank or reaction videos, or being “on the ground” at a large convention.
10 YouTube Channel Ideas for Introverts
Before we dive into the actual ideas, it’s worth pointing out that, regardless of your own personality traits, the list of channel ideas that is right for you is whatever you are comfortable with.
If something on this list doesn’t appeal to you, that’s fine; everybody is different. Similarly, if you feel comfortable with something that would typically be off of an introverts table, you shouldn’t avoid it because some blog post or YouTube video told you it’s not suitable for introverts.
1. Screen Recorded Tutorial Videos
Given the practically endless selection of software out there in a practically endless variety of niches, there will always be a use for screen recorded tutorial videos.
In these types of videos, you never need to be on screen (some choose to but that’s entirely optional), and some screen recorded tutorial videos don’t even have speaking content, instead relying on text to do the work.
The important thing about a video like this is that it shows the viewer what they want to know in as clear a way as possible.
It could be how to make an image look like an old photograph in Adobe Photoshop, how to make a model of a car in Blender, how to do your accounting in Freshbooks, or any number of other options.
2. Animated Videos
For those of you with a flair for animation, animated videos are a great way to get your YouTube on without going against your introverted tendencies. Animation can cover a lot of ground when talking about YouTube channels.
For example, you could be making a whole animated show (though that’s a lot of work), or you could be making videos that typically wouldn’t be on an introverts’ radar while using animation as a buffer between yourself and the viewer.
One idea for this kind of video is the VTuber approach, in which the YouTuber is represented by a virtual avatar.
3. Gameplay Videos
Gameplay videos are, of course, immensely popular. Something that is shown perfectly by the fact that Twitch is often considered to be number two in the user-generated video platform space, and that is a service entirely geared towards gaming.
Gaming videos can be made in a variety of ways, including having your face in the video, just your voice, or even pure gameplay with no commentary or obvious presence from the YouTuber at all.
If you decide to go down this route, it helps to have a clear niche. For example, AlphaBetaGamer is a very popular channel whose videos feature pure gameplay—no commentary—but all the games are up and coming indie titles.
4. Compilation Videos
Compilation videos are a little tricky in the right-to-use department—something that warrants entire posts and videos of its own, but assuming you can get the necessary permission for the clips you use, compilation videos can be anything from “top 10” videos to a collection of funny animal videos.
You can inject commentary into the video if you feel comfortable with that, but many videos of this style get by without. In some cases, the title of the video establishes the premise and the video itself is just a roll of successive videos.
5. Time-lapse Videos
Time-lapse videos can serve a few different purposes. T
hey could just be showing a lengthy process in a short time, such as constructing something or travelling, but they can also be used for atmospheric and ambient videos.
An example of the latter might be finding a spot in nature with a clear view of the night sky and taking a time-lapse of the stars wheeling overhead. Put some royalty-free music on your footage, and you have a nice relaxing video.
This would be ideal for people who like to go solo-camping, as they could also make content of some of the more mundane aspects of camping, such as setting up a fire. And there’s been plenty of “3 hours of crackling campfire” videos popping up in recent years.
6. Product Review Videos
Much like the software mentioned in the screen recording idea, there is never a shortage of products to review.
Granted, it’s a little tricker to make a product review video without featuring at least your voice, but not impossible. You could use a computer generated voice or onscreen text, once again the key point is that you are giving your viewers the information they need about the product.
This method has the added bonus that you can sign up to an affiliate program like Amazon Affiliates and potentially earn some commission from people buying the products you review.
7. Pet Videos
If you have a particularly entertaining pet—or you have a lot of pets—you could make a channel out of them. If there’s one thing we’ve learned over the years, it’s that the Internet can’t get enough of amusing animal videos.
One approach that seems to be popular for single-pet owners is a vlog-type channel, only the vlog belongs to the pet.
If you have enough going on in your home to get plenty of entertaining footage, you could even do the compilation style we mentioned above but using exclusively your own pets!
8. Whiteboard Videos
There’s something for everything on YouTube, including people who want to get to grips with the more technical aspects of life.
If you have a penchant for something like mathematics, physics, language, or really anything that benefits from a visual aid when being taught, you could set yourself up with a white board, point a camera at it, and get teaching.
You don’t need to be in shot for this style of video (though your hand will be) but you might have to talk to make it work. That being said, as long as your viewers get the information they need, it’s all good.
9. ASMR Videos
ASMR has a bit of a reputation for attractive women rubbing their face on the microphone, but the truth is there are plenty of successful ASMR YouTubers who don’t fit that description, and some who aren’t even on camera at all.
If you have a decent microphone and feel the benefits of ASMR, you could set yourself up as a faceless ASMR YouTuber who focuses on sounds made by your hands and objects, rather than your voice.
10. Hand Videos
This idea is something of a general purpose one, since it can be applied to many of the other ideas we have given you.
The two most obvious ones being the above ASMR videos idea, and the product review idea.
Hand videos are videos where the focus of the video is something small (such as a mobile phone) and your hands are in frame to manipulate the item for the purposes of the video.
This could also be used for crafting videos and tutorials on how to use certain tools.
Final Thoughts
Of course, this list is not definitive; if you are comfortable doing something we didn’t cover, don’t let the fact that it’s not on this page stop you.
The enormous audience that YouTube represents means there is a viewer for practically any kind of content, no matter how niche or out of the ordinary. If you want to grow as YouTuber, you will probably find you need to push yourself outside your comfort zone eventually, but there is no reason you can’t get started well within it.
Starting off making content you are completely comfortable with will reduce the risk of you getting burnt out before you really get started, and makes any potential audience you pick up far more suited to your style of video.
Top 5 Tools To Get You Started on YouTube
Very quickly before you go here are 5 amazing tools I have used every day to grow my YouTube channel from 0 to 30K subscribers in the last 12 months that I could not live without.
1. VidIQ helps boost my views and get found in search
I almost exclusively switched to VidIQ from a rival in 2020.
Within 12 months I tripled the size of my channel and very quickly learnt the power of thumbnails, click through rate and proper search optimization. Best of all, they are FREE!
2. Adobe Creative Suite helps me craft amazing looking thumbnails and eye-catching videos
I have been making youtube videos on and off since 2013.
When I first started I threw things together in Window Movie Maker, cringed at how it looked but thought “that’s the best I can do so it’ll have to do”.
Big mistake!
I soon realized the move time you put into your editing and the more engaging your thumbnails are the more views you will get and the more people will trust you enough to subscribe.
That is why I took the plunge and invested in my editing and design process with Adobe Creative Suite. They offer a WIDE range of tools to help make amazing videos, simple to use tools for overlays, graphics, one click tools to fix your audio and the very powerful Photoshop graphics program to make eye-catching thumbnails.
Best of all you can get a free trial for 30 days on their website, a discount if you are a student and if you are a regular human being it starts from as little as £9 per month if you want to commit to a plan.
3. Rev.com helps people read my videos
You can’t always listen to a video.
Maybe you’re on a bus, a train or sat in a living room with a 5 year old singing baby shark on loop… for HOURS. Or, you are trying to make as little noise as possible while your new born is FINALLY sleeping.
This is where Rev can help you or your audience consume your content on the go, in silence or in a language not native to the video.
Rev.com can help you translate your videos, transcribe your videos, add subtitles and even convert those subtitles into other languages – all from just $1.50 per minute.
A GREAT way to find an audience and keep them hooked no matter where they are watching your content.
4. PlaceIT can help you STAND OUT on YouTube
I SUCK at making anything flashy or arty.
I have every intention in the world to make something that looks cool but im about as artistic as a dropped ice-cream cone on the web windy day.
That is why I could not live on YouTube without someone like PlaceIT. They offer custom YouTube Banners, Avatars, YouTube Video Intros and YouTube End Screen Templates that are easy to edit with simple click, upload wizard to help you make amazing professional graphics in minutes.
Best of all, some of their templates are FREE! or you can pay a small fee if you want to go for their slightly more premium designs (pst – I always used the free ones).
5. StoryBlocks helps me add amazing video b-roll cutaways
I mainly make tutorials and talking head videos.
And in this modern world this can be a little boring if you don’t see something funky every once in a while.
I try with overlays, jump cuts and being funny but my secret weapon is b-roll overlay content.
I can talk about skydiving, food, money, kids, cats – ANYTHING I WANT – with a quick search on the StoryBlocks website I can find a great looking clip to overlay on my videos, keeping them entertained and watching for longer.
They have a wide library of videos, graphics, images and even a video maker tool and it wont break the bank with plans starting from as little as £8.25 ($9) per month.
