Where Do I Get Video Ideas?

Someone asked me how I come up with my ideas for videos, so I thought that I'd write a blog post about it. I don't know that what I'm about to write is all that interesting, but who knows, maybe it will inspire someone.

So the plain answer to the question of where I get my ideas is "all over the place." No doubt everyone has notice that we Linux YouTubers tend to copy each other quite blatantly. I *try* not to do that too much, but I do gain inspiration from some of the older videos of my contemporaries. It's a good source of inspiration sometimes, so I'm not  ashamed of it. I guess I'd be more ashamed of it if they didn't do it too. So that's one place I come up with ideas.

Another is trolling Distrowatch, Reddit, and other social sites. R/Linux is a goldmine of ideas for content. I avoid "news" items, mainly because I use those on the podcast, but I've been thinking about covering more current Linux events, so that might be something I change in the future. A lot of the time, the inspiration I get from Reddit or other sites, isn't even about the content being talked about, it will just spawn an idea in my brain and bang, I have a topic. 

By far the largest pool of ideas comes from just things I'm interested in or things that I've been working on. The Hyprland video I just recorded (as of writing) is one such video. Same with the Wayland ramble, and the ssh videos I've been doing lately. All that is just stuff I've been working on. If I work on it, or use it, then I will probably make a video about it, or at least it will spawn an idea for a video. I do a lot of stuff on Linux, so it's quite easy to find something to make a video about related to the things that I do. For example, I've been working through my Python course, so there are videos I have planned related to that. I've also been perfecting my btrfs setup, so there will be two videos regarding that if not more. I've also been using a bit of NixOS lately, so there will be content on that soon. You get the idea.

So really, there is no science on how to come up with ideas. If you're an aspiring YouTuber, whether that be in the Linux space or elsewhere, my best advice is just to make content about the things that you know or the things that you do. It's the easiest way.

Just a short post this week. I hope everyone has a good one.

Matt