With social media becoming a staple of online content, it has touched everything from the music to the marketing worlds. Anyone can have a YouTube channel, and in many cases they manage to use them to inspire awe, action, thought and creativity.

Today, I want to speak about nine fantastic channels by amazing people that can inspire acts of creative genius in our own lives.

Of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention how hard it is to come up with a real, fair list with only nine choices. There are so many incredible artists out there in all genres that deserve to be on here. But for now, here is a collection of my personal favorites.

Pomplamoose

Pomplamoose have gained a great deal of notoriety in the underground music world over the last few years, and for good reason. Nataly Dawn and Jack Conte are two of the most creative musicians currently on the scene, and they have put to use the little seen principle of VideoSong in their own music videos. This is a method of incorporating images, including special effects, to either directly show or represent all sounds heard during the course of a song in the official video. They have perfected this down to an art.

Add in the fact that all instruments are played by the two themselves, with the songs written and videos created on their own as well, and you have a full picture of a type of music flying in the face of cookie cutter artists lacking in creativity today.

2. AgentXPQ’s Tales of Mere Existence

AgentXPQ’s Tales of Mere Existence by Lev Yilmaz are brilliant short films of between two and three minutes long. His YouTube channel has a large collection of them for you to watch, and if you have an ironic and slightly cynical sense of humor, you will adore everything he puts on it. According to Yilmaz, his cartoons done in a quick sketch style are made up of “stuff you think but don’t talk about”.

He tackles topics like confidence versus arrogance, the way we see ourselves versus how others see us, artistic advice and various other small happenings that make up the bulk of any adult human’s life on this planet. I especially love his video on people he has seen while riding public transport.Â

3. Val’s Art Diary

Val’s Art Diary is a great example of how you can use social media to further more traditional forms of art. A rather serious artist, Val manages to make it a light hearted affair when she includes the viewers not only in the meaning of her process and reasons for drawing what she does, but by asking their input.

People art in this form often lacks real motion in the eyes of the viewer, it is fascinating to see her bring it to life in this way. It isn’t about the finished product, it is about getting there. In the meantime, she also manages to get potential buyers interested by showing what she is able to do. It is smart, interesting and she is cute as a button. Pit that against her talent, and this is a channel you are sure to be inspired by.Â

4. Cyriak

Cyriak can best be described as a modern surrealist. Certainly, his morbid and often bizarre short films bring to mind Salvador Dali and other artistic greats that used random and sometimes disturbing imagery to evoke an emotional response. His work doesn’t seem to have much meaning more than ‘what you see is what you get’, and it is presented in such a brilliantly creative way that he can often leave you breathless.

Add in the repetitive loop of midi-sounding electronica and you are likely to go into a gaping trance for the duration. But it is worth it.

5. Free Hugs Campaign

I love the Free Hugs Campaign. The YouTube channel was set up to show their efforts of going out on busy city streets with a free sign offering free hugs. The response is rather touching to watch, as they hug various strangers in sometimes increasingly impressive ways. I especially loved watching a skateboarder in one of their videos head down a ramp and jump into the arms of the man waiting on the other side.

Set to soundtracks featuring artists like the Sick Puppies, if you ever find yourself needing a boost in your opinion of mankind, these vids will get you there.

6. YouTube Play

YouTube Play was a contest collaborated by the social media website and the Guggenheim Museum last year. It challenged its participants to create the best artistic videos in their own style from all over the world, and put together a small collection of those deemed by the experts to be the most creative, stylish or profound.

While the contest has been over for more than a year, seeing the results on the channel is a true treat. Some of the video were astonishingly beautiful and interesting, and some very inspiring.

7. Show & Tell

Show & Tell is a channel that serves a double purpose. On one hand, it gives a good collection of interesting or funny ad campaigns for those who enjoy creative commercials. On the other, it is a further way of marketing for those who are trying to market their product. This includes companies like AXE and Old Spice, two rival scent providers who have become well known for their commercials.

8. Create or Else

Ogilvy’s Create or Else is based off of a very simple concept: create, share, inspire. Over the last year or so, they have invited people from all walks of life and from all over the world to run the YouTube channel, showing off something they have created. Anyone is welcome to make something and submit it for feature, though it was last updated four months ago.

9. Phil in the Circle

Phil in the Circle is the brain child of crazy artist Phil Hansen. Let me just say that this guy is the very essence of creativity. He uses anything he possibly can, in any method imaginable to create his paintings. Usually they are of famous faces, and his way of creating their portrait is relevant in some way to who they are or were. A good example of this is when he creates Michael Jackson’s face by dancing in paint. He should be a million times more famous than he is.

We spend too much time on Youtube actually: we use it to discover new music trends, to watch movie trailers and advertisements, we use Youtube to find video product review and even plan our business and vacation traveling (according to Timeshare Secrets, one in five people look at Youtube to investigate the places they are planning to visit). So why not use Youtube for creativity and inspiration. I hope the above collection will help you get inspired!

Annie Wallace is a creative blogger who is interested in the variety of topics and blogs on Viral Marketing for Moms as well as on the range of social-media-related topic. Check out her post on The History of Facebook as well as her series of articles on the history of social media.