Having a YouTube Channel is… hard. It’s emotionally and mentally taxing, the platform is not guaranteed to give creators a stable income, and it has become less and less relevant as of late.

Even with all of the quality channels that become overshadowed due the sheer volume of channels on the site, no one is entitled to viewership. If you don’t like someone’s content, you have the freedom to leave them. They need to work in order to receive your attention. However, that being said, there are many, many more channels than just PewDiePie, Jake Paul and Liza Koshy.

So the next time you’re skimming through your phone in an effort to avoid doing homework, here are a few channels that might be worth a look. 

1.) ABD Illustrates 

Artist, video maker and self-proclaimed Dungeons and Dragons nerd, ABD Illustrates produces speedpaint videos that range from 2-8 and 10-20 minute videos about D&D original characters along with characters from some of their favorite shows and movies. Their art style is simply beautiful and is accompanied by soothing voice-overs that show you their drawing process. A great channel to watch when you just want to relax and watch a gorgeous drawing slowly come to life. 

2.) Geek Remix

Just two girls playing video games and talking about life. Seriously, that’s it. Their channel mainly consists of “let’s plays” of story-centered indie games that give way to their engrossing conversations. You’ll be able to watch the games without having to buy them and listen to two 20-somethings speculate about life and existence. What more could you want?

3.) VisualPolitik EN

This channel talks about politics, economics and things that are happening all around the world. Now stay with me here! This might sound just like the boring lectures you ditch classes to avoid, but the difference between this and school is that it’s actually interesting to listen to. They present their information in such a straightforward and cohesive manner that you’ll come out of watching any of their wide ranges of topics feeling as though your understanding of the world has enlarged and developed. 

4.) Sabrina

Sabrina Cruz is a Toronto-based video producer and personality best known for her previous YouTube channel NerdAndQuicky. Here, she combines nerd culture and comedy to keep her audience laughing and learning. It’s a really engaging series that makes you think differently about things you didn’t think had a second side to them. An intellectual show with sprinkles of comedy to keep any audience members interested and invested. 

5.) CinemaWins

In contrast to another web-series CinemaSins, whose main appeal is endless pessimism and poorly made criticism, CinemaWins is all about positivity! And that’s ultimately the channel’s goal, to make you appreciate the film process and all the little things that make a movie worth watching, and really, just to brighten your day. So if you’ve been through some really tough things lately, give him a watch. His cheerful and sunshine-filled voice will no doubt bring a smile!

6.) Writing with Jenna Moreci

An experienced creative writer and published author, Jenna Moreci, gives every amount of advice an aspiring writer could possibly need. From how to gain an online presence in order to get published, to all the intricacies of the writing process and character design. All with her own brand of sarcastic comedy. Overall incredibly helpful to anyone with even the mildest interest in writing. 

7.) NerdSync

Once a poor student and college drop out, now a young man following his passion for learning. History, philosophy, science, culture, – you name it! He teaches both himself and his audience about all of these subjects through a medium he loves: superheroes. His videos analyze comics & superheroes to teach about bigger, broader topics in the real world. The goal is to show that superhero stories can be deep and complex as well as show that learning can be exciting when done so through a fun subject matter.