With roughly 15 million active content creators on YouTube, it feels like almost everyone has a YouTube channel these days — so how can you make your channel stand out from the rest Fortunately, there are always new viral challenges that can help you find your audience, boost your engagement, and showcase your unique personality as a content creator.
Some challenges can be done on your own and a few will need involvement from friends, family, or partners, but many challenges are interesting and fun to complete. Here are some of my favorites:
YouTube Challenges You Can Do Alone
Things Only 1% of People Can Do
Surviving on a Penny Challenge
Buying the First Five Things You See Recommended in Ads
YouTube Challenges You Can Do With Friends or Family
Who Knows Me Better? Partner or Best Friend?
YouTube Challenges to Do as a Couple
Extreme Couple vs Couple Challenge
Spend 24 Hours Handcuffed Together
Best YouTube Challenges
The best YouTube challenges are entertaining and simple enough that almost anyone can participate. Whether it's trying a new look, completing DIY projects in record timing, or asking your loved ones silly questions, the challenges I've listed are straightforward for most people to do. So at the end of each challenge, don't be afraid to ask your audience to try it themselves and tag your account. This can boost engagement and raise awareness for your channel.
Of course, safety should always be a priority, so don't do anything that can put you, your loved ones, or any participants in danger. Viral numbers should never be put ahead of well-being. With that in mind, here are the best challenges you can complete to bring views to your channel.
YouTube Challenges You Can Do Alone
If you don't have time to gather some of your favorite people to participate, these challenges are easy to do by yourself:
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Things Only 1% of People Can Do
Can you lick your elbow or touch your nose with your tongue? According to this challenge, only 1% of people can. Why not test yourself and try to do the nearly impossible on your own? Just remember — safety first! Once again, do not do anything that can put you in harm's way.
What We Like: The challenge is a simple but effective way to share your hidden talents with your audience — or discover talents you never knew you had!
2. Good Things Challenge
To complete this challenge, film yourself doing at least one act of kindness. It could be working at a charity, volunteering at a shelter, helping a person in need, or anything charitable that benefits your community. Afterward, you can nominate another content creator or your audience to do the same and tag your channel.
What We Like: Content creators sometimes get a bad reputation for being self-involved, but this challenge proves it's possible to use your platform to promote positivity and giving back to the community.
3. Surviving on a Penny Challenge
In this challenge, you start with just one penny. You then have to increase your money by as much as possible in a given amount of time. In Trahan's case, he started with one penny before trading that penny for a pen and trading the pen for a dollar. He then used the dollar to buy a bottle of water and then sold the water for $2. This constant trade up went on for 30 days.
What We Like: This can push you as a content creator to be clever and creative in how you live off just one penny. It will also be entertaining for the audience to see your journey from having nothing to gaining more items and wealth over time.
4. Buy the First 5 Things You See Recommended in Ads
We're constantly bombarded with ads everywhere we go online, so why not use it to our advantage? YouTuber Safiya Nygaard did this by buying and testing the first five products she saw in TikTok ads.
What We Like: We've always wondered if the products we see in ads actually work. You may find yourself with interesting items that make your life easier and you'll help your audience discover products they may enjoy. At very least, you'll help them steer away from products that aren't worth the investment.
YouTube Challenges You Can Do With Friends and Family
Do you have a best friend with an eccentric personality? Or maybe an aunt who has the most hilarious reaction to everything? These challenges are a great way to get your loved ones involved and to let their personalities shine.
5. Who Wore It Better
In this challenge, you and one other person would wear the same outfit or clothing items and see who wore it best. This challenge is popular among sibling content creators — particularly twins — but can be done with anyone.
What We Like: This challenge can be customized to make it more unique to your channel. For example, instead of seeing who wore an outfit better, you and a friend can see who can rock a certain style better — like goth, punk, or bohemian.
6. Whisper Challenge
The whisper challenge consists of one person listening to loud music via headphones and another person reading a random phrase. They could whisper the phrase or say it out loud so long as the headphones are too loud for the other person to hear them. The person with the headphones has to guess what's being said.
What We Like: The challenge is very simple and doesn't require you or anyone else to buy anything. As long as you have something to read off of and working headphones, you're good to go.
7. Best Friend Challenge
How well do you really know your best friend? This challenge puts your friendship to the test by having you and your friend ask each other questions and guessing each other's answers. It's a popular challenge used in celebrity interviews and its popularity doesn't look like it'll wane anytime soon.
What We Like: This challenge allows your audience to get to know you a little better. Questions about your favorite hobby, music, or food are very common in challenges like this.
8. Who Knows Me Better? Partner or Best Friend?
In this challenge you ask your significant other and your best friend a series of questions about yourself to see who knows you best. This challenge is very simple and can be modified to make it stand out from other videos. For example, YouTuber Daniel Gizmo modified the challenge to include a shopping trip to Target where Gizmo and his girlfriend's best friend were tasked with finding the perfect gift.
What We Like: As I said earlier, it's a very simple challenge to modify to make it more your own. You can challenge your partner and best friend to create an outfit you'll like, buy you the perfect gift, or just stick to the simple question-and-answer format. The possibilities are endless.
YouTube Challenges To Do As a Couple
Speaking of partners, there are plenty of YouTube challenges you and your significant other can complete together. Here are a few of my favorites:
9. Couple vs Couple Challenge
Think of this challenge as a double date mixed with a bit of competition. Couple vs couple challenges simply mean you and your partner compete against another couple. The competition can involve trivia, battles of strength, or whatever you want. As long as everyone is having fun, it's sure to be entertaining.
What We Like: You, your partner, and another couple can get creative with the kinds of challenges you include. From extreme yoga to pop culture trivia to DIY projects — any task can be used to modify this challenge to your liking.
10. Spend 24 Hours Handcuffed Together
The challenge is simple — you and your partner will spend 24 hours handcuffed to each other and will have to find a way to go about your day as normally as possible.
What We Like: Handcuff challenges have been popular among content creators for years and for good reason. It's hilarious to watch couples try to have a normal day and complete simple tasks while stuck together.
11. Wheel of Dares
In this challenge, couples take turns spinning a wheel that dictates the dares they have to complete. You can either make the wheel yourself with dares of your choice or you can find one online. Just remember to be safe and not complete any dares that can put you or others in danger.
What We Like: This challenge is very spontaneous since the dares are assigned at random, making the game entertaining for the participants as well as the audience. You can modify the game to only be between you and your partner, or you can bring on more couples for added fun.
No matter what challenge you choose, just make sure you're having fun. Your audience will enjoy seeing you and your loved ones laughing and being creative with the challenges. YouTube challenges are an excellent way to let your personality shine, expand your audience, and spread joy through your content.