How to Find Content Ideas for Social Media

Where to find new topics for TikToks, Reels and other content? The question can trigger anxiety, panic attacks and burnout among creators. But rest assured, this has been happening for centuries, and tech is making your efforts easier. Here's a checklist for generating ideas, just for you.

Go offline!

Were you expecting a tip like "spy on who's trending"? Not a chance. Chasing trends is like the paradox of Achilles and the tortoise: Achilles can never catch the tortoise because the tortoise always manages to get at least a millimeter ahead. 

Instead, disconnect and observe real life. Capture the nuances of social conflicts like no one else can. A bountiful field of human drama, comedy, farce, and absurdist comedy awaits us offline. 

What do successful creators do? They go to bars, to social clubs like heavy-metal-knitting fans, to stand-up comedy nights, to friends’ offices, they even visit grandma in the middle of nowhere. They engage in all that to spot funny paradoxes their audience doesn't see amid the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Delight your followers with mock social types and sketches about generational stratification. Anything goes, as long as the content reflects the acute contradictions of the crazy post-Covid era and isn't offensive. Notice what other popular creators haven't!

Adopt storytelling techniques from offline mediums

It can be literally anything. For example, pop movies begin with a scene where the usual course of life is disrupted by the unexpected intervention of an external force. A novel begins with the final scene. At an exhibition at MoMA, Marina Abramovic calmly looks into the eyes of visitors seated opposite her for as long as they wish. Suddenly, her former partner and co-author, Eli, appears in their place. Composer John Cage conceived the piece "4'33," in which musicians remain silent for four minutes and thirty-three seconds – but are they playing silence?

Don’t steal. Reimagine

It’s that simple. Consider storytelling in other genres the way Steve Jobs considered Walkman players: he tweaked their form factors in his imagination and invented the iPod.

Despite Jobs's advice to steal, don't fall for it. He did not merely replicate; rather, he meticulously assembled a cognitive construct, incorporating the inventions of others to create his unique products.

It may sound weird, but read magazines

You don't need to read the news; it's everywhere anyway. However, media outlets that analyze a wide range of relationship trends regularly publish interesting articles. They analyze topics such as epidemics of loneliness, Boston marriages, polyamory and its disillusionment, events in the manosphere, mustache blindness in dating, and many other trends. 

The important thing here is that these articles provide links to reliable research; otherwise, you risk falling into the trap of conspiracy theories and fake news.

Immediately jot down scenes, thoughts, and ideas that come to mind

It's best to keep a paper notebook for these purposes to serve as a separate medium for your ideation. If you like to record your thoughts by thinking out loud, turn on a voice recorder. The key is to perform this creative ritual immediately; otherwise, you'll forget everything in a couple of minutes (not to mention that you might not have!).

After taking a closer look at offline reality, apply the same observation techniques to online life

Who types of persons argue in the comments to your posts? What are the most awkward or funny use cases of a trendy dating app? What types of influencers have surprised the public for years because nobody can figure out what do they do for a living? What conclusions about relationship does an AI model draw from a cognitive-behavioral analysis of a bestie’s message exchange with her ex?

Reality is fascinating, and the key to a creative's success is perhaps the ability to notice what others don't – both literally and in terms of ideas. This skill makes a creator truly unique, which is critical in an age of copying and overproduction of content.