Canadian content creator, Doug Sharpe, uses his Instagram account to share random fun facts
#1
Doug shared with Bored Panda that his journey started with a random fact about chickens: “In 2018, I was at my parents’ house with my family and I was in the kitchen with my mom and sister. My mom was talking about how she wanted to get chickens for the backyard. I said, ‘Oh, fun fact, did you know you can’t add a new chicken to a chicken coop during the day or the chickens won’t accept it? You have to add it at night and then the chickens just wake up and are like, oh cool, new chicken’.”
It made his mom and sister laugh and they asked him how he knew so many random facts about nothing. His sister then suggested he should record some fun facts and put them on Instagram. The content creator said he filmed the first video a few days after that.
#3
“I made them on and off from 2018 onwards and people always liked them and encouraged me to make more,” Doug said. “I originally just made them for my friends and family because they were just fun and interesting internet videos.
“I posted a couple on Instagram in the summer of 2021 and they did pretty good views and I was like ‘oh cool, maybe I should make more of these’,” he added.
The fun fact connoisseur said he got on TikTok in October of 2021 and grew his account to 32k thousand followers after posting a bunch of content. However, a couple of months later, in December, he put a pause on the activity.
#4
#5
“My sister sent me a fact in July of 2022 and I needed something and making fun fact videos just kind of filled the hole. I started posting on TikTok Daily on August 1st, 2022 and have been so happy people have enjoyed the facts as much as they have, it’s crazy to see where all my accounts are at today. I’m just really stoked people like the content,” Doug shared with Bored Panda.
“It’s been a really long process to get my production to where it is today,” he added. “The fun facts were not good at the start but they got better and better with time and practice and I’m really happy and grateful everything is where it is today.”
He also pointed out that TikTok is no longer his main account, and that he mostly focuses on his YouTube channel nowadays.
#6
#7
#8
Doug revealed that one of the things he likes most about creating the videos is also one of the most challenging ones. “Because I create a new fact daily, I like the time crunch,” he said. “I have very poor time management skills so most of the time when you see a fact posted I more than likely just finished it. It’s a constant push to create and be consistent in my creativity.
“Creativity can get stagnant at times. So many people have a pet project they’ve been working on forever because it has no deadline. I like the constant movement of the creation process.”
The Fun Fact Guy also mentioned he really likes researching and writing the material. “When I’m researching, I get to treasure hunt the best parts of the fact. I usually use 3-6 sources and will pull the best piece of information from each and use them in my script. I like that I can highlight what I think is most cool, interesting or funky about the fact.”
#9
#10
#11
Since Doug now focuses most on creating YouTube Shorts, his videos can be no longer than 60 seconds. However, he told Bored Panda that finding the best bits of information and fitting it all into a concise, interesting one-minute video is another challenge he enjoys.
He revealed that it encourages him to work on his vocabulary and sentence-building skills; by making him think about what short words to use instead of long ones, for example, or what to cut to make it shorter. He also said he has to consider how one word lines up into the next so that he doesn’t “eat” a word mid-sentence.
“Building the scripts, especially when I have a minute [to fit] twenty worth of material and have to figure out how to piece it into a one-minute video, is very satisfying.
“I think one of the things people appreciate about my videos is that there is no fat on them. Nothing extra; just bare bones, clean, concise, information video.”
#12
#13
#14
Doug told Bored Panda that he usually stumbles upon the facts while browsing online. “They just come to me during my travels around the internet. A lot of them are underreported news stories or fringe news stories. I also spend a lot of time on Reddit.
“I also have a very curious mind. If I ask a question throughout my day I’ll have to immediately google it to get the answer,” he added.
#15
#16
#17
The mastermind behind the fun fact videos also revealed that he feels very grateful for every person who watches his content and usually tries to read as many comments as he can. Doug said he’s really interested in what people take away from his videos. “The comments also frequently make me laugh, I love a nice internet roast,” he added.
Doug said he has big plans for the future and advised us to keep our eyes open for longer form content on his YouTube channel coming up August this year.
#18
#19
