The "Faceless YouTube Channel" Plague

Folks, I've been making YouTube videos for ten years now, which is a really long time. Even crazier is that I've been a YouTube viewer for much longer! My first YouTube video was back in 2005, and YouTube has been a huge part of my life ever since—almost 20 years now, which is disgusting and fascinating all at once. I still remember watching that first video: I was at a friend's house, playing Downhill Domination on PS2 when our other friend James showed up, almost out of breath. He was so excited to show us something called YouTube.

He typed in the URL and put on the iconic "Pokémon Theme" music video by Smosh. Two friends lip syncing to a song we all loved, goofing around and making funny faces—it was magic! That video opened the door to many YouTubers I would later watch during my formative years. I used to be hooked on Charles Trippy's daily vlogs and small Canadian YouTubers like Andrew Rer and Shimmy Cocoa Puffs. I was even a fan of Vlog Candy—super deep cut right there! Watching those videos shaped my personality and sense of humor.

What fascinates me about YouTube is the connection it creates; it's real, personal, and a little rebellious. You can talk about whatever you want and find your audience. But today, I want to address something that's been bothering me—a trend: faceless YouTube channels.

What is a "Faceless YouTube Channel"?

When I first heard the term, I thought maybe it was about someone who was literally born without a face. But thankfully, it's about YouTubers who make videos without showing their faces. I have no issues with that; there are several YouTubers I enjoy whose identities I don't even know, and that's cool. However, the "faceless" YouTubers I want to talk about are the ones churning out low-effort, automated content.

In the past few months, I’ve seen countless videos and tweets from people bragging about how much money they've made from these channels. One example: a video that earned $52,750 in ad revenue from just 4.1 million views in four weeks. Anyone can do this faceless strategy, and many are jumping on the bandwagon. But I can't help but think it's a little fishy.

Example of the "Faceless Content" Trend

I stumbled across a video titled “It Happened: Elon Musk’s $10,000 House Finally Hitting the Market.” First off, the thumbnail was an AI-generated image of Elon Musk—which is redundant—and the video itself lacked truth. The so-called $10,000 home the video references is actually valued at $60,000! Plus, Elon Musk doesn’t even live in one of these homes. It’s wild that they made so much money with such misinformation.

If this is how these channels are operating, it's pretty troubling. There's a whole section of the internet promoting this “faceless YouTube automation.” But it’s not presented as creatively fulfilling; rather, it’s sold like a quick money-making scheme. Just like every other get-rich-quick scheme, right?

The New "Side Hustle"

One notable figure in this space is Devin Canup, who claims to have made seven figures through various faceless YouTube channels. He runs something called the “Faceless Channel Academy," with over 400 students enrolled. It's always the same story: no matter how successful these gurus claim to be, they always sell some form of a course. If teaching people how to make money is so lucrative, why are teachers always underpaid? It’s outrageous!

Creating My Own Faceless Channel

To prove a point, I'm going to start my own faceless YouTube channel and follow the techniques these “experts” suggest. But here's the twist: I’ll do it ethically. Let’s see how it goes!

First, I needed to find a niche. After digging around, I realized that real estate is one of the most profitable niches on YouTube. So, I decided my channel name would be "Luscious Listings." It sounds luxurious; people love alliteration! I made my channel profile picture and wrote a catchy channel bio.

Planning and Executing the Content

For my content, I planned to release seven videos in one week. Here are some of the ideas I came up with:

• Top 10 Most Expensive Houses in the World
• The Most Interesting Houses
• Most Unexpected Interiors
• Coolest Basement Ideas
• Best Ways to Save Money for Your First Home
• Ridiculous Houses You'll Ever See
• Buying Your First Home - A Realistic Guide

Once I completed my video ideas, I started scripting. Following Devin's advice, I outsourced the script for the first video and planned to write the others using ChatGPT.

Editing and Final Touches

Editing these videos wasn’t going to be a walk in the park. I relied on stock footage and tried to match it up with my script. While editing, I learned how tedious and boring it can be when I don't have any passion for the subject matter. I also used text-to-speech tools for some voiceovers, ensuring I had decent sound regardless of how I felt about the content.

Experiments with Releases

As my videos were ready to be published, I started with “The Coolest Basement Ever.” It received just one view after a week, which was a massive bummer. As discouraging as it was, I pressed on, uploading “The Most Interesting Houses” next, which performed way better at 31 views. Woohoo!

Eventually, I uploaded several more videos throughout the week; some did better than others, but overall, my analytics were disappointing. I didn’t achieve the high expectations most faceless creators boast about.

Conclusion: Worth It or Not?

At the end of the week, I realized that making money on YouTube isn’t as easy as these faceless gurus claim. It takes real effort, creative passion, and genuine interest in the content. If you love what you do, it becomes much more rewarding. Just don't get swept up in the allure of automated, faceless content. That’s not art; it’s fast food video production!

If you're considering giving faceless YouTube creation a shot, remember: do it ethically, and focus on content you care about. Thanks for joining me on this wild ride, and I hope you gained some insightful knowledge about the faceless YouTube channel phenomenon!