Social media is constantly changing. There’s always some new trend to jump on or hack to test out. And there’s been one blossoming right under your nose – a combination trend, engagement strategy, and online privacy hack that you might not have noticed.
Faceless accounts. These ghost content creators are sweeping social media platforms everywhere – and they’ve already been a problem on Clapper. While this sounds like an amazing way to maintain your online privacy, it’s not as easy as they’d have you believe. In this article, we’re diving into the world of faceless profiles. Why they’re bad, why they’re good, and whether or not you should use them.
What Are Faceless Accounts? 🤔
Faceless accounts are social media creators and profiles that…don’t show their faces. We know, it’s pretty self-explanatory. But the idea is a novelty.
Open your favorite social media app and scroll through your FYP, explore a few niches, and check out top-performing creators. You may not notice (or pay it much mind), but most of them will show their faces. Even crafting and cooking creators will show their faces at the beginning or end of their videos. It’s rare to see a profile that doesn’t show their face at all.
But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth doing. In fact, there are several benefits to creating faceless content.
Why Go Faceless? 👺
For some kinds of content, like cooking and crafting, it’s not necessary to show your face. You can still create engaging and exciting content without putting a clip of yourself in it. Other creators want to keep their social media content separate from their professional or even personal life. They use social media as a creative outlet and want to retain some of their online privacy. Or these creators are creating some stigmatized content, like romance novels or gambling content. Instead of dealing with family, friends, or colleagues reacting to what they create, they’d rather be nameless.
Other creators, though, are looking for a social media shortcut. They think it’s easier to create content without showing their faces. It’ll save them time and energy if they just create content using AI or stock libraries. Or, if they want to go the more organic route, it’ll be easier to film their desk set up, a shot of them pouring coffee, or even their outside view. Without fail, these “experts” always talk about how much money they make from faceless content.
Like follow chains and AI-generated content schedules, faceless accounts have become the most recent in a long line of cheat codes.
The Social Media Shortcut ✂️
More and more (usually self-proclaimed) content experts are touting the benefits of faceless social media content. And while we can admit that there are quite a few benefits to not showing your face in your content, these experts focus on one or two things. Faceless content is easy, it makes creating content accessible, and it can make you a lot of money.
For them, faceless content is about going viral and making money with as little work as possible.
Which, to be fair, is a great benefit. Even if content creation is just a fun hobby for you, going viral and having a video perform well is exciting. It’s a rare stamp of approval for a creator. Like a promotion at work, it’s proof that you’re good at what you do. And who doesn’t love having a few extra dollars in their wallet?
But a few issues arise with this specific method of faceless content.
The Negatives of Faceless Accounts 🤢
All About the Money 💸
Most faceless content creators are only doing it for the money. Like we said, hoping to make money from your content isn’t a bad thing. But only trying to make money can suck the joy out of content creation. Suddenly, you aren’t making what you love; you’re guessing at what content other people will enjoy. And if you aren’t doing something because you’re passionate about it, the care you put into it diminishes. Not to mention it can take a long time before you start making a consistent, liveable income from social media.
“Easy” Virality 📈
This is a two-part problem.
First, going viral isn’t easy. There’s no formula for social media success. Most of these faceless accounts and the “experts” behind them are trying to convince you that they found the answer. This method worked for them; this content schedule made them so much money. You should buy their course and try it! The truth is that they often got lucky.
The second problem is that creating faceless content isn’t as easy as they say. Unless you’re just slapping clips together and adding a sound that maybe fits, faceless content is still a lot of work. It might even be more work than normal content. You’ll probably need more time to storyboard your video or script the perfect caption. You have to source your content or find an aesthetic but exciting way to film it. Are you recording a voice-over, or getting AI to do that? You’ll need to script or edit that too.
Creating faceless content is just as difficult and time-consuming as creating traditional content. And your chances of going viral don’t really improve.
AI Integration 🤖
When you look at a lot of faceless accounts, they’re mostly AI content. Whether it’s an AI voice over on top of some stock images, a video generated entirely by AI, or an AI avatar trying to market a product to you, faceless accounts rely almost entirely on AI. A lot of the self-proclaimed experts will encourage you to use AI, too.
We’ve talked about why AI in content creation before. These faceless accounts are a direct (and often not great) by-product of that. For one, it means your videos are competing with even more videos in an already oversaturated market. But AI content and faceless content both feel a little soulless.
A Soulless Feeling 🫥
Because people mostly create faceless content to go viral, make money, and do both easily, a lot of faceless accounts feel off. They feel soulless. While some faceless accounts do showcase a creator’s art, skills, or personality, many exist only to pump out content and feed the social media machine. They might find something that’s entertaining and engaging, but most of the content they create lacks passion, creativity, and excitement. All of these are what propel content creators forward, and are often what makes them go viral.
Think about your favorite creator. What do you love about them? It’s likely their editing style, or their fun voiceovers, or how they incorporate their personality into their content. Most faceless creators, whether or not they’re using AI, aren’t willing to replicate that.
Don’t just take our word for it. Check out this video from Kurtis Conner, a full-time YouTuber who put some faceless account advice to the test.
The Positives of Faceless Accounts 😍
But none of this means we should entirely toss out faceless content. Few things are black and white, and even though we’ve been complaining about faceless content for this whole article, we can see the benefits of it when done right.
Online Privacy 🔐
Online privacy is one of the main benefits of faceless content creation. Unless you have your name tattooed on your hand, no one has to know it’s you creating the content. So if your profile full of Paul Mescal fan edits blows up, you don’t have to worry about your job as a lawyer being in jeopardy. Even if you become the biggest creator on your platform, no one has to know it’s you.
Creativity Boost ✨
Faceless content can actually increase your creativity when done right. Especially if you’re a long-time creator who’s feeling a little bored with your content.
Now you’re looking for ways to get your message across without being repetitive or vague. Not showing your face forces you to find new angles and imagery to keep your content exciting. Depending on what you create, you might even need to improve your copywriting. Going faceless even for a video or two will make you look at your content in a totally new way.
A Focus on Content 🎞️
Viewers are more likely to focus on the actual meaning behind your content. They aren’t distracted by you, how you look, or what you’re wearing. Faceless content lets what you’re trying to say be the main star instead of you. This is why faceless content can be so great for educational videos and cooking tutorials. Your audience is less worried about you and more concerned with what you’re saying.
Conclusion: Friend or Foe? 💭
Like we said earlier, nothing is black and white. It’s hard to say whether faceless content is entirely good or entirely bad. Like most things (looking at you, AI), it’s good with the right motivation.
Looking to go viral on social media and make a ton of money without really trying? Faceless content isn’t the solution. Want to create content in a more unique (sometimes challenging) way? Faceless content could be the spark you’re looking for. Interested in creating content but not losing your online privacy? Faceless content is the way to go.
The Clapper app is a short-form video and Livestream app for creators 17+. Our goal is to give creators a platform to build communities and express themselves freely without judgment and censorship. To learn more, download the app or follow us on Instagram, Facebook, X, and LinkedIn.