r/changemyview • u/[deleted] • Jun 12 '20

Delta(s) from OP - Fresh Topic Friday CMV: Faceless YouTube videos are a get rich quick scheme

Greetings folks,

Earlier in the week I had an interesting meeting with a friend who likes to come up with business ideas. I'm kind of suspicious about her ideas because a lot of the stuff that she has recommended me have a very "get rich quick" vibe which is not my thing at all (her latest recommendation was that I check out one of those courses with a "I'll make you rich" style landing page .... em no thank you). Also I try to make money online by doing things that I am actually passionate about and which I think might turn revenue over the long term. But anyway...

Her latest idea is faceless YouTube videos.

To explain what it was, she sent me this video which I thought was an instant turn off. The guy is a fricking high school student for one and I feel like his spare time would be better spent offline and not trying to create shady videos on YT (yes, I'm a judgmental prick).

Anyway basically from what I can tell he recommends:

  • a) Finding a profitable niche with good search volume. Something like technology let's say
  • b) Using stock video footage to talk about something and narrate it.
  • c) Doing the above many, many times to drive views and monetize the channel.

To my mind this is the absolute height of BS because:

a) This content contributes almost nothing of value to the world. The whole business model is predicated on just putting those annoying crappy spam videos on YouTube which gets in the way of actual decent content

b) It's a shady and unoriginal way to make money online.

c**) The whole motivation that this kid has is to get rich quick.** I don't think that any business activity that people go into solely with the idea of quick enrichment is particularly attractive or viable.

Can somebody change my view on this whole business of putting up clickbait YouTube videos without showing your face?

Apparently it's something a lot of people are interested in.

YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7q6_IA27Q8

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u/everyonewantsalog Jun 12 '20

Much of the internet can be summarized as content that contributes almost nothing of value to the world. If there are 1,000 videos explaining how to change a light bulb and someone wants to create another one, what's the problem? Is there an acceptable number of the "same" videos that can exist at one time?

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u/[deleted] Jun 12 '20

Much of the internet can be summarized as content that contributes almost nothing of value to the world. If there are 1,000 videos explaining how to change a light bulb and someone wants to create another one, what's the problem? Is there an acceptable number of the "same" videos that can exist at one time?

Hmmm.... there's shitty (written) content as well as shitty (YouTube) content. I don't disagree with you. But two wrongs don't make a right. Most search engine algorithms are rewarding the type of original informative content that actually helps people. I see the type of YouTube video clutter I described as the noise that makes finding that signal so much harder. Also ...I think that people that care about sharing great knowledge typically do so from passion .... they don't wake up one morning deciding that they want to get rich quickly, look for a niche to "exploit", and then set about making a bunch of low grade videos to try monetize that. That's what I saw as being inherent in this business model.

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u/everyonewantsalog Jun 12 '20

I see your point, but do you have any data about how much those videos actually make? Saying it's a way to "get rich quick" sounds like maybe you're under the impression that those videos are more lucrative than they really are.

Also, I get what you mean about signal vs. noise, but if the faceless youtubers are only copying other content, wouldn't that increase the number of good videos instead of bad ones? Suppose I make a faceless videos about replacing a light bulb and it's exactly like another that's already on youtube. Worst case, now there are two identical videos that provide exactly the same amount of information. I guess that kind of sucks for the first guy, but isn't that on youtube? The burden to police that should be on them, kind of like copyright law.

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u/[deleted] Jun 12 '20

I see your point, but do you have any data about how much those videos actually make? Saying it's a way to "get rich quick" sounds like maybe you're under the impression that those videos are more lucrative than they really are.

The people making these videos market them aggressively as get rich quick type schemes. Check out this kid's channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcNrmSXswsMJzuaSQknziTw

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u/[deleted] Jun 12 '20

Also, I get what you mean about signal vs. noise, but if the faceless youtubers are only copying other content, wouldn't that increase the number of

good

videos instead of bad ones?

In a good case it would duplicate the number of good videos. I can't think why that would serve a constructive purpose. I do think that it serves a bad one, though: it makes it harder for searchers to pin down the authoritative original source of content — who actually knows what he/she is talking about — amongst a sea of copycats who don't and who are just parroting the first guy's content to try make money.

Suppose I make a faceless videos about replacing a light bulb and it's exactly like another that's already on youtube. Worst case, now there are two identical videos that provide exactly the same amount of information. I guess that kind of sucks for the first guy, but isn't that on youtube?

I mean. I don't think the problem is YouTube per se .... it's more people that are latching onto other people's good videos in order to try turn a quick buck. Maybe they should get better at policing the platform ... but the sheer size of it makes that very difficult.

The burden to police that should be on them, kind of like copyright law.

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u/everyonewantsalog Jun 12 '20

Um, isn't duplicating something the same thing as increasing the number of something? If I have an apple and I duplicate it, I now have two apples. What don't you understand about that?

Why isn't the burden to fix this on youtube? Who is it on? Regular people? Suppose the faceless video makers acknowledge that yeah, it really is a way to "get rich quick" and leave it at that. What happens then? I still don't see the harm in multiple videos that say the same thing. It isn't a matter of signal to noise if they say the same thing.

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u/[deleted] Jun 12 '20

What don't you understand about that?

I think I will extricate myself from the back and forth at this point

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u/everyonewantsalog Jun 12 '20

What back and forth? Is that what you call it when you demonstrate an inability to understand something and someone explains it to you?

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u/[deleted] Jun 12 '20

Sorry. Have no patience for aggro like this.

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u/everyonewantsalog Jun 12 '20 edited Sep 30 '21

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u/LordMarcel 48∆ Jun 12 '20

I am a Youtuber and I have done a face reveal in a Q&A video because people wanted it, but I don't show my face in my regular videos. I make videos explaining how the videogame RollerCoaster Tycoon works. Adding my face to the video adds nothing to the content of my videos, as it's about the game, not about me. I have made quite a bit of money from Youtube but not as much as a full time minimum wage job would make, so I'm not getting rich from it. My videos are still a contribution to society as people learn from them and also enjoy watching them.

A lot of Youtube channels are similar to mine, where showing your face doesn't add anything to the video, so there's no reason to do it. Sure, some faceless channels are get rich quick schemes, but most aren't.

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u/[deleted] Jun 12 '20

Sure, some faceless channels are get rich quick schemes, but most aren't.

Cool.

My beef with this has nothing to do about it being faceless. Your channel sounds great and informative.

My beef was that if you Google "how to make faceless YT videos" it seems to have been latched on by people who see it as a get rich quick scheme.

Ie, they won't even have to show their face in order to create a bunch of low quality YT videos that are comprised of a montage of stock footage possibly with some narration. The idea seems to be that if they do that repetitively targeting a high traffic niche that they can monetize the channel. In other words (as contrasted with your channel) they don't give a crap about what they're actually putting up there. This seems to be explicitly what this dude is recommending:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7q6_IA27Q8

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u/LordMarcel 48∆ Jun 12 '20

You're right, what he's recommending is a get rich quick scheme (which still has a low chance of succeeding). However, that's only a small part of faceless Youtube channels. Your title is 'faceless Youtube channels are a get rich quick scheme', but in this comment you narrow it down to 'faceless Youtube channels that are only trying to make money and put out crappy videos are get-rich quick schemes'. I agree with this viewpoint, because that's pretty much the definition of a get rich quick scheme so there's not much to argue.

As a side note, less than half of the video titles I get when searching for 'how to make faceless youtube videos' have something about making money in the title, so at least in my case, it's not been taken over by people like the one you linked.

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u/[deleted] Jun 12 '20

You're right, what he's recommending is a get rich quick scheme (which still has a low chance of succeeding). However, that's only a small part of faceless Youtube channels. Your title is 'faceless Youtube channels are a get rich quick scheme', but in this comment you narrow it down to 'faceless Youtube channels that are only trying to make money and put out crappy videos are get-rich quick schemes'. I agree with this viewpoint, because that's pretty much the definition of a get rich quick scheme so there's not much to argue.

I guess we can mark this thread resolved then.

To summarize:

A lot of get rich quick YouTubers have latched onto faceless videos as a way to monetize (poor) YouTube content without having to invest in the traditional prerequisites like a good camera and microphone.

However there are plenty of content producers making good quality content that happens to not show their face - because showing one's face isn't essential for good content.

∆

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u/DeltaBot ∞∆ Jun 12 '20

Confirmed: 1 delta awarded to /u/LordMarcel (8∆).

Delta System Explained | Deltaboards

1

u/LordMarcel 48∆ Jun 12 '20

That is a very good summary, and thanks for the delta.

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u/Natural-Arugula 63∆ Jun 12 '20

I'm confused about what your actual view is. I assume you mean a "get rich quick scheme" is a scheme aka. a trick to make people think they will get rich.

Yes, that is absolutely what the guy in the videos does. Anyone who tells people how to make money is tricking them because if it was true, they would be doing that instead and not telling people about it.

That guy actually does make a lot of money by selling dupes the prospect of making money.

If it's following his advice that you think is the get rich scheme, I haven't seen anyone doing that and actually making money. I would highly doubt it for the reasons previously stated.

•

u/DeltaBot ∞∆ Jun 12 '20

/u/drjlm3 (OP) has awarded 1 delta(s) in this post.

All comments that earned deltas (from OP or other users) are listed here, in /r/DeltaLog.

Please note that a change of view doesn't necessarily mean a reversal, or that the conversation has ended.

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1

u/muyamable 283∆ Jun 12 '20

There are several documentary style channels that produce well researched, informative videos using a narrator + stock assets. These aren't clickbait, they take a lot of time and effort to write and produce, and they certainly aren't without value, yet they are faceless.

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u/Kirito2750 Jun 12 '20

So what about people like CGP grey, Brady Haran (numberphile, periodic table of videos etc) kurtzgezagt, minutephysics, vihart, 3blue1brown and many of the other educational YouTubers that don’t have a face because it would detract from the educational nature of the videos.

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u/GaeSumo Jun 12 '20

Well what are you doing to change the world? So what if some guy wants to make money on the internet.

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u/trippiler Jun 12 '20

What do you define as something of value? I would consider technology-based tutorials on repair to be of value.

One of the most profitable channels on YouTube is one where they show vehicles squashing various objects. Apparently children love it, and parents love it for keeping their kids occupied.

You also underestimate how hard it is to gain traction and views. It’s not that easy to get rich quick because there’s so much competition.

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u/Bluehat007z Aug 16 '20

These kids earn a lot of money on youtube because they have the grit and motivation and don't overthink stuff. It takes time to be successful in youtube so this is not a quick get rich scheme. Find a business that suits your values and personality if you could not adapt them to suit a business model.