Famous And Faceless: Meet The Tribe Of Mystery Influencers

A bunch of anonymous content creators have amassed big fan followings without revealing who they are

- Ketaki Desai

When one thinks of YouTubers, what comes to mind are hyper-visual and self-promotional bloggers who insist on showing you every aspect of their day, no matter how banal, fashion bloggers who sashay in front of the screen in countless outfits and many other talented and talentless people all cashing in one thing—their face. But then there is also a small bunch of very secretive yet successful influencers who keep their audience guessing about their identities.

Ajay, who is better known to his whopping 27.9 million subscribers as Total Gaming, is one of those mystery streamers. “I decided from the beginning that I won’t show my face. I have been working in my family business since I was in class 7 and gaming wasn’t a way to earn a living,” says the YouTuber who says he is under 25 years old. “Other YouTubers say that people call their parents and show up at their house. I don’t want that,” adds Ajay, who is faceless at the time of an interview, with a gif of Pankaj Tripathi from Mirzapur as the only thing visible on the Zoom call. The person from his team patching him through to TOI points out that he, too, has never seen Ajay’s face in the months they’ve been working together, despite many attempts to convince him.