Words are overrated. Here’s why we’re addicted to ‘silent reviews’

By Gina Park, CNN

(CNN) — Izzy Santulli shows a bottle of perfume, leans back, shakes her head and grimaces in the video she’s filmed of herself. The creator of beauty and skin care content on TikTok and Instagram pushes the product off to the side with a judgmental look on her face.

In another video, Santulli shows a tube of concealer, pretends to eat it, waves her hands in front of her face and takes a deep breath. She smiles and kisses the product before moving on to the next.

Since October 2023, online content creators such as Santulli have been filming these “silent reviews,” sharing their opinions of makeup, skin care, books and other products without speaking a word.

Instead, these silent reviewers make gestures and use expressions to indicate their feelings about the products, garnering some creators millions of views and likes on TikTok and other social media platforms.

“I just don’t have a big attention span. I feel like no one does anymore, especially if you’re on TikTok,” Santulli said in a phone interview “That (silent reviews) caught my attention, as well as a lot of others, because it’s so fast-paced and people just want to know the tea (or inside information) right away.”

Nonverbal communication isn’t new

The lack of spoken words in a silent review, which requires an audience to infer whether a reviewer likes a product or not, may seem silly.

However, the same kind of nonverbal communication occurs in more traditional advertisements in which actors present a product with a big smile on their faces and recommend it with a thumbs-up.

We’re able to understand these gestures and expressions as nonverbal communication, which is any wordless communication or interaction. It’s a way people can quickly let others know what they are feeling at any given moment without speaking.

“It plays a very important role in face-to-face interactions and often conveys even more meaning than spoken words. Through nonverbal communication, you convey emotions,” said Dr. Diane Paul, senior director of clinical issues in speech-language pathology at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.

“Exaggerating these nonverbal communicative gestures and facial expressions is a way to add interest and excitement,” Paul added. “I think it’s probably similar to why people use emojis. You want to get across more than just ‘Good morning, nice to see you.’”

Different types of nonverbal cues

The three common nonverbal channels that people use to express emotions are body, face and touch, according to a 2011 study. For instance, when you’re listening to someone, you might turn your body to face them, smile if you agree with what they’re saying or touch their arm to show support.

Any of those three types of nonverbal communication can also be emblems, which are any gestures that have an agreed-on cultural meaning, according to research at James Madison University in Virginia.

Rolling your hand repeatedly in front of you signals to another person to speed things up. Pretending to sign a check in the air is a nonverbal way to ask your waiter for the bill.

Your face communicates a lot

Facial expressions can even be a form of public information. If someone looks afraid — widened eyes, furrowed brows and a downturned mouth — it can signal to others to be on high alert and look for danger.

These expressions can also communicate secrecy, as when you’re telling a friend something confidential. You may dart your eyes around the room, press your lips into a thin line and lean forward, which indicates that you don’t want others to overhear.

Nonverbal cues can also express involvement or interest in a conversation. If someone nods along as you speak and maintains eye contact, you can infer that person is actively listening.

Silent reviews convey meaning with gestures

When we talk to someone in person, we’re able to show attentiveness, interpersonal connection and emotions because we can perceive the other person as being real, but it’s harder to do in online communication, resulting in limited conversation and more frequent conflict.

But silent reviews are bringing back nonverbal communication, even if it’s in a more exaggerated form.

“We are drawn to people who are nonverbally expressive (it’s a key to charisma), and these people in the silent reviews are capitalizing on this nonverbal expressiveness via exaggerated facial expressions and gestures in order to both hold interest and to convey the message,” said Dr. Ron Riggio, a professor of psychology and an expert in nonverbal communication and leadership at Claremont McKenna College in California, via email.

It’s also a bit of a game to generations jaded by traditional advertising and reviews, according to Riggio. “In order to figure out what is the message, we are more attentive to the nonverbal cues (and to lip-reading) to try to figure out what is being communicated,” he said. “This all motivates people to try to pay close attention and decipher the message(s).”

Ways to practice nonverbal cues

Just as we do with babies, you can practice nonverbal communication with these three steps: demonstration, observation and explicit instruction, according to Paul of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.

“We might say, ‘Clap if you’re happy,’ and demonstrate it so they observe the gesture, and then they do it,” she said. “If it’s a culture that values and uses eye contact and you say, ‘Look at me. Look at me.’ Then you’re demonstrating it.”

This practice can also be used by showing people silent reviews and having them interpret the message the creator is trying to convey, making them a great teaching tool, according to Paul.

“They really are able to make subtle changes that make a difference,” Paul said of the content creators who use silent reviews. “So, cueing in children or adults who have communication problems may be a good way to help boost their language development.”

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