[ SECRET POST #6873 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #6873 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.


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[Cronos: The New Dawn]



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[Quartet]



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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 07 secrets from Secret Submission Post #981.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

02. https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/c60d0337d9eb.png

Transcript

[(Anonymous)]

I feel like I'm seeing the little man behind the curtain in some things. Like, honestly, streamers. You're giving them money and for what... it's not your friend, you don't know them, and they sure as hell don't know you. I'm lonely, I know this, and it makes me suspectable to want to watch these people and pretend to have friends, since I don't have any IRL.

[(Anonymous)]

Hmm. Is creepy parasocial stuff true for some people who are streamer obsessed weirdos? Sure. I'd say it's not true for the vast majority of people who view them only as live entertainers though. It's just like fandom, you only hear about the most deranged people when they make the news because otherwise it's not newsworthy.

It also depends heavily on what sorts of streamers you mean. Certain ones, you can tell deliberately farm the parasocial relationships for cash because their content is dependent on that relationship. Some roided up macho guy telling you that he and only he knows all the truths to real manliness, or a sexy girl bouncing boobily while playing some popular video game... is not going to attract the same kind of audience as some guy farming Lower Kurast chests for an hour, or a couple of 60 year old nerds streaming themselves playing sudoku.

[iff_and_xor]

I don’t know what it’s like for you personally, but I think some people throw around “parasocial relationship” a little flippantly these days.

There’s always been a certain aspect of mass entertainment that is the familiarity and appeal of someone being friendly and personable, from talk show hosts to newscasters. Plenty of people have managed to very healthily feel some level of friendly comfort from someone they know they’ll never meet.

I understand there’s a bit more unpleasant audience manipulation than can happen with streamers now, maybe especially with direct payments, but just being lonely and enjoying this form of entertainment doesn’t seem so awful to me.

Then again, maybe I’m just a bit naïve and sheltered from both streamers and their hardcore fans.

[(Anonymous)]

I think what makes streamers different from the talk show host, newscaster, or other type of celebrity is that they can interact directly with you in the course of making their content. They take actions on stream based on what viewers decide; they respond to comments in chat, in real time; in the case of game streamers, they sometimes play the game with viewers. They'll often speak of their "community," how great and welcoming and special it is, and you can be a part of it. You can join the Discord. You can buy the merch. Those other viewers can be your people, with the streamer as your leader.

All of this creates a more convincing illusion of relationship than passive mass entertainment ever could. And it's because, well...there is a bit of one, isn't there? The entertainer is speaking directly to you, and inviting you to be a member of their group.

For people that are lonely, I think this can be a double-edged sword. They get someone who pays attention to them, and a whole ready-made cadre of people to talk to. But at the end of the day, the connection isn't real, so it will always be shallow, and it can vanish at any time.

Now, something that distressed me is that I think it can flow in the other direction: the streamer starts to believe that his or her connection to viewers is real, and starts to prioritize it over other considerations. But, of course, just as the average streamer likes the viewer mainly because s/he gets them paid, the average viewer likes the streamer mainly for the illusion and the content, not for who they really are.

[(Anonymous)]

I assume in most cases it's actually people just wanting to support their entertainment. There are parasocial situations, for sure, but I don't think they are as common as it's made up to be.

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah, I don't see how something like paying a streamer is any different from buying a ticket to a live comedy show. You're paying for the entertainment.

[(Anonymous)]

I have weird feelings about it as well, even as I watch streams myself. There's something bizarre and surreal about paying someone for this, and I do think some people are paying for the illusion of a relationship that either doesn't exist or is very tenuous and shallow.

That said, they are entertainers at the end of the day, and we've always paid entertainers to entertain us. If we want other people to create entertainment for us, and to do it well, then it's only fair to pay them.

[(Anonymous)]

If you quit watching streamers and influencers, you'll be all the better for it.

[bannedbookweek]

It depends on why you are doing it. From my POV I can sub or send bits but it's a way to send the streamer a tip for spending hours in front of a microphone talking while they play a game. I've done that a few times and it's fun but it's also some hard work. If someone is a good entertainer and makes a game look interesting then I'm happy to tip them for entertaining me. But it is true that the industry has an underlying sickness to it where streamers are creating friendship simulators to vacuum money out of people's wallets. I've backed off tips and subs this year due to the financial downturn.