Why Parasocialism is Worse for VTubers

Parasocialism it’s a one-sided relationship where a person knows so much about a particular content creator influencer fictional character and in this case YouTuber and forms a certain kind of attachment towards them while those figures knows nothing about that person those kinds of attachment depends on the viewer and

Content creator be it familial friendly or romantic in nature it is subtle Insidious creeping up on people and developing without them not even knowing one day they could enjoy a particular streamer influencer or YouTuber and the next they’ll find their heart suddenly broken upon hearing those influencers

Might be in a relationship while in most instances people just unsubscribe or unfollow or even the usual Petty winding in some random image bird or Twitter thread some instances can be so deranged and horrific like committing suicide after their favorite characters die or stalking harassing and scaring their favorite content creators their entire

Life in recent years parasocial has been vilified by literally everyone some critics and problems exaggerated but often they parrot the same opinion parasocialism bad and in one way I agree the deepest ends of parasocialism are caused for one of the internet’s most [ __ ] up stories but I don’t think

Parasocialism is necessarily bad see parasocialism is more nuanced than that while everyone simplifies it to just a person developing some kind of obsessive or unrequited attachment towards someone or something there are actually layers and depths to consider a weeb seeing the boys on trash taste and listening to

Their podcast every day because they’re just like me for real a man inspired after his favorite influencer that once suffered the same problem that he had overcome it a man deciding to learn a language just because their favorite YouTubers knows how to speak it parasocialism isn’t the Venta black

Concept that many people painted as it can be healthy in fact I would argue most cases of parasocialism is actually healthy we all have parasocial relationships inside some shape or form by its technical definition being a fan of someone is a parasocial relationship and most of the time that actually helps

Us grow like learning a language mastering an instrument becoming a good dancer or even just a temporary escape from the harsh Rod so that we can come back refreshed and ready to face it again sometimes we just need our role model and oh she’s to give us encouraging words sometimes we just need

A temporary Escape but when people start depending on them and reach the deep end that’s when the parasocialism problem actually becomes a problem when requests for words of encouragement become pushy for words of validation when instead of being inspired by your favorite content creators to fix your issues one ignores

It and Retreats to them for Comfort when one escapes reality and leaves for good many people have talked about the dangers of parasocialism especially that of a romantic nature I’m not going to be one of them though I did offer my opinions and that’s going to be crucial

For my overall message in this video no I’m here to answer another question that nobody seems to have answered yet is the parasocialism problem for YouTubers worse but how do you even measure that what is a base form of parasocialism by worse I don’t actually mean the level of

Intensity because parasocial fans going absolutely bad [ __ ] crazy over their favorite influencers is not exclusive to YouTubers in fact I actually think in terms of degree the YouTuber industry isn’t that problematic at least compared to K-pop and dream stands they’re way [ __ ] worse by worse I mean how

Heavily the culture of Veer tubing not just revolves around it but also needs it even more so than normal streaming communities in fact the industry banks on it indirectly encourages it however this isn’t exactly new tons of companies and industries like the K-pop industry the American boy band culture and the

Japanese idol culture Fosters and encourages parasocialism in all manners of depth because it’s the thing that draws in the money it also doesn’t help that the visual rubber boom started in 2020 literally the time where many people were isolated lonely and in a bad spot in their life due to pandemic

Lockdowns while the healthy part of parasocialism got these peoples to forget about their loneliness momentarily and eventually get back to their feet the dangerous part is that now some people vicariously live off of these anime girls but while parasocialism exists everywhere in the media streaming communities in general

Are more prone to developing it since viewers and fans actually have a line of direct communication with that person viewers share their vulnerabilities with the streamer they banter they have inside jokes and it makes it so that a viewer feels like they know this streamer for real like they’re close

Friends with them when in reality they aren’t and eventually they go to their streams every time just so they can talk to them to see what they’re up to eventually they develop a parasocial bond whether that’s on the healthy side or on the deep end ultimately depends on the individual viewer however

Parasocialism can actually also go the other way around in fact I’d argue parasocialism first starts on the streamer or YouTuber’s end relatability is a tricky thing to manage as a YouTuber in one hand they absolutely need it so that people can connect with them and understand them

Better which is part of a healthy parasocial relationship of course but afterwards it’s their responsibility to put up proper boundaries still no matter what you do even if you put up that boundary there will always be fans that will fall to the deep end of parasocialism gachis exist for everyone

Not just for YouTubers putting up boundaries served to lessen the impact of those gachis but I can’t entirely blame the gachis though because it’s actually the influencers that start seeing their chat as their friends first because the chat is always there cheering for them and occasionally

Tossing them money who am I to deserve your time and money I need to repay you will become their mentality and this Bond will deepen For Better or Worse usually worse when eventually the YouTuber shares their vulnerabilities past traumas and too much of themselves to Their audience it’s an indirect

Invite for other people to start pouring their hearts too and thus starts a cycle where they essentially feed on each other some people trauma dumps during a random moment on a stream and sees their wage rubber as a waifu therapist and some people dedicate entire months of their lives making videos worshiping a

Single Beach over okay maybe two it’s especially worse for YouTubers who are troubled because the chats start developing some kind of Savior complex that’s the reason why a lot of YouTuber fans love unstable girls and menjeras because they’re just like me for real and to them they are way

Cuter than a normal professional YouTuber as such this is a part of the job for most YouTubers even if one is literally the funniest YouTuber ever they often need to skirt the edges of parasocialism even more so than regular streamers to find the middle between the

Shallow and the deep end they can’t stay completely unparasocial With Their audience for long because parasocialism is the lifeblood of this industry it’s what fans expect and want from YouTubers most YouTubers fortunately manage to find these sweet spots and those that go over the edge end up in unpredictable

Places as examples Russia got guarded and was humiliatingly exiled from all alive and Vox is seeking professional mental help after the whole rainbow drama and maybe developing into a manhera himself of yes they’re still active and popular but they’ve earned themselves quite controversial reputations yes they’re still making

Bank and they still want to pursue the GFE and BFE experience but at what cost of course I’m not saying that Russia arvox deserved the mental damage that was inflicted upon them due to parasocial fans and criticism but what I am saying is that it’s par for the

Course things like these were naturally going to happen there’s even a chance that it’ll continue to worsen as they keep descending into the abyss and again everything that I’ve said so far aren’t exclusive to YouTubers they happen to regular streamers too however the reason why I think it’s a tad more problematic

For YouTubers is because YouTubers are easier to objectify YouTubers appear as anime characters they play into a k-fabe or character archetype and due to this it’s really easy to forget that they’re still human that they’re just entertainers that they’re just doing their job there’s already a growing Global culture of men

Replacing real relationships with waifus and pair this up with the idol culture which I’ll talk about later and you get a special kind of problem but things get even more complicated when you remember that it’s part of the magic of YouTubers Demerol playing is part of the appeal of

The gimmick of youtubing YouTubers are basically interactive shows when you think about it them acting like caricatures playing into tropes being a neat because they’re just like me for Real playing into the shipping culture these are all parts of a YouTuber’s appeal and the natures of this appeal makes parasocial relationships all the

More easier to form it’s much harder for vegetables to manage their fans because they have to keep that magic alive while making sure most of their fan base doesn’t fall too deep into parasocialism and if their fan base have already fallen into the deep end whether intentionally or accidentally they start

Walking on eggshells most of the time YouTubers fail in managing that balance because parasocialism is already a key component of the beach of our culture and sometimes it even dictates the success of a YouTuber of course while parasocialism is already a necessary component for a regular streamer or

Influencer in the case of YouTubers parasocialism isn’t just necessary it’s glorified enter the simple culture originally the word simp was an insult to men who like female content creators a little too much to a point where they’d spend a [ __ ] ton of money in hopes of getting some action in return

But during the v-tuber boom fans have not only adopted that word they turned it into a badge of honor the most loyal simps and the craziest most active whales are respected and glorified Someone Who cashes out literally tens of thousands of dollars to Super Chat their

Oceans in a single month are lay people that’s mad Lads are God amongst men half of the fan base look at this ironically but the other half do so unironically somehow the Symbian culture has distorted our perception of such herbivore Behavior somehow the simping culture has made this the norm of the

Industry and while I agree that this culture is part of what makes the beach over Community unique it doesn’t make it any less weird when you actually look at it from the outside and look at it without Rose tinted glasses but again this culture is what makes the industry

Special for better or worse it is also part of the magic of youtubing in fact this culture is why the YouTuber boom happened in the first place and why hollow life became the most popular Global YouTuber agency because the thing about Industries is that the top dogs will always be the trendsetters what

They do is what most people follow in order to get a similar result holy life’s Idol Niche became the meta for the industry when the vegetable boom happened and as a result idols and vegetables have become intertwined permeating to every corner of the YouTuber industry I just have something

Of a problem with parasocialism already so it’s only natural that it was going to make it worse the toxic side of the idol culture which is the whole not talking to males thing among others spread out across the YouTuber industry it’s not that any agency including hollow life is forcing their YouTubers

To follow this toxic part of their culture and be parasocial because it’s mostly perpetuated both by the viewers and the individual YouTuber and while this industry has been doing well to shed off toxic parts of the iloculture like the whole not allowed to talk to males thing heavy parasocialism is still

The lifeblood of the community and it’s where the YouTuber industry is still going one thing that I’ve observed too is that the parasocial aspect of v-tubing is worse for the Eastern side of the industry than the western side the Japanese the Chinese are really Asians in general are more prone to fall

Into the deep end of parasocial relationships and as a result they’re the most loyal and profitable but also the most volatile there’s a fine line between dangerous and healthy parasocialism in fact that’s pretty much the point of this video to find that line to find that balance both as a

Viewer or a streamer hathi parasocialism or healthy vegetable and fun relationships when a YouTuber knows that their chat are just their fans and not their friends appreciating them but still keeping a distance when viewers know that the YouTubers are just doing their job still buying into their kfabe

And having fun but maintaining a healthy separation but dangerous parasocialism is dependency or codependency between YouTuber and fan when the lines blur both for the chat and streamer and they feel the need to see each other to complete their day when the viewers start seeing the YouTuber as their waifu

Therapist a romantic or their friend healthy parasocialism is the reason that the magic of YouTubers exists and it’s one of the elements that make vichtubing unique enjoying your oshi’s as cute anime girls doing cute anime things is is one of the most unique experiences of online entertainment but dangerous

Parasocialism is the horror of the YouTuber Community as it can ruin entire fan bases YouTubers and further damages the reputation of the industry the moment you buy into the illusion too much and forget that these YouTubers are just normal human beings doing their job as entertainers is the moment you start

To slip on the edge the moment you stop being a fan and start seeing yourself as their friend or lover it’s the moment you need to take a step back all of us are parasocial towards someone or something in various degrees but when you start substituting parasocial relationships for actual real

Relationships realize that you’re falling on the deep end the parasocial problem only becomes a problem when you let it become a problem hey everyone thanks for watching this video leave a like and comment down below if I’ve missed something or if you have something to add and if you’d like

To engage in a parasocial relationship with me joining my membership or patreon will be the best way to do so anyway that’s it see ya