• pivot_root@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    A thought on the upper half of the meme: those “fans” sound like creeps with a fetish.

    Streaming is just acting for a digital audience. If someone is going to be so upset over the identity of the streamer outside of their streaming persona, they are unhealthily invested in that person’s life.

    Edit: I’m not surprised about the downvotes, but I am disappointed. This isn’t very different than followers on Twitch getting pissy when they find out their favorite gamer girl streamer actually has a boyfriend, and I’m sure most of you would agree that those people are creepy, obsessive, and fetishising women gamers.

    • PeriodicallyPedantic
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      3 months ago

      I mean… I can see it both ways.

      When people engage with content, they have expectations going in - they expect to know if the content is fictional, truthful, or intentionally ambiguous.

      For example, if someone watches a documentary and finds out it was all made up, they’d be right to be upset, because it presents itself as honest.
      Likewise if someone watches a fantasy movie, they don’t have the expectation of honesty.
      And if someone watches something like the Blair witch project, they go in knowing that it’s dubiously truthful. It’s a bit of a grey area because the deceit is part of the art.

      Streaming is similar, vtubers are obviously fictional - nobody really has expectations around what they’re really like.
      But if someone builds a following around being authentically themselves, and then it’s discovered that they’re lying about significant parts of their content, I can understand some degree of outrage.

      I don’t really watch streamers because the dynamic between streamers and viewers seems toxic AF, where streamers are kinda forced to pander and appear personable… But I still understand being upset when you find out what you got isn’t what you were sold

    • yamanii@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      She’s stealing the identity of a marginalized minority, I say she didn’t get enough hate, this was an old case, the meme is just being recycled.

    • magic_smoke@links.hackliberty.org
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      3 months ago

      Not sure what sort of content this person made, but if I found out one of the trans creators I pay attention to was faking it I’d be kinda pissed.

      Then again most of the trans content creators I pay attention to are either talking about trans specific issues, or shit like franlab where the content is very focused on the hobby and not the person.

    • ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works
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      3 months ago

      One of the main advantages that streaming has over other forms of entertainment is that it does create a sort of relationship between the streamer and the viewer. Generally the viewer knows that the streamer isn’t really his friend, but the viewer does feel a sort of human connection to the streamer which relies on the assumption that the streamer is being authentic.

      I’ll be frank: if I watch streamer content, it’s because I’m feeling lonely and watching it is a little like hanging out with a friend. Obviously it’s not the same because it’s almost entirely a one-way interaction and I know that the streamer is deliberately creating entertainment as opposed to doing what he’s doing purely for its own sake, but I would be disappointed if I discovered that a streamer’s whole identity was made up.

      • Kowowow
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        3 months ago

        This relationship thing is why I avoid streaming, just feels like propaganda eventually it affects you even if you know it can happen

        • theneverfox@pawb.social
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          3 months ago

          I like watching stream highlights, occasionally I’ll watch one live. But they’re generally pretty boring, even as background noise - they’re on there for hours at a time

          I don’t think the relationship itself is bad, but it’s a relationship between you (massively plural) and an individual. It’s like being part of a crowd. I get that people like it, but I don’t get much out of it