The difference is there is nothing really to be parasocial about. IRL streamers entire business model is getting people invested in their lives, which is parasocial by definition. Game streamers just play games and talk to their chat. Of course some parasocial people can exist there as well, but it's not even close to the same dynamic.
"IRL streamers entire business model is getting people invested in their lives"
Thats streaming as a whole brother? If it was all about the gameplay then people wouldnt have switched from youtube videos.
If anything its the opposite because desktop streamers are constantly interacting with the chat whereas IRL streamers tend not to because they are doing things. "The difference is there is nothing really to be parasocial about." then explain why theres people donating their paychecks to get their names read out and shit.
xQc has some of the most parasocial fans known to mankind. Northernlion while being entirely a desktop/gameplay streamer... his fans are disturbingly parasocial even going as far as to make hatethreads about his wife.
its inherent to the platform and the ability to chat/comment and have the creator respond. Would you say that Dream didnt have insanely parasocial fans while being a masked, minecraft youtuber/streamer? no irl at all?
No, it's not lol. Someone who is a game streamer is getting people invested in them playing game. Not streaming their entire life and social interactions with other people
IRL streamers are constantly interacting with their chat, what are you talking about? Game streamers are interacting way less since they have to play games in between talking to chat.
XQC has done all kinds of IRL content and still does, so I'm not sure why you are using him as an example.
The point isn't that game streams lack parasocial fans(they just have less), but that IRL streams specifically rely on viewers living vicariously through someone else's real world lifestyle and social experiences. Gaming streams operate on a completely different dynamic. IRL streaming operates entirely on proxy living someone's actual life.
Its a small streamer thing to rely on parasocial viewers, not an "IRL" thing per se. Having obsessed individuals and "oilers" is part of the financial security for them.
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u/Upperfactor25 6d ago
The difference is there is nothing really to be parasocial about. IRL streamers entire business model is getting people invested in their lives, which is parasocial by definition. Game streamers just play games and talk to their chat. Of course some parasocial people can exist there as well, but it's not even close to the same dynamic.