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The parasocial aspect by far. Now, I don't expect any streamer to become actual friends with every single person that they stream to, but it's still the parasocial aspect.
Can you become friends with people in the chat outside of the stream? No. Everything moves too fast or you have to stay 'on topic' for the stream. YouTube and Twitch don't have private messaging anymore.
Can you become friends with the streamer? You're just a name in their chat. They really can't know anything about you and what they show you may be fake.
It's like reaching into Jello and tightening your grip. It's worse than TV because you know with a television or a VOD there's no chance of a connection, but Vtubing has that 'what if' factor.
I like the content, and I like the Vtubers but there's that wall. I can't lose myself in fantasy, and as much as sometimes I want to I don't think I ever will.
In saying that it means I'm not the target audience, which is painful on its own.
