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I cannot believe I'm replying to what is most likely just a dumb bait thread but I've been curious for the longest time what has kept ME in the rabbit hole so long even past the point where I'd say I've had my most enjoyable moments, so here's a post just because apparently I'm too goddamn autistic to shut up about it.
Part of it is the easiest answer: I've changed, it's not 2020 and I wasn't looking for any desperate outs for my mental health cratering at the time. But even if the answer was going to be "VTubers", that doesn't answer why "hololive" in specific.
This is SO much more important than people give it credit for, but I think part of why hololive stays relevant is that it has a near-monopoly on the clipper scene. I know it's easy for us to make fun of clippers all day, but the reality is that following the livestreams of multiple VTubers requires more time than is possible to dedicate. And that's assuming you don't ever take breaks; if you actually go in and out to focus on other things, then you're entirely reliant on updates from things that aren't the livestreams since you'll inevitably miss a pile of them while you weren't focused on VTubers. Meanwhile, if I want to get updated on the latest shenanigans from our lovely blue dorito while I was taking a break... oh, would you look at that, people are actively recording the highlight reel for me and anyone else who's a casual rotating viewer.
If any agency wants to steal hololive's mindshare, they need to figure out how to steal hololive's clipper share first. The commitment required to get into a new livestreamer is simply too large for most people unless they ALREADY have an idea of what they're like, because despite what people think the idea of giving people a quick preview of a product before committing hours of their time (or for other more normal products, money) into said product is surprisingly enough actually good for getting people's attention. Honestly, this is more important than anything else; any company that relies on "they're incredibly kino streamers, we promise" might be able to get a core dedicated fanbase, but they won't have a shot on breaking into virality - that simply can't be done on livestreams alone except for an incredibly blessed few.
It's funny, really, to think that we've all been debating the power scale between the talents and Cover itself, but the real power in the relationship? The friggin' clippers.
Modern attention spans, man.
