I thought vtubers were just a COVID fad because everyone had cabin fever from being stuck indoors for weeks, and when COVID was over only the most advanced of weebs would still watch them. Yet, they've managed to stick around even to this day and I still hear about them. I don't get it.
My personal therory (or conjecture) for this phenomena is thus:
When lets plays and walkthroughs became a large portion of entertainment on the internet, it was primarily because the dialogue nature of the commentary added a kind of para-social appeal to the viewer.
Later on when horror gamers became the next trend (ie pewdiepie) having a webcam became the next must have thing. This was primarily reasoned as a way to see the reactions of the player, particulary the crazy faces they made when jumpscared, but I think another reason you started to see it creep into every kind of content, is because it increased the para-social dynamic, now you weren't just in pseudo-dialogue with the let's player, you are making eye-contact and seeing their expressions in real times, adding to the social intimacy we have an evolutionary and biological impulse towards.
So with the vtuber, it is a kind of logical progression, not only to see the expressions, make eye contact, maybe even chat in their streams indirectly talking with them, BUT the character is an idealized form, impossibly more perfect than another real person (or even the person behind the avater/character) it is like talking to a golden idol of a god, you suspend your disbelief for a more sublime form of connection, and a connection to a higher form of being.
>>713841Really is just people like cute things.
I watch femboy vtubers sometimes for that reason, even buying their poorly disguise horny bait
>>713819if you look at male streamers, most of them, even a sizeable portion of the big ones, are ugly and deformed, specially when you get in the 4-digit ccv range. their personal image doesn't seem to matter that much. now if you look at female streamers, men only watch the attractive ones, so what do you do if you are ugly, or non-white, or don't want to spend hours putting on makeup just to conform to this prerequisite?
the beauty standards for women in media are so unrealistic that the best prospect for a woman that wants to get into streaming is to embody a fictional character. it is a work saving technology