this post was submitted on 03 Jan 2024
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[Outdated, please look at pinned post] Casual Conversation
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I'll take things I don't care about for 100 Alec.
Like its fine. Youtubers owe you nothing. Its his business what he does with his time. And like, who really cares what youtubers are doing? I mean is that something you should be caring about? Didn't you have something important you were suppose to be doing with your time?
It doesn't necessarily bother me that he's retiring from weekly videos, but there's something to be said for the comfort of regular videos from a person you've grown to like over the years.
Humans are by their nature social animals, and there's really no harm in mourning the end of an era, however small it may be.
Watching a one-sided YouTube video isn't social.
Is watching TV by yourself social? The fuck?
This just in, you don't actually have a personal or social relationship with YouTube creators, you have parasocial relationship with them.
Dude, it’s “my favorite show is ending” not “omg i miss my friend”
Just saying the words “YouTube” really being people out of the woodwork doesn’t it
I never said watching a video is a social activity, I said humans are social animals. They crave connection, be it face to face, or a parasocial experience. Some people take it too far - as can be said about anything - but the vast majority of people keep it well within a healthy range.
I also don't think it's sad at all. Humans have had emotional connections to "characters" for as long as storytelling has existed. If you can't see (or refuse to see) how this is an extension of that fundamental human experience, there's nothing I can say to convince you.
your brain treats para-social relationships extremely similarly to social relationships, which is the whole reason its a thing in the first place
acting all surprised and befuddled because someone talks about a content creator this way while invoking para-social relationships is extremely weird
Its para-social.
Its sad but these relationships might be some of the 'most' meaningful relationships some people have.
It's incredibly sad, and as much as I have never had to endure that yet I'm sure I and many other will experience it at some point in our lives as we get older and all our friends die, leaving us all alone.
So you've never felt sad or emotional about a character in a book, or a film? You've never regretted that a TV series ended? Never been attached to any inanimate object (favorite shirt gifted by a dead family member f.e.), or whatever? These are all the same function. Yes, a lot of people take it too far and invest themselves too strongly. But this is fundamental to all functioning humans.
Humans create connections by their very nature, and if they don't - they're mentally ill and probably not fit for human society at large.