If you want to see a case study on parasocial relationships, check out the online sturm und drang about Watcher Entertainment leaving YouTube and starting their own subscription-based streaming service. Now, I've enjoyed their videos over the years, but not enough to subscribe, so I mentally wished them well and moved on. But holy hell, check out social media and you'll find it filled with rage over this perceived economic, ideological, and very personal betrayal.
I had literal flashbacks to previous online discourse surrounding "creators should get paid, but not like that," and how everyone is suddenly an expert on online economics (it doesn't help that other YT content creators, perhaps smelling blood in the water, have added their voice to the chorus in search of those sweet, sweet clicks), and how YouTube is good actually, and paying people what they're worth is bad.
And yes, while having to pay for stuff that was previously free does kind of suck, this is ridiculous. Also, it hasn't escaped my attention that much of the fandom has spent the last couple of days vilifying one of the Asian-American co-founders of Watcher (including literal Yellow Peril tropes too) while exonerating the white guy co-founder...
1/7
Nothing is more annoying than influencers giving themselves permission to dehumanize Palestinians. Here are two examples, but I've seen many more. These are definitely two of the most defensive, lol.
Maybe it says more about the pitfalls of influencer culture (than the individuals), the need to be seen by millions as "authentic," ...
I do not play a lot of #boardgames because I am a massive #introvert with the tiniest social battery you'll ever see, but I like my #parasocial relationship with the Shut Up & Sit Down team reviewing games I'll never play.