As it's fully dawned on me that the virtual has replaced IRL as people's primary existence, especially for Millennials and Zoomers, I've come to appreciate the role that streamers play in the online ecosystem.
Everyone refuses to leave the home, but everyone still feels the social need to hang out somewhere with someone. That's what the streamers offer -- they serve as hosts of a great big virtual party, or online chill-out session, where the viewers and chatters get the simulation of not being totally alienated.
I don't say that pejoratively: we live in a disintegrating society, and on top of that, the Millennials and Zoomers were raised by helicopter parents, in social isolation and sensory deprivation. They are coping as best as they can under the circumstances, with the actual resources that are actually available to them -- like those baby monkeys from the Harry Harlow experiments, clinging to a soft fuzzy mommy-monkey doll rather than the cold hard metal dispenser of food and material sustenance, after being deprived of their real mother or any other living companion.
The viewers are not looking for a simulated mommy (well, in most cases), but rather simulated friends. Still, the point remains: they feel stronger pangs of social-emotional hunger than material or physiological hunger. That's also why streamers are way more popular, and relied upon, than other simulations like porn -- that only satisfies a base physiological need, not the social-emotional needs.
The reason that the joke falls flat, about "she's not gonna fuck you bro", is that those guys aren't looking for a simulated fuck buddy. There's no truth there to sting the intended butt of the joke. That joke would only land if they were talking about a viewer of porn, but I'm pretty sure those viewers already know the pornstar isn't going to actually fuck them. Only the pathetic minority who do look to normie online content to satisfy their sexual urges make this joke, pure projection.
The real joke would be, "she's never gonna follow you back bro" or "she's only faving your post cuz you gifted her 100 subs". The gist of "she's not really your friend" stings a lot more because that's what the guy was truly seeking by engaging with her content.
In any case, having explained what today's streamer culture is really about, I thought I'd offer a tribute to it through song parody. I only check in on a handful of streamers (Pokimane, Wolfabelle, and most regularly Gura). But I think I've got a good enough idea to evoke the general tone of the phenomenon.
I'm imagining this being sung by the idol herself, Gawr Gura, but it could be her singing about herself, about some other streamer, dueting with one of her Hololive gen-mates, etc. It's not a super-specific song about her particular sub-culture and fandom.
It's set to the tune of "Good Time" by Owl City & Carly Rae Jepsen (original lyrics here). I know she can carry this tune because she's already sung it on a karaoke stream before (here).
So infectiously bouncy, so irresistibly upbeat, epitomizing the zeitgeist of the most recent manic phase of the 15-year cultural excitement cycle, namely 2010-'14. She really loves that period, imprinting on it during her second birth at age 15, and afterward carrying a sense of resilience and happy-go-lucky-ness throughout her life. Ditto for most of the other streamers, who were born between 1995-'99 and whose formative 15 year-old second birth was shaped by the 2010-'14 manic phase.
Quite a different mood than the sad girl types who were born after them, from 2000-'04, who imprinted during their second birth on the moody, touch-me-not, vulnerable phase of 2015-'19.
My mini-generation imprinted on the previous manic phase, namely 1995-'99, being born between 1980-'84. So "hanging out" with these streamers does feel like reconnecting with old schoolmates, in a way that I don't feel when engaging with content from the sad boys and sad girls of the 1985-'89 cohort, or the born to be provocative / wild-child cohort of 1990-'94. I can still be (virtual) friends with them, it just doesn't feel like we were classmates in a previous life.
Anyway... I'm really stuck on the shark-girl for inspiration, so expect a lot more of these -- without the longwinded preamble next time, hehe. Again I think they'd work for any streamer, but since I watch hers the most regularly, and she's sung so many pop standards to choose the tune from, it'll be more tilted in her direction.
This first installment is about capturing the party vibe that the viewers feel about the streaming experience. It's not simply mindless passive entertainment, it's more like going out to a concert with others, delighting in the anticipation, hyping each other up in the lead-up to the main event, and feeling carefree and walking on air until well afterward -- ready to do it all over again the next day, in as much of a party-hardy way as you can manage in the virtual realm.
* * *
Let's go-oh-oh
Here there's only good vibes
Let's go-oh-oh
Here there's only good vibes
Start off with a tease for the stream ahead
Write off all the noobs shitting up my thread
Sound off if you're on to log on tonight
Here there's only good vibes
Plugged in, sharing memes in my underwear
Sucked in through the screen, no longer self-aware
Join in if you're on to log on tonight
Here there's only good vibes
Good taste of the good life
We'll light up the timeline
Both chads and reply guys
We don't need no other site
Here there's only good vibes
Let's go-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh
Let's go-oh-oh
Here there's only good vibes
Let's go-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh
We don't need no other site
Here there's only good vibes
Camped out in the chat with the pregame friends
Jam out with our queen till the bitter end
Tits out if you're on to log on tonight
Here there's only good vibes
Good taste of the good life
We'll light up the timeline
Both chads and reply guys
We don't need no other site
Here there's only good vibes
Let's go-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh
Let's go-oh-oh
Here there's only good vibes
Let's go-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh
We don't need no other site
Here there's only good vibes
No matter what you spend
There's always a good-vibe trend
No matter what we share
There's always some good-vibe fare
No matter what you spend
There's always a good-vibe trend
Here there's only good vibes
Let's go-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh
Let's go-oh-oh
Here there's only good vibes
Let's go-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh
We don't need no other site
Here there's only good vibes
Hololive revival of MTV Cribs: Gura and Mumei review and razz viewer-submitted room pics. Streaming is the Gen Z version of reality TV.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwXUlaluqb0
The Red Scare podcast ladies should do this, too! But for those BPD art hoe "Damn gurl, you live like this?" studio apartments. They'd have to make it a video, uploaded to YouTube or somewhere, though they wouldn't have to appear on cam. Just talk over the images sent by listeners.
Maybe next, Gura and friends can revive the What Not To Wear type of 2000s reality show, giving viewers a style makeover. Or revive Pimp My Ride... of course, Zoomers don't drive or own cars, hmmm. Pimp My Rig! One lucky viewer gets a tricked-out PC tower case, mechanical keyboard with all sorts of weird lights and shit, and a rare CRT monitor that's HD-capable. Hehe.
Come to think of it, the karaoke sessions that the streamers do are also like reality TV. If they were meant to imitate recorded music, it would be, well, recorded. There's no post-production, no multiple takes, etc.
It is somewhat like attending a live concert, but the setting doesn't feel so outside-the-home like a stadium concert or nightclub gig. It's more like the proverbial girl singing into her hairbrush in her bedroom. Only you're a fly-on-the-wall, like reality TV, witnessing her private daily activities.
It also feels like an intimate house party, where one person can sing and gives an impromptu performance for the other guests. But reality TV either way.
Sample the adult contempo, soft side of Gura's karaoke streams. Here's "If You Leave Me Now" by Chicago from 1976. Very tender and touching:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djLCdycejr8
She knows the classics, has a maturity range (in other streams, it will be "Boom Boom Boom Boom" by the Vengaboys), gets easily absorbed in the proper emotional state, and is comfortable in various genres (she does a bit of jazz, too).
Go through that PTSD Shrimp archive of her unarchived karaoke, and scroll till something catches your eye. There's quite a variety there!