Your criticism would be no different leveled at donating to charity, giving loose change to someone on the street, dropping money on a collection plate, or using the "buy me a coffee" tip like for FOSS projects. What's not real about being part of a community that doesn't have restricted access? Is a community in a FOSS project only real because you need a GitHub account or is that also fake because it doesn't cost money? lThat's a mighty sad outlook on life.
That's not what I said. Paying a streamer to pretend to like you is not being part of a community. There is no community; they just constantly call it a community. A real community wouldn't vanish if one person (the streamer) left. That's a cult.
> Your criticism would be no different leveled at donating to charity, giving loose change to someone on the street, dropping money on a collection plate, or using the "buy me a coffee" tip like for FOSS projects. What's not real about being part of a community that doesn't have restricted access?
Doing none of those things is being part of a community.
Parasocial relationships are monetisable. That's all. I think it's a bad idea to be on the paying end of that transaction.
> Paying a streamer to pretend to like you is not being part of a community. There is no community; they just constantly call it a community. A real community wouldn't vanish if one person (the streamer) left. That's a cult.
I see, so the communities that developer around FOSS projects would continue if the FOSS project disappeared? Do you think having a friendly and personable regular bartender that smiles when you talk to them makes you a cult member? Or is that different because some of your money gets you a beer?
> Doing none of those things is being part of a community. Parasocial relationships are monetisable. That's all. I think it's a bad idea to be on the paying end of that transaction.
Oh, being in a church congregation isn't being part of a community? Or being part of a FOSS user group? Come on now.
> Parasocial relationships are monetisable. That's all.
Any relationship is monetizable, including the ones I listed. Not everybody that chips in for a streamer has an unhealthy parasocial fixation, just as not everybody who plays video games is addicted to escapism, not everybody that drinks is an alcoholic, and not everybody that drops a coin in the collection plate is an obsessed zealot.
> I think it's a bad idea to be on the paying end of that transaction.
Yes, I gathered that, and you're certainly free to spend money on whatever you want. It's your needlessly black-and-white perspective and subsequent judgement of people who disagree that's strange.
