Parasocial

I'm trying to be several new things these days. I am now a husband; got married in my forties to the greatest lady on the planet. It is the first marriage for both of us. She brought with her two amazing little people that I am now blessed to call my daughters.

I am also trying my hand at being a "content creator". I'm not entirely sure what that should mean, but I am giving my best here as a blogger, on Twitch as a streamer, and as a hobbyist photographer. The reason I am tipping my hand in these fields is so that I can attempt to connect with and have a positive impact on the lives of other people.

I've been streaming on Twitch for nearly four years. In that time, I've been lucky enough to accrue over 650 followers. This blog is still a new venture for me, and to date, there are just over a dozen people who have subscribed! I am elated by how quickly people are signing up!

I mention these numbers not as a brag, but to illustrate the principal topic I'm reaching for here. I read online a few months ago about parasocial relationships. This was a term I'd never heard before. A parasocial relationship is one-sided, where one individual develops a sense of intimacy or familiarity with a media figure, while the media figure remains unaware of the individual's existence.

While I have 650+ followers on Twitch, I would say on average I primarily have around 30-40 people who will regularly hang out when I'm streaming. I'm not saying that I have 30-40 concurrent viewers; just that these people comprise the names that I see most often. My core community is relatively small, and I feel that I'm able to maintain a fairly two-way relationship with them.

The people who come to my stream time after time mean the world to me. I've tried to set things up so that this continued support is beneficial for the viewer as well. I want people to know how much their support means to me authentically. I have a system set up that allows viewers to trade their viewing time for real-world gains.

There are several ways people can earn my channel currency, cl4ybucks. This currency can be earned simply by watching the streams. You can also earn bonuses by being the first person in chat, redeeming codes I post on my Bluesky profile, announcing your stream streaks in chat, or playing trivia or games of chance with the chatbot. They can trade in the cl4ybucks they earn for Steam codes, recognition on my stream, special commands on stream just for them, or to get a gifted subscription to my channel.

I do all these things to establish a mutual relationship with my community. I want them to know that I see and value them. I'm not just streaming to gain viewers or make a profit.

One thing I worry about is that if my community continues to grow, there may come a day when I am not capable of sustaining mutual relationships with everyone. I don't want to have people come to hang out with me and not be able to give back and support them as well. I want to know when people have sorrows, to share in their joys, and to be as much a friend as I can be from across a screen.

While it may seem that I am against parasocial relationships, I am not. They can offer benefits to some individuals. They can reduce feelings of loneliness, provide a sense of belonging, and even offer a sense of inspiration or comfort to fans. Someone isolated or unable to find acceptance in their physical world could benefit from these things.

Of course, this type of relationship can have its pitfalls as well. People can become fixated on their chosen media figure. They may choose these one-way interactions with a media figure over real-world interactions. This can even lead to lower self-esteem or even depression if the individual compares their lives to the potentially unrealistic portrayal of the media figure's life.

My ambition is to foster a healthy relationship with anyone who enters my social life, whether they are in person or online. I want to have a positive influence on everyone I encounter. The thought of causing someone any type of harm, even though fully unintentional on my part, is distressing.

Hopefully, I share a well-rounded portion of my life so others can see that things are far from perfect for me. There are parts of my life that are phenomenal. Likewise, there are aspects of my life that are disastrous. I am just an average person navigating life to the best of my ability.

Many of my friends online are also media figures. I want success for all of them. Each person offers amazing things in their way. A few of us have communicated with each other our concerns about developing our online personalities carefully so that we do no harm. If you have an audience, please consider what impact you may have on those people and choose your message with care.

Thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts. I appreciate any feedback or comments. If any part of this has made you think or touched you, please let me know below. Have a wonderful day!