4 ms·

On Twitch people commonly give $100 for absolute nothing, just to be thanked by the creator live, which they would do for significantly less money as well, ofte

On Twitch people commonly give $100 for absolute nothing, just to be thanked by the creator live, which they would do for significantly less money as well, often just $5. I suspect the top tiers at Patreon must work the same, there's some benefit there but people are doing it because they are a megafan and want to show it. I'd be intested in how many of them are living in a false belief / parasocial relationship though.

Akronymus 4y ago
I have a few streamers I occasionally throw money at. But those are ones I actually interact with outside of the streams/very small streamers, without deluding myself to think they are my friends. They owe me NOTHING. Parasocial relationships are scary though. A few times I almost slipped into one. (Nowadays I intentionally stop watching streamers I feel I am getting too close to.)
vintermann 4y ago
Some of these megafan donations are probably fakes, the streamer sending themselves money with an alt in the hope that real people follow. The platform has little incentive to stop that sort of thing.
- mcv 4y ago
  That is absolutely possible, but there are also definitely people who simply want to support people who do cool stuff, and don't necessarily need anything in addition to the free content in exchange.
jabroni_salad 4y ago
I only follow a couple streamers (as opposed to surfing more generally) and I notice the same names repeatedly doing donations like that. Most are one-offs but there are maybe 10 names that stick out in my brain because I see them so often. I know parasocial is the popular thing right now, but I think it's just a more general 'microtransaction whale factor' that encompasses collectible card games, gachas, and stream donations. I leave realmoney gambling out of that because I think the chance to get actual money back makes the rationalization different, nobody who is whaling thinks they will get a dime back.
altdataseller 4y ago
$100 for 1 piece of content, yes, but $100 regularly per month?
- wodenokoto 4y ago
  Yes. A month. I wanna read an article about the $100/month patreon tiers and the people who pay for them.
  - altdataseller 4y ago
    Good point. I’d pay 1k for that content

Akronymus 4y ago

I have a few streamers I occasionally throw money at. But those are ones I actually interact with outside of the streams/very small streamers, without deluding myself to think they are my friends. They owe me NOTHING. Parasocial relationships are scary though. A few times I almost slipped into one. (Nowadays I intentionally stop watching streamers I feel I am getting too close to.)

vintermann 4y ago

Some of these megafan donations are probably fakes, the streamer sending themselves money with an alt in the hope that real people follow. The platform has little incentive to stop that sort of thing.

mcv 4y ago
That is absolutely possible, but there are also definitely people who simply want to support people who do cool stuff, and don't necessarily need anything in addition to the free content in exchange.

jabroni_salad 4y ago

I only follow a couple streamers (as opposed to surfing more generally) and I notice the same names repeatedly doing donations like that. Most are one-offs but there are maybe 10 names that stick out in my brain because I see them so often. I know parasocial is the popular thing right now, but I think it's just a more general 'microtransaction whale factor' that encompasses collectible card games, gachas, and stream donations. I leave realmoney gambling out of that because I think the chance to get actual money back makes the rationalization different, nobody who is whaling thinks they will get a dime back.

altdataseller 4y ago

$100 for 1 piece of content, yes, but $100 regularly per month?

wodenokoto 4y ago
Yes. A month. I wanna read an article about the $100/month patreon tiers and the people who pay for them.
- altdataseller 4y ago
  Good point. I’d pay 1k for that content