No, I don't mean that phenomenon wherein people give to charity (money, time, resources, what-have-you) in order to show other people how charitable they are, though that is a thing and it shouldn't be--I'm referring to this other weird phenomenon that, as far as I know, doesn't have a name.
It's people who watch "influencers" on YouTube or Snapchat or Instagram or wherever else those odd creatures dwell, and then give money to them for no other reason than they were asked to.
I obviously don't watch "influencers" or "reality stars" or the like. But I gather what they do is speak directly into the webcam and talk to their "followers" (was ever an internet phenomenon so aptly named?) directly. They speak on a somewhat intimate level--that is, there's a certain friendliness that transcends mere pleasantries. In a way, it's even more intimate than pornography. These influencers and YouTube personalities (streamers, I think they're called) speak to their followers as individuals, as if each and every one of them is a friend.
Thus, the followers get a false sense that they occupy a special place in the Internet personality's life--as if they "know" him or her, and therefore would of course donate money (made so easy via PayPal and other online services) towards whatever cause the personality is championing, or even in some cases for nothing at all.
I think--and I am by no means an expert--that this plays into our need to belong to something, to be a part of something, to have friends. More importantly, to have friends who are powerful, famous, or just well-known. And the way this is done is to play on our sense of narcissism: that we are being paid attention to, that the influencer or streamer is talking directly to me.
I know some of you will say, "it was ever thus," but was it? I don't think people in the nation thought Walter Cronkite or Johnny Carson was speaking directly to them. And if they wanted to see a celebrity, they at least had to go out and find one. Now, the electronic tendrils of the Internet are reaching out to us, and they have an uncanny way of finding our weaknesses.
The thing is--there are people who like you, who love you, who care about you. They are the people in your daily life with whom you interact every day. Your teachers, your fellow students, your family, your real flesh-and-blood friends. Go say hi.
Be seeing you!
It's people who watch "influencers" on YouTube or Snapchat or Instagram or wherever else those odd creatures dwell, and then give money to them for no other reason than they were asked to.
I obviously don't watch "influencers" or "reality stars" or the like. But I gather what they do is speak directly into the webcam and talk to their "followers" (was ever an internet phenomenon so aptly named?) directly. They speak on a somewhat intimate level--that is, there's a certain friendliness that transcends mere pleasantries. In a way, it's even more intimate than pornography. These influencers and YouTube personalities (streamers, I think they're called) speak to their followers as individuals, as if each and every one of them is a friend.
Thus, the followers get a false sense that they occupy a special place in the Internet personality's life--as if they "know" him or her, and therefore would of course donate money (made so easy via PayPal and other online services) towards whatever cause the personality is championing, or even in some cases for nothing at all.
I think--and I am by no means an expert--that this plays into our need to belong to something, to be a part of something, to have friends. More importantly, to have friends who are powerful, famous, or just well-known. And the way this is done is to play on our sense of narcissism: that we are being paid attention to, that the influencer or streamer is talking directly to me.
I know some of you will say, "it was ever thus," but was it? I don't think people in the nation thought Walter Cronkite or Johnny Carson was speaking directly to them. And if they wanted to see a celebrity, they at least had to go out and find one. Now, the electronic tendrils of the Internet are reaching out to us, and they have an uncanny way of finding our weaknesses.
The thing is--there are people who like you, who love you, who care about you. They are the people in your daily life with whom you interact every day. Your teachers, your fellow students, your family, your real flesh-and-blood friends. Go say hi.
Be seeing you!
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