I'm the same age as you and plenty of people our age watch twitch streams.
I dont donate to anyone because thats cringe but I fail to see how watching an entertaining or maybe extremely skilled person play video games is weird or this new thing (youtube let's plays have existed forever... montages... etc...)
Watching people who are good is an easy way to increase your own game knowledge and even skill ceiling because you dont have to learn every lesson yourself, you get to skip all the noob shit and just figure out how the pros do things.
Parasocial relationships can and do exist but that is a problem with all media.
So I get it if the person in question is a great presenter or a top level player. But at least to me it seems like 95% of streams don't fall into either of those categories. Granted I feel the same way about Let's Plays - Chip Cheezum's Metal Gear Solid series is really fun to watch even if you know the games inside and out, but hour 56 of Markiplier acting spooked by Five Nights at Freddys sequels? Pass.
You're comparing cartoons to an HBO series in target demographics. Of course you dont want to watch some minecraft lets play guy freak out about creepers or whatever, you arent the target demographic.
There are an enormous amount of youtubers with ungodly amounts of subscribers that I dont even know exist because I am just that far outside the target demographic, same as twitch streamers. It's all just slightly more interactive TV for younger people.
I'm the same age as you and plenty of people our age watch twitch streams.
I dont donate to anyone because thats cringe but I fail to see how watching an entertaining or maybe extremely skilled person play video games is weird or this new thing (youtube let's plays have existed forever... montages... etc...)
Watching people who are good is an easy way to increase your own game knowledge and even skill ceiling because you dont have to learn every lesson yourself, you get to skip all the noob shit and just figure out how the pros do things.
Parasocial relationships can and do exist but that is a problem with all media.
So I get it if the person in question is a great presenter or a top level player. But at least to me it seems like 95% of streams don't fall into either of those categories. Granted I feel the same way about Let's Plays - Chip Cheezum's Metal Gear Solid series is really fun to watch even if you know the games inside and out, but hour 56 of Markiplier acting spooked by Five Nights at Freddys sequels? Pass.
You're comparing cartoons to an HBO series in target demographics. Of course you dont want to watch some minecraft lets play guy freak out about creepers or whatever, you arent the target demographic.
There are an enormous amount of youtubers with ungodly amounts of subscribers that I dont even know exist because I am just that far outside the target demographic, same as twitch streamers. It's all just slightly more interactive TV for younger people.