One thing that leaves me feeling irritated with watching vtubers is that I think too much with telling whether or not what they're saying is just a part of their character or if they're being sincere. Like, is their attitude real? Is this their actual sense of humor? Are these two vtubers actually having fun on stream together? Is this emotional story that they're telling even real?
Do you guys ever get caught up in thinking about this?
Everyone online is playing a role, nearly always based on our real-life selves. We choose which parts of ourselves to show and what not to show and the manner in which we show it, and we choose what experiences of ourselves we share and what we don't. Online streamers, vtubers or flesh ones, are no different.
This is also okay - we should adjust how we present ourselves based on social cues. How I act at a formal event like a wedding will be completely different to how I'll act at a casual party on the weekend, for example. It's perfectly fine to say shit about any group on here, but it's not acceptable while at work or being out in public.
So, how do you know that the personality a streamer presents is actually based on their real-life self? First, having a completely fake personality is really draining - most people can't keep it up for long. For example, Lia of Phase Connect started with a completely different personality to how she is now before saying "can't do this, I need to present myself this way instead". Lia self-reports that she felt sad and uncomfortable and such when presenting her fake personality before switching. Second, with so many people watching livestreamers act in real-time, the mask eventually slips and the mask slipping will be big news. And lastly, people are good at spotting fake behaviour, such as the inconsistency of lies, when people don't act the way we'd expect them to, or people's involuntary reactions to surprises or shocking situations that don't match the manner in which they are trying to present themselves.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk, I take autism stickers for payment but prefer the coloured one.