#into unhealthy parasocial thinking w/ online personas like this

[shesmore-shoebill]

fun question, fun answer, with a lot of neat points!

especially loved:

- the elaboration of its not that the personas we see are fake, or inauthentic, as much as it is that they are not an all encompassing or holistic representation of who they are as whole people

- Amanda apparently being equal parts "on" both on and off camera- cool :)

- Courtney highlighting that Arasha is really good at slipping into specific roles/personas depending on what the video needs

- Courtney + Amanda emphasizing how sweet Arasha is + how the video personas aren't fake but also don't showcase all of her as a peraon

- Explicit acknowledgement that there are definitely elements that are intentionally played into because they are on camera, especially little brain farts or dumb moments. Highlighting how those can become running jokes/a Big Thing but if it hadn't been a video it probably would have been glossed over.

- just the general discussion about how the personas/perceptions are intentional in a number of ways- they prep, drink energy drinks, choose to play into certain things for comedy. Not lies, but definitely not accidents.

- People being weird about Shayne/misconceptions due to perception of his video-persona.... :/

- Smosh Mouth helping break those perceptions/Shayne getting to be more himself on Smosh Mouth/it getting to reveal more of Shayne's depths and self. (as a smosh mouth lover i <3 this bit)

[patheticfrogarchive]

…please elaborate 👀 (I agree w/ bts post)

OK I AM DRUNK BUT HERE ARE MY MAIN THOUGHTS that are probably a mes but again i am quite drunk

kpop stan culture is. absolutely encouraged by the big name... labels i guess??

take bts in particular for example. they are the only kpop group im familiar w so im just gonna be talking abt them from now on

LIKE ITS DOWN TO THE SMALLEST THINGS. weverse notifications?? its always "*idol name* shared a post with you" YOU. LIKE. YOU PERSONALLY. NO!!!!! HE DID NOT SHARE IT WITH YOU!!! ITS A PUBLIC POST!!!

like its all set up tp make you think that you have a personal relationship with these guys. i hate the twitter buzzword of parasocial relationship BUT IT REALLY IS. you have bts members coming online and waxing poetic about how much they "miss army" and "cant wait to see army" as if its a singular person. its not. there is no way they care about every single individual fan. im sorry but they dont

im sure they are lovely guys. and i dont doubt that they are very apreciative of their fans. fans make the artist you know? theyd be insane to not be tahnkful!!! but to LOVE EVERY SINGLE FAN???? ALL THE SHIT THEY SAY ABOUT "OH I WONDER WHAT ARMY ARE DOING TODAY" THEY DONT CARE!!!!! HOW CAN THEY!!!!! ITS NOT REAL!!!! their personas are so obvisouly formulated and created to sell shit

its all about selling shit. yes the 7 members of bts are most likely in it bc they are truly passionate about making music and spreading kindess but like. the company they are under only cares about money. trying to argue otherwise makes you look whack to me

people are all about eat the rich and capitalism bad until its benefitting their fave sexy man

ANYWAY people wholly devote their fucking lives to these people who will NEVER know them or truly care about them and its genuinely insane for me to watch like. i will see countless people on twitter waste DAYS of their lives streaming songs and waste so much money buying shit just to """support their boys""" when the LAST thing these guys need is money. charts mean nothing. numbers mean nothing. at the end of the day it does not fucking matter if their shitty song written by ed sheeren reached number one or not. and you all wasting your lives away acting like youre working a full time job streaming garbage is a waste of time im sorry!!!!!

its actually insane and kind of sad that i see so many young people devoting their lives to these people who do NOT know them and will NEVER know them or care about them the way these fans want them to. its an insanely unhealthy culture that is set up and is, in my opinion, DESIGNED to prey on vulnerable people.

and again. im sure the bts guys are lovely people. im sure theyre very nice. but at the same time im sure they too have been taught to say things certain ways to draw these people in and cnvince fans that they have personal relationships. "army we care about you all!!" no they dont. its impossible. yes im sure they're grateful for their fans!!! any famous persn would be insane to not be!!! but do they care about each and every individual one???? HELL NO!!!!!!!

also just a side note but if you ask me its actually kpop stans who infantalize these idols the most. they are not your "boys" they are not the "tannies" they are not your "uwu softe hobi jimim tatetae joonie jinnie meow meow kookie" who do no wrong and need defending from harm. they are grownass men who you need to treat like normal adult human beings. stop being fucking weird. as as korean person myself its fucking demeaning seeing prominent korean people being treated like fucking babies who cant handle anything that comes their way. i PROMISE you that jungkook isnt getting depressed over some random twitter user who called him ugly. you dont need to report them for hate speech. its not that big a deal. god. yes they and other korean groups face racism, but not everytning is a fucking attack.

there is nothing wrong with loving a kpop group or stanning a certain idol but also you have to be realistic about it. if your mental health is suffering because of someone you do not know, or if you are suffering financially because of a kpop idol, please seek help.