On Twitch, full-time streamers rely on subscriptions and donations from their viewers. Therefore, most streamers show gratitude when they receive money from their fans. However, it was quite different for Twitch streamer Chance “sodapoppin” Morris (27), who was not at all pleased with the kind message in a viewer’s donation.
During a stream, Chance Morris happily showcased the Terraria world where he and his Twitch colleague “Veibae” play, even though he recently stated that video games on Twitch do not lead to growth. Sodapoppin seemed satisfied while showing the world, and a viewer apparently felt the same way.
He donated $5 to the streamer with the message: “I am so happy to see you happy, it has been a really long time. This is for both of you [sodapoppin and Veibae] and the chat.”
Sodapoppin reacted with just three statements and then continued with the game:
- “Okay, first of all. Shut your damn mouth.”
- “Second: Thank you for your money.”
- “Third: Bitch, you don’t know me at all.”
The chat responded with a flood of laughing emotes and referred to the donation as “cringe,” meaning second-hand embarrassment. They also labeled the donor as a “parasocial viewer,” which is not necessarily a compliment on Twitch.
Parasocial viewers are on the rise in Twitch streams
What is a parasocial viewer? Parasocial refers to those individuals who have a deep interest in another person, but that person does not feel the same way. The viewer may quickly assume that a Twitch streamer is their friend and that the streamer feels the same way as the viewer.
This can lead to an intrusive viewer who pressures the streamer to respond to them at all times, read their messages, or treat them as something special. Additionally, the viewer assumes they know how the streamer feels and thinks in certain situations.
For some time now, there have also been tweets from streamers on Twitter addressing the issue, trying to make it clear that they are really only live for entertainment and not friends to every viewer. Streamer Shurjoka has summarized the problem in a thread.
The clip by sodapoppin was also shared on reddit: It also discusses a parasocial viewer. Not only does the title imply this, but also some of the comments:
- Nitramz: “I think it’s the ‘it’s been a really long time’ that was added that makes it a bit parasocial. As if the viewer knows that sodapoppin hasn’t been happy for a long time.”
- dulpir3: “The person donated money to a multi-millionaire to express how happy they are that Soda, a content creator who plays a character for entertainment and whom they [the viewer] have never talked or chatted with in their life, is happy. Seems a bit strange and overly clingy.”
- PleaseStopUs: “Donating to someone to express that you’re happy that others are happy is kind of weird. Imagine walking up to a stranger and giving them $5 because you see them in Starbucks.”
Others, however, recognize the donation as a nice gesture and see nothing wrong with it. The donor themselves has also spoken up and said regarding the accusations: “I’ve been watching the guy for over 5 years and tried to be nice. I’m sorry if it came off as weird. I just wanted to be nice (…)” (via reddit).
Under their comment, some people try to make it clear to them that they did nothing wrong and should not be ashamed. The streamer is rather the villain of the story, as they do not truly appreciate the money.
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