The emergence, growth and popularity of social media, gave rise to an increase in (participating) netizens, whom often post something (e.g. pictures, stories or videos) in the digital space. The first attempts in creating these platforms were made during the early 2000s, albeit with difficulties for early platforms regarding scaling up (Mol, 2024). During the last decade, different social media platforms were able to thrive, with even the emergence of new platforms. Alongside the rise of diverse social media platforms, was the emergence of many new forms of entertainment.
In recent years, live streams in particular have become popular in many parts of the world. Activities during these live streams can vary a lot and the live streamer does not have to be visible. Not being visible during a live stream helps with keeping their real identity in the physical world a secret. However being visible contributes to the feeling of engagement for the viewer, thus there is some kind of pressure for the live streamer (and other content creators) to show themselves. Some have chosen to show themselves fully, somewhat unidentifiable (e.g. by wearing a facemask), or have chosen to take on a whole new identity, which is the most apparent in VTubers.
“I’m a cartoon character and you’re not supposed to just be able to find me, you know.”
– Krimbo (Turner, 2022)
The Identity of VTubers
A VTuber is an abbreviation of ‘Virtual YouTuber’ and it is entails a person that uses an animated persona with (facial) rigging whilst livestreaming. The animated persona (‘VTuber’) will often have a separate identity from the real person (‘Nakanohito’) behind it. While creating a new (online) identity cannot give full anonymity to the nakanohito, it definitely provides pseudonymity. This performance as another identity of a nakanohito as their VTuber, naturally has some up- and downsides.
Having another identity allows the nakanohito “to afford different social values and norms than those held in in real life”, which thus “allow(s) for a certain kind of self-presentation that is impossible in an offline environment” (Wan & Lu, 2024; Turner, 2022). The nakanohito can be their authentic selves through their VTuber, in contrary to being themselves in the physical world (Wan & Lu, 2024). This freedom to break away from the nakanohito’s social role is also evident in those whom belong to a minority group or are part of the LGBTQ+ community, experiencing less harassment (Turner, 2022).
When creating a VTuber, their appearance, personality and background/lore has to be constructed, which can be somewhat similar from their nakanohito’s or be entirely different. Whilst livestreaming as a VTuber, the nakanohito (often exaggeratedly) performs as the VTuber’s persona and not as themselves (Wan & Lu, 2024). This is essentially a performance of the nakanohito, which challenges their authenticity of being their true selves. However, I do not think that the performance as a VTuber is that much different from the “dramaturgical account of human interaction” in the physical world (Mol, 2024). I believe that a nakanohito can experiment with (authentic) self-presentation through VTubing.
Some nakanohito have expressed that after livestreaming (as a VTuber), they feel disconnected with their real self (Turner, 2022). This can be due to seeing their VTuber as their reflection (mimicking her movements) or their (often exaggerated) performance as their VTuber persona (Turner, 2022). While a positive outcome of VTubing is that the nakanohito can (slowly) be more authentic in the physical world, a negative outcome is that the nakanohito still has to be careful of people finding out about their ‘real’ identity. There is thus a fear from nakanohito of being confronted by assumptions or judgements from their audience when meeting their ‘real’ selves (Turner, 2022).
Conclusion
It is possible to create and perform as a new online identity that vastly differs from one’s life in the physical world, which provides pseudonymity and is a major part of being a VTuber. This provides the person behind the VTuber (‘Nakanohito’) with the freedom to break away from different physical social values and norms, so they can be their authentic selves. However, while the performance of a nakanohito as their VTuber does challenge their authenticity, I do not think that it is that different from the “dramaturgical account of human interaction” in the physical world (Mol, 2024). VTubing can thus be an escape for a nakanohito from their physical social roles and can also be a way to self-present in an authentic way. There is still a fear within nakanohito of being confronted by assumptions or judgements from their audience when meeting their ‘real’ selves, thus they are still careful in the physical world with their identity.
Bibliography
- Asmongold TV. “Why VTubers Are Blowing Up.” YouTube Video, September 3, 2023. https://youtu.be/8YevTfWcdNw?feature=shared.
- Hitsuji -engsub-. “[Nijisanji/Eng sub]Kuzuha and Kanae eating together and heard someone talking about Vtuber.” YouTube Video, June 22, 2021. https://youtu.be/Gp5V1nUuR00?si=BRvkQrWypTTca6wh
- Mol, Angus. “The Ego Online.” Digital Media, Society, and Culture. Lecture at Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands, October 9, 0224.
- Turner, Anna Birna. “Streaming as a Virtual Being: The Complex Relationship Between VTubers and Identity.” Independent thesis Advanced level, Malmö University, 2022. https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn%3Anbn%3Ase%3Amau%3Adiva-53529.
- Wan, Qian, and Zhicong Lu. “Investigating VTubing as a Reconstruction of Streamer Self-Presentation: Identity, Performance, and Gender,” 2024. doi:10.48550/arxiv.2307.11025.
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