I think it's worth noting here that para-sociality, in the digital media sense, is something cultivated and encouraged by creators, not audiences. Audiences will always try to get closer to performers, this is age-old. The difference is what digital creators do to flatten this divide. Taylor Swift is present on every platform on which you can watch Critical Role. We're tempted to think the issue is the scale of the fame, but it's also the extent to which the performers encourage things like near-contact with a living community, or cultivate the air that they are sitting across the living room from you.
I really admire that Encounter Party has set this as a boundary, because it is fundamentally THEIR boundary to set!
I think it's worth noting here that para-sociality, in the digital media sense, is something cultivated and encouraged by creators, not audiences. Audiences will always try to get closer to performers, this is age-old. The difference is what digital creators do to flatten this divide. Taylor Swift is present on every platform on which you can watch Critical Role. We're tempted to think the issue is the scale of the fame, but it's also the extent to which the performers encourage things like near-contact with a living community, or cultivate the air that they are sitting across the living room from you.
I really admire that Encounter Party has set this as a boundary, because it is fundamentally THEIR boundary to set!