NPC streaming is a trend that has taken off on a wide front on social media lately. It is, in short, about users paying money to the person broadcasting live on a social channel to do or say certain things.
It is common for the audience, from a catalog, to choose between several symbols that cost different amounts. Then the sender performs what the symbols stand for.
According to culture journalist Essy Klingberg, the genre of NPC streaming has been a thing on the internet for a long time, mainly on the platform Twitch, but recently exploded because it has taken hold on Tiktok.
– It reflects, in an almost slightly unpleasant way, the desires of our collective unconscious. It is predictable, but there is an element of tension. It is colorful. It’s repetitive. There is also something erotic about it. It is often a young, pretty girl and the premise is that you as a viewer can control what she does.
The majority of viewers are men
Those who watch Pinkydoll’s live broadcasts are mostly men, of mixed ages.
– It is difficult to get reliable statistics, but among those who donate the most it is very male dominated.
Klingberg describes the phenomenon as a viral niche.
– It is as if she touches on the focal points of our time. It’s a grown woman, but she speaks in a very childish voice. The audience is to some extent children, but if you look at the top sponsors, it’s men who pay for it. I think that’s a big part of why it’s stirred up so much emotion.
“Predictable in an unpredictable world”
Why then has a person who sits and rehearses what the audience wants through a live stream made such a big impact? Brain scientist Dr. Mouna Esmaeilzadeh says the brain is not always reasonable, especially when it comes to reward.
– You haven’t had time to do any research on it, but in general you can say that it is the reward system that controls, and it is not always so rational. This has been seen in other trends. We humans are clever like that, the happy hormones that control and the reward center take over the rational.
Esmaeilzadeh believes we will see more similar things in the future.
– It is predictable in an otherwise rather unpredictable and uncontrollable world. The dopamine flows, both for the viewer and for the woman sitting there. She sees in real time how many people are watching.