The apply of people on the TikTok platform posing questions relating to traumatic experiences to people perceived as Non-Participant Characters (NPCs) inside dwell streams includes a selected dynamic. These NPC dwell streams usually function performers mimicking repetitive actions and responding to viewers’ prompts, typically involving digital items bought via the platform. The queries about trauma introduce an sudden aspect into these performances, contrasting with the unreal and infrequently comedic nature of the NPC persona. For instance, a streamer role-playing an NPC may be requested, “What’s the worst factor that has ever occurred to you?”
This pattern’s emergence displays a number of elements of up to date web tradition. It highlights the evolving use of dwell streaming for each leisure and social commentary. The seemingly absurd juxtaposition of traumatic subject material with the performative artificiality of NPC streaming might be interpreted as a type of darkish humor or a critique of on-line tradition. Additional, it may be seen throughout the broader context of on-line discussions surrounding psychological well being and the desensitization which will happen when private narratives are shared and consumed on a big scale. The historic context consists of the rise of dwell streaming as a dominant type of on-line content material creation and the concurrent improve in open discussions relating to trauma and psychological well being throughout numerous social media platforms.
