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I grew up in the 90s sitting on couches watching friends and family play games while we socialized.

For me, watching other people play games on the internet is basically an extension of that but with the addition that I can also watch some of the best gamers in the world if I want to.

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The social aspect is lost though.

Not totally. For smaller streamers, it's easy to interact with the streamer. And many people make friends in the chat and that's even why they keep coming back for - the community in the chat.

Online chats don't really compare to IRL interactions though.

There's currently an epidemic of genz who barely interact with their virtual friends.

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