Accepted Manuscript
How Do YouTubers Help with COVID-19 Loneliness? CHI ’21, May 8–13, 2021, Yokohama, Japan
boost online production and distribute diverse content [
59
]. In
contrast to platforms based on friending and networking, social
interactions on YouTube rely on the video itself rather than of-
ine relationships [
7
]. YouTubers interact with viewers through
sharing new videos to cultivate relationships with fans [
26
,
28
].
Horton and Wohl dened the one-sided intimacy generated by
the “conversational give-and-take” with performers as parasocial
relationship [
25
]. Video interactions that lead to parasocial relation-
ships are called parasocial interactions [
24
,
25
]. Gardner found that
people turn to parasocial relationships with a media gure when
they need to regulate the needs of social belongingness [
19
]. Hart-
mann concluded that parasocial relationships could provide social
support and shield against the eects of exclusion and loneliness
[
24
]. Rotman et al. suggested YouTube users mostly focused on
the parasocial interactions with the creator, rather than building a
friend and community network like other social media [
52
]. Wohn
examined live streamers and found parasocial relationships corre-
late with viewers’ emotional, instrumental, and nancial support
for the performers [
65
]. Anjani et al. studied YouTube food-eating
videos and suggested that they generate a sense of connectedness
[
2
]. The parasocial interactions on YouTube lie in that YouTubers
make original content to engage viewers, and viewers respond to
and endorse YouTubers by video-watching, liking, and comment-
ing [
7
,
26
,
28
,
33
]. #StayHome #WithMe is a movement in which
YouTubers respond to the pervasive loneliness and use parasocial
relationships to oer loneliness support. However, little is known
about how parasocial relationships are embodied during an ongoing
pandemic and their aordances to supplement social interactions.
This work seeks to give a deeper understanding of the phenome-
non of video-sharing for mitigating disaster loneliness. Considering
video sharing and video interaction center the social activities on
YouTube, it is essential to examine what SHWM videos did YouTu-
bers provide, how dierent videos oer parasocial relationships to
supplement social connections, and whether dierent social con-
nections aect viewer interactions with the video.
2.3 Social Provisions of #StayHome #WithMe
Loneliness is prevalent among people who experienced disasters
and crises [
30
,
38
,
45
]. During COVID-19, technologies play a vi-
tal role in oering social support and helping people deal with
loneliness and isolation [
36
]. This work utilizes Weiss’s theory of
loneliness [
64
] to examine the role of SHWM videos in oering
social provisions during COVID-19. Weiss conceptualized social
and emotional loneliness and argued that people need six social
provisions to deal with loneliness [
54
]; see Table 1 for denitions,
which are elaborated in section 3.2. Cutrona and Russell examined
Weiss’s loneliness theory in psychological practice and identied
the sources of social provisions[
14
]. Attachment, reliable alliance,
and opportunity for nurturance demonstrate intimacy or trust and
are usually provided by family members [
14
]. Social integration
is usually obtained from friend relationships [
14
]. Guidance is ob-
tained from teachers, mentors, or parent gures [
14
]. Reassurance
of worth is a type of self-ecacy and self-esteem obtained by help-
ing others and receiving acknowledgment [14].
Weiss’s loneliness framework has been used to study the social
connections people can obtain from social media. The six social
Table 1: Weiss’s Framework of Social Provisions for Lone-
liness
Concept Denition Source
attachment
A relationship in which people receives
a sense of safety and security
family
social
integration
A network of relationships in which in-
dividuals share interests, concerns, and
recreational activities
friend
reassurance
of worth
A relationships in which the person’s
skills and abilities are acknowledged
self
reliable alliance
A relationship in which one can count
on assistance under any circumstances
family
guidance
A relationship with trustworthy and au-
thoritative individuals who can provide
advice and assistance
mentor
opportunity
for nurturance
A relationship in which the person feels
responsible for the wellbeing of another
family
provisions were examined in the loneliness-support functions of
Twitter [
21
] and Facebook [
62
]. It was also used as a framework to
study how parasocial relationships aect loneliness [
29
,
63
]. Weiss’s
framework described the necessary relationships people need in
the context of loneliness [
14
], which are also the social supports
that are likely to be absent during social distancing. YouTubers
perform various kinds of aective relationships and serve as micro-
celebrities to oer accessibility, authenticity, and connectedness to
the audience [
39
,
51
]. Viewers experience YouTubers’ characters as
close friends or online family members to fulll the need for social
interaction [
33
,
50
]. The parasocial relationships can be a source
of social connections for people who need to improve emotional,
cognitive, and behavioral health [
17
]. By examining Weiss’s six
provisions in SHWM videos, this work oers an overview of how
YouTubers construct the parasocial relationships to supplement
social provisions during social distancing. This understanding is
essential to guide future research on viewers’ perception of social
relationships with YouTubers and the psychological and aective
aordances of YouTube in reducing disaster loneliness.
During COVID-19, viewers may choose to watch SHWM videos
to obtain insucient social provisions in real life to avoid loneliness
[
20
]. This work uses engagement metrics to measure the viewers’
participation in parasocial interactions. Prior studies suggested
that participating in parasocial interactions can promote social
connectedness and mitigate loneliness [
19
,
24
]. Khan noted that
viewers who want to socialize on YouTube were more likely to
like/dislike and comment on the videos [
33
]. Rasmussen found that
viewer interactions such as commenting and sending messages to
the YouTubers can simulate realistic social interactions [
50
]. Wright
et al. noticed that video-based platforms outperformed message-
based media in promoting mental wellbeing [
66
]. Similarly, on other
social media, commenting and liking others’ social media posts are
positive indicators of mental wellbeing [
46
,
60
]. Studies showed
that discussing common interests on social media helped users
cope with loneliness [
18
] and promoted comfort feelings [
43
]. This
analysis provides a preliminary understanding of how six social
provisions aect engagement in parasocial interactions.
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