vtubers are quietly BLOWING up 500M+ hours watched JUST last quarter and taking over youtube and streaming. i wouldn’t be surprised if 30%+ of youtube becomes vtubers pretty soon. how do we feel about this?? please discuss. vtubers ("virtual youtubers") = streamers who perform through animated avatars instead of showing their face. every shift in online culture starts by looking like a joke. esports was kids wasting time. influencers were narcissists. now both are billion-dollar industries vtubers are next. for better or worse. i think many vtubers will evolve into always-on AI friends. thats the direction they are headed in especially with the rise of ai friends from platforms like X. so vtubers are blowing up in front of our eyes. 500M+ hours isn’t a micro niche, it’s big time