Good night versus goodbye? Comparing the mourning remarks of virtual and human uploaders through a data-mining approach

In response to the rapid growth in the popularity of virtual humans, this study investigates the attitudes and perceptions of young viewers, from Generation Z in particular, toward virtual uploaders (VTubers). We qualitatively and quantitatively compared the online mourning directed at the “demised” virtual uploaders and deceased human uploaders, and human celebrities through a data-mining approach. Two salient patterns emerge. The mourning remarks for virtual uploaders are considerably different from those concerning human celebrities. And the mourning remarks for the disembodied human uploaders are more consistent with those for virtual uploaders, but the remarks for embodied human uploaders are more in line with those for offline celebrities. Our findings suggest that young viewers are becoming accustomed to virtual beings in online environments and are beginning to treat humans like machines based on their similarities (the degree of embodiment in this case). Young generations immersed in virtual spaces may develop different concepts of life, demise, and even humanity.