> Are we just upset we're also not uber rich for playing video games all day?
There's envy involved but I do think a large contributing factor is also the fact that what streamers and influencers and the like do, and what their "influencees" do, tends to very much lean towards being very mindless. It's like celebrity worship, except there's this "they're just like you and me!" aspect to it that feels incredibly disingenuous.
Instead of going out and doing things, you have people sitting on their butts watching someone else sit on their butts and do that stuff. Instead of people bettering themselves and going out and getting a girlfriend, you have people paying to pretend those lewd photos of some random girl who mentioned your username on a stream once because you tipped her which means she totally knows you exist and is basically your girlfriend, were taken just for you.
On top of that one of the main goals for these people is to get you to buy products from their sponsors. They're like the used car salesmen who try to buddy up to you and flatter you so you'll buy one of their cars. Except people know used car salesmen are bullshitting them. And people know celebrities aren't like you and me. People connect to streamers and influencers and spend more time worshiping them on a different level that feels unhealthy.
Don't get me wrong, I do think they provide some benefits to society. You can say that these sort of people help others feel like part of a family or whatever, and helps those who have a hard time getting a girlfriend feel better. On the other hand, you could also just point to, for example, the suicide rates which have been trending upward pretty steadily, especially starting with the prevalence of smartphones and such. Or the fact that antidepressant usage has essentially doubled in the past two decades.
Overall, to me, it all just feels like a trend in the wrong direction.