Yellow posted...
Do we have any case studies on people who watch mukbangs? They have a genuine mental illness from my perspective.
The usual assumption is parasocial desperation. With the corollary that it's the reason why it's so hugely popular in South Korea (where it originated), where they have major social alienation issues.
Basically, imagine yourself as a sad lonely over-stressed person with a great deal of anxiety about both your personal and country's future. Then imagine you're from an Asian culture where a huge cultural emphasis is placed on the concept of social eating. Then pretend you're having lunch/dinner with the person in a video as if they were one of your actual friends.
That's basically the logic behind it.
Arguably the same sort of logic behind roleplay ASMR videos where the creator is talking to you (as opposed to the type of ASMR video where they're mostly just making scratching and tapping noises).
Or to put it another way, people are forgetting how to be human and desperately craving the interaction they don't get from their actual lives.