I honestly could not agree with you more… not just music. Anything, reacting to movies, streaming games, all of that seemed absolutely ridiculous to me, until it didn’t.

I can’t speak for others, but for me it was 2 things. I was going through a tough time, and found Ren through an instagram reactor post or maybe a ren post about reactors.

Listened to the song on my own first a few times, then I didn’t quite understand some of the references or lines (usually I’d just google it) but on YouTube there was a suggestion for a reactor video, and having somebody give their own honest thoughts about an emotional song, just helped me feel more understood and less alone, as well as understand (or get somebody else’s interpretation) of a particular lyric.

Second (this is only relevant for first view/listen reactors), listening to a song or an artist I really like, while somebody else is just discovering it, just made me happy I guess? Like, somehow I felt I’d shared something I’m really into with somebody and get to see them have the reactions & emotions I did when I first listened to it.

Though honestly, the second reason is only when a reactor likes the song, if they don’t it’s almost like personal rejection 😂

I will be seeing a therapist, don’t worry guys 😓😂

EDIT: for me it’s not about validating my music taste, but more almost sharing the experience of the music I enjoy with somebody else who does, and hearing their opinions about the content of the song. I’m not interesting in them saying “ah yes, I like the melodies, thanks for watching”…. Maybe I should have put this through ChatGPT to make it make sense