They are literally referencing a live chat though—when you see it recorded on YouTube you aren’t always seeing what they see. Most times I have seen people say “chat”, it is because they are literally looking at a chat room screen, or they are saying it somewhat ironically to reference the community of chatters that they typically interact with.
Furthermore, the way those chats work is sort of like an anonymous hive mind rather than individual users, so people say “chat” to refer to the meta-consensus of comments rather than an individual. If you imagine their community as a summer camp, it is the same energy as saying “good evening campers” when addressing the hoarde of identical kids in scout uniforms—their identity is being addressed as a group.
They are literally referencing a live chat though—when you see it recorded on YouTube you aren’t always seeing what they see. Most times I have seen people say “chat”, it is because they are literally looking at a chat room screen, or they are saying it somewhat ironically to reference the community of chatters that they typically interact with.
Furthermore, the way those chats work is sort of like an anonymous hive mind rather than individual users, so people say “chat” to refer to the meta-consensus of comments rather than an individual. If you imagine their community as a summer camp, it is the same energy as saying “good evening campers” when addressing the hoarde of identical kids in scout uniforms—their identity is being addressed as a group.