Abstract
Live streaming platforms such as Twitch that facilitate participatory online communities have become an integral part of game culture. Users of these platforms are predominantly teenagers and young adults, who increasingly spend time socializing online rather than offline. This shift to online behavior can be a double-edged sword when coping with difficult periods in life such as relationship issues, the death of a loved one, or job loss. On the one hand, platforms such as Twitch offer pleasure, distraction, and relatedness with others to help with coping, and the increased sense of anonymity and control could stimulate self-disclosure. However, the prevalence of trolling and memes may also discourage people from opening up, and relationships that are built online—especially those with microcelebrity streamers—could be perceived as more meaningful than they actually are. To create a deeper understanding of Twitch as a new media platform embedded in game culture, and how users perceive its potential as a coping mechanism, we have conducted a first exploration by means of a survey. The questions focused on general Twitch behavior, the difficult period in life, and the role of Twitch during this period. It was distributed online among people who considered themselves active Twitch users, and who had gone through a difficult period. Eighty-four participants completed the entire survey. The majority of participants indicated that Twitch helped them cope, and that it became a larger part of their lives during the difficult period compared to regular viewing. Recurring themes were the entertainment, distraction, and sense of community Twitch offers. Viewing behavior during difficult periods appears to remain largely the same in terms of the streamers that are watched, although time spent viewing increases, and there is a change toward more time spent actively watching rather than having the stream on in the background. With this work, we aim to create a deeper understanding of Twitch as a platform, and its importance for gamers that are going through difficult periods in life.
Highlights
Game culture has grown beyond actively playing games, as an increasing amount of game play is being broadcast online
Live streaming is different from other user generated content (UGC) platforms, such as YouTube, mainly due to the active participation of viewers and streamers (Gandolfi, 2016), and the similarities it shares with live sports platforms (Deng et al, 2015)
To get an overview of whether Twitch viewers consider themselves as being part of game culture, we asked them to indicate on a five-point Likert scale whether they define themselves as a gamer, whether others define them as gamers, and whether their friends are gamers
Summary
Game culture has grown beyond actively playing games, as an increasing amount of game play is being broadcast online Live streaming services such as Twitch provide ways for a large audience to spectate others as they play, while simultaneously being able to interact with the broadcaster and with other viewers, all from the comfort of their own homes. To individual streamers that often broadcast according to fixed schedules and are generally receiving consistent viewership, there are certain esports and charity events that temporarily attract large numbers of viewers While these events tend to take on a more traditional top-down broadcasting style, the individual streamers often allow the viewers to become part of the show, for example by responding to their input from the chat, or by inviting them to join games that are being played on stream (Gandolfi, 2016)
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