Video streaming has become very popular among game enthusiasts. Live streams of computer games, where there is the possibility of communication, are developing as community meeting places; a number of social scientists are calling this a trend towards new online “third places”. Today’s debate draws attention to the reproduction of a participation culture trough streaming, in the space of which everyone can express themselves creatively, share their opinion, experiences, and information. At the same time, there is a tendency towardsthe capitalist appropriation ofstreaming by media businesspersons who stimulate the monetization of participation. Investigating the “sociality of streaming”, the authors highlight the supplementation of the “Let’s Play” discourse with topicsfrom the current agenda, understanding live streams as public media arenas. In the public arenas of computer game live streams, the dramatization and selection of global orlocal newsinformation in a specific media formattakes place. The article demonstrates this phenomenon using the example of the coronavirus, the most prominent topic of spring 2020. The pandemic vocabulary appearsin differentsections of Twitch game streams, such astitles, audio/ video content, and the chat. Banter and obscene vocabulary are characteristic of the game stream space, however, this is combined with charity fund-raising broadcasts in support of doctors.
Translated title of the contributionThe Public Arenas of Game Streaming (on the Example of the Coronavirus Topic Representation)
Original languageRussian
Pages (from-to)221-241
JournalСОЦИОЛОГИЯ ВЛАСТИ
Volume32
Issue number3
StatePublished - 2020

    Research areas

  • game streams, Twitch, participation culture, third places, public arenas, discourse, coronavirus

ID: 71987933