The imperative to be seen: The moral economy of celebrity video game streaming on Twitch.tv

Abstract

In this paper we examine the pursuit of celebrity through the live broadcast (‘streaming’) of video games as an expression of an emerging moral economy of contemporary digital capitalism. Live streaming is a novel form overwhelmingly found amongst young people disproportionately harmed by the economic crisis, and we propose that the contraction of employment opportunities is giving rise to a strong imperative to be seen, which finds an outlet in the practices of self-presentation, self-promotion and entrepreneurial enterprise that are central to financially-successful live streaming. We first outline relevant contemporary economic conditions, the disproportionately high prizes at the top of career paths, the attendant lures of fame and fortune, and how the politics of play have been affected by these changes. We then explore Twitch.tv (the leading game live streaming platform) as our case study, covering how streamers make themselves appealing, market themselves, profit, and how the platform’s affordances are interwoven into these questions. In doing so, we present Twitch as illustrative of the broader phenomenon of ‘digital celebrity’ and argue its practices reflect changes in work opportunities and social identity. In particular, we show that Twitch is a platform that allows neoliberal aspirations to play out through competitive performance.

Streaming media

“…From a video game and a viewer/audience perspective, studies have examined why people watch live streams of game plays (Sjöblom & Hamari, 2017), and how live streaming represents a more active and selective form of liveness (Spilker, Ask, & Hansen, 2020). Although most streamers are amateurs, academic work addressing streamers seems to focus on professional or aspiring-professional streamers and to critically investigate live streaming as a form of contemporary digital work (Guarriello, 2019;Johnson, Carrigan, & Brock, 2019;Woodcock & Johnson, 2019). T.L.…”

Game Streamers’ Practices on Twitch and Management of Well-Being

“…Some in the streaming community believe one should "Always Be Casting" to grow streams and maximize income. The norm to broadcast daily for long durations (over eight hours) has raised concerns about how sleep deprivation and exhaustion might affect streamers (Bonnar, Lee, Gradisar & Suh, 2019;Johnson et al, 2019;. Being online and in character for long periods of time can also take an emotional toll .…”

“…Streaming can thus be considered a form of aspirational labor, the creative cultural production of social media influencers that might promise social and economic capital, but whose actual reward systems are uneven (Duffy, 2016). Twitch is competitive, making it challenging to succeed as a streamer (Johnson, Carrigan, & Brock, 2019). Viewers tend to channel-surf until they find a stream they like, developing loyalties to very few channels (Nascimento et al, 2014).…”

“And Today’s Top Donator is”: How Live Streamers on Twitch.tv Monetize and Gamify Their Broadcasts

“…This gamification and gamblification "motivate[s] the player to play" (Philippette, 2014, p. 188) the game of giving money to the broadcaster. In this way, we see part of a wider ongoing transformation of digital games through gambling mechanics and psychological tricks-although a much wider area for future research, it is readily apparent how effective these techniques can be on a platform like Twitch with online celebrities (Johnson, Carrigan, & Brock, 2019), viewers are already deeply engaged with.…”