Abstract
This paper discusses the live streaming platform Twitch, and how it allows for communities to thrive on the internet. The platform affordances are examined to understand why the website is particularly good at forming relationships and communities between people, and also how this sense of community positively effects the lives of those who are involved in them. Particularly the way that Twitch helps users get through difficult periods in their ‘real’ lives using discussions with other likeminded people on the platform, but also the potentially dangerous side effects of this interaction known as parasocial relationships. The music industry and how it was hit hard during the COVID-19 pandemic is examined as an example of how Twitch is able to bring together different kinds of communities and simultaneously allow people to monetise their livelihoods, as well as how Twitch incentivizes users to support creators monetarily. The contrast between traditional entertainment media and Twitch is also discussed, giving reason as to why online communities can be much stronger and more diverse.
Community is alive and well on the internet, and Twitch as a platform facilitates the creation and building of communities as well as relationships for individuals within them. Twitch is an example of a platform which heavily focuses on creating an environment where communities can expand. Prior to the internet, communities would mainly consist of people from the same geographical area, leading to little diversity and difference in thinking. This created echo chambers of thought and a very closed social system (Hampton & Wellman, 2018). Now through social media, people from all over the world can be considered in the same community, and Twitch is a prime example of where people from different backgrounds can interact. The platforms affordances are designed with community in mind and things like the live chat which allows viewers to directly interact with the streamer provides a sense of belonging. People often use Twitch to escape from issues that they may currently be dealing with in their real lives, and this distraction can be invaluable for some viewers. Twitch was able to build communities and also provide revenue for music artists during the COVID-19 pandemic after their normal line of work was heavily impacted by restrictions. There are many affordances which generate revenue, and also create the feeling of belonging that viewers require to consider themselves as part of a strong community. Discussions surrounding mental health are also quite prominent on the platform, and these deeper conversations are extremely powerful in humanizing the streamer and creating stronger relationships between viewers and broadcasters. Overall, the platform of Twitch heavily facilitates community building, as well as the individual relationships within them.
Twitch as a platform is designed to promote social interaction and community in numerous ways. The platforms affordances encourage discussion between total strangers, and in turn, builds relationships between people who would never have met otherwise. A real benefit of Twitch’s community-based design is the availability for users to be able to deal with difficult periods in their everyday lives. People dealing with problems such as relationship issues, the death of a loved one, or job loss as a few examples can participate in the live experience of Twitch and feel included while they are struggling. Features such as the live chat that directly communicates with the streamer in real time are the main reason why the platform is so good at providing comfort to these people (de Wit et al., 2020). Depending on the popularity and type of the broadcaster that a viewer is watching, there is often a direct conversation happening between ‘chat’ and the streamer. These conversations often drive the stream and keep the flow of discussions that occur. The viewers who are sending messages in chat which are dealing with difficult periods of their lives don’t necessarily have to be speaking explicitly about what they are going through for them to benefit from the experience. The platform offers pleasure, distraction, and relatedness with others to help these viewers cope (de Wit et al., 2020). Normal conversations happening that have no direct correlation to their real-world struggle still has a positive effect on the viewer, purely because it might take their mind of what is happening for a period of time. The conversations within a streamer’s community are the reason why these communities can be so strong and inclusive. Strong relationships are often formed between regular chatters, building bonds and making friends who also help them to get through difficult times. However, there are possible roadblocks which prevent viewers from potentially engaging in conversations in Twitch chats. The prevalence of trolling and memes, just like on any social media platform, can be discouraging for people who want to interact with the chat room (de Wit et al., 2020). It can stand in the way of discussions about what a viewer is going through if they are experiencing a difficult period, but it can also prevent people from participating in normal conversations. Twitch fortunately has moderation tools which can help subside this barrier, but the potential to be trolled can still hold certain, potentially vulnerable viewers back from sharing in the very public space that is a Twitch chat. It is safe to say that as a platform, Twitch allows for people to meet and for relationships to form, which can than assist a viewer in difficult times in their lives, however some people could be discouraged from interacting due to the natural online presence of trolls.
Although this building of strong relationships is a great tool for people to use while they are struggling, there are of course negative repercussions of the system that we should discuss. Because of the one-sided discussion that occurs between streamers and viewers, parasocial relationships are a big risk of forming. Parasocial relationships can be described as a “one-sided intimate connection with a media performer such as a streamer, based on repeated encounters” (de Wit et al., 2020, pg. 3). Media users, in this case the Twitch viewer, begin to perceive streamers as friends (Leith, 2021). These types of parasocial interactions have been occurring in the entertainment industry for years, however Twitch exaggerates the feeling of connection between a viewer and broadcaster because of the direct link they have in chat discussions. The streamer sees many people talking in chat and facilitates these conversations, however a viewer when talking to a streamer only sees themselves as having that discussion with one other person. They may feel that the discussion is more personal and targeted at them than it really is. This can be harmful if the viewer begins to place too much emphasis on this relationship being a real one. Eventually they will realise that they have been subconsciously mislead into believing in this false relationship, and this realisation can be very detrimental to their mental health. Twitch is a great place to facilitate the formations of new relationships, however there are potential negatives to these relationships forming via a streamers personal chat room.
Another way in which Twitch facilitates the forming of relationships and the bonding of community could be observed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The music industry relies heavily on performing live gigs and shows to create income from the profession (Leger, 2021). When the pandemic hit, many artists who relied on touring as their main source of income had to pivot and innovate to find new ways of making money. As well as this, the lack of live shows and impressions on people meant that communities surrounding these artists had less opportunity to interact. The platform of Twitch provided a way for artists to solve both of these issues. Using the in-built monetisation mechanics of Twitch, they could make an income from live streaming their music and at the same time take advantage of the platforms affordances to foster a community. The live chat meant that fans of the particular artist were able to interact again in real time, and communities rebuilt to become stronger than ever for these musicians. As a result, Twitch saw exponential growth, with the number of music streamers tripling from quarter two 2019, to the second quarter of 2020 (Leger, 2021). This is one example of how Twitch’s platform allows for the construction and growth of communities. There are several platform affordances which allow the site to be so successful in facilitating community building, including the live chat, subscriptions, bits, badges, and emotes. All of these affordances work together to create an ecosystem centred around community. The live chat is possibly the most important of all, allowing for direct and real time conversations to occur between viewers and broadcasters. Subscriptions are a feature where viewers can pay monthly to ‘subscribe’ to a streamer and are then given special benefits such as ad-free viewing, access to emotes, and subscription badges (Leger, 2021). Subscriptions are mainly seen as a way to support a streamer financially, however they do have a major role in creating community in a stream. The access to subscriber only emotes are a huge facilitator of community, with a special ‘language’ formed around the platform as a whole, but also in specific streamers chats. Emotes help provide a sense of belonging for viewers who can use them and deepens their ties to the community. Subscription badges are also a big factor in Twitch communities. When a viewer subscribes, they are awarded a badge which appears in front of their name when they type in chat. Generally, however depending on the streamer, the badge changes design and colour based on how many months a viewer has been subscribed for. This creates somewhat of a hierarchy within the chat with the streamer at the top, followed by those who have been subscribed for the longest, which is made very obvious by these badges. The badges along with the emotes are a way of creating a sense of belonging to the community, which is fundamental to build strong relationships between those within it. The platform of Twitch and its affordances which facilitate the creation and building of community has helped music artists during the pandemic who struggled to get by after their livelihoods were significantly impacted. The site is focused on community and has many specific features which are designed to continue to build them.
Different to traditional entertainment media, viewers can have direct involvement in a live stream and alter the direction of discussion with the real time interaction in the chat. This means that there are different motivations for watching a live stream on Twitch as opposed to watching television or a movie for example. Discussions about what is currently happening in the stream, and the building on already happening conversations in the chat allow for the fostering of community around these discussions. Because of the saturation of streamers who are live at any point in time, there is plenty of choice on who to watch for a viewer. This, along with the platform in its entirety, brings together likeminded people to build relationships with. Twitch has been seen to be a platform which facilitates mental health discussions very well. In gaming communities in particular, live streams have allowed people to combat feelings of self-consciousness and loneliness by having discussions with these other likeminded people (Ghandi, Cook, LaMastra, Uttarapong & Wohn, 2021). The direct conversation is invaluable for viewers who might be particularly socially isolated outside of the online space, and streamers are quite aware of the importance they play with these discussions. Streamers make the effort to read out chat messages and thank people who make donations or subscribe, which benefits the viewer because they receive social interaction they desire, but also builds a stronger community for the streamer. Conversations about mental health are an example of discussions which are not uncommon on Twitch. Mental health discussions are more serious than the usual light-hearted discussions that happen in chat rooms, and they can occur spontaneously or be planned by a streamer (Ghandi, Cook, LaMastra, Uttarapong & Wohn, 2021). The streamer can be honest about their own feelings, and this vulnerability shows the human side of the entertainer which is extremely beneficial in creating a tighter knit community. Along with this, the mental health discussion can be taken from Twitch to other platforms such as Twitter and Instagram, reaching new audiences and further building community (Ghandi, Cook, LaMastra, Uttarapong & Wohn, 2021). Twitch is a great facilitator of discussion and talking about mental health is an example of how these conversations can help to further build a community for a streamer.
There is no doubting that Twitch is a very powerful online platform when it comes to creating and building communities. The platforms affordances such as the live chat, subscriptions, emotes and badges all contribute to creating an environment where people feel comfortable having discussions and forming relationships. It allows people to deal with difficult periods of their lives and have a space to have conversations about mental health, while also providing avenues for other industries to monetise their work while building community. The platform has been constructed to create a community focused environment, proving that communities are alive and well on the internet.
References
de Wit, J., van der Kraan, A., & Theeuwes, J. (2020). Live Streams on Twitch Help Viewers Cope With Difficult Periods in Life. Frontiers In Psychology, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.586975
Gandhi, R., Cook, C., LaMastra, N., Uttarapong, J., & Wohn, D. (2021). An Exploration of Mental Health Discussions in Live Streaming Gaming Communities. Frontiers In Psychology, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.575653
Hampton, K., & Wellman, B. (2018). Lost and Saved . . . Again: The Moral Panic about the Loss of Community Takes Hold of Social Media. Contemporary Sociology: A Journal Of Reviews, 47(6), 643-651. https://doi.org/10.1177/0094306118805415
Leger, D. (2021). Rebuilding the Music Industry through Community. Critical Studies In Improvisation / Études Critiques En Improvisation, 14(2-3). https://doi.org/10.21083/csieci.v14i2.6383
Leith, A. (2021). Parasocial cues: The ubiquity of parasocial relationships on Twitch. Communication Monographs, 88(1), 111-129. https://doi.org/10.1080/03637751.2020.1868544
Hi Benjamin
Thank you for this fascinating discussion of Twitch and how it facilitates community building. I must admit I was only aware of Twitch as a place to stream gameplay – I didn’t realise that music was also big on the platform. I found your discussion of the hierarchical system which is built into Twitch very interesting. How do ‘badged’ users compare to those who aren’t badge in terms of their behaviour? Are they mediators, helpful guides?
Your mention of parasocial relationships struck a chord with me, as this is something that came up during my research for my paper about right-wing groups on YouTube. There seems to be some similarities between YouTube and Twitch, and I’d be keen to hear what you think: https://networkconference.netstudies.org/2022/csm/276/youtube-and-its-role-in-the-creation-of-a-third-place-for-right-wing-communities/
Well done!
Hi Diana, thanks for reading my paper!
Twitch has evolved especially over the last few years to grow much bigger than gaming. The largest category for streams now is ‘Just Chatting’, which isn’t gaming related at all and is simply people having discussions or doing miscellaneous other things on stream. The pandemic is definitely a big factor in why it’s reaching so much further than gaming now.
‘Badged’ users definitely seem to be more closely knit to the community that they are subscribed to, and this is sometimes very evident in the way they communicate in chat. They usually have more knowledge of inside jokes and have more ‘banter’ with the streamer, however non badged users can sometimes be long time viewers too and also have this relationship. It’s honestly quite surprising how willing people are to subscribe on a monthly basis for a service that is otherwise free to use.
Ben
Good to see your paper posted Benjamin. What are the ways that streamers on Twitch can maintain a positive, supportive space within their community so that members can open up?
Andrea
Hi Andrea
I think the best way that streamers can do this is by being somewhat open and vulnerable themselves. There are some streamers who are better suited to this than others, depending on category and personality, but showing that the space is safe to communicate difficulties that people might be having is what I think the best way to create an environment where other discussions can happen. People are likely to choose to watch a stream where they feel comfortable and because there are so many different streamers to choose from, viewers have almost endless choice for a community that they can latch onto and call their own, then, once they feel comfortable, they usually start to open up more whether that is in the chatroom directly or on other platforms where they communicate with the same community.
Thanks for the question!
Ben
Great response Ben. Thanks for your reply!
Hi Benjamin,
Interesting break down of Twitch, thanks for the read.
I am curious as to why you say Twitch is a good space to discuss mental health. Does Twitch have particular policies regarding this? Does the general Twitch audience lean a certain way?
My other thought is do you think the music and other communities that have emerged as a result of the pandemic will last? They rose out of necessity but as thing shave begun to open back up, people no longer need them to engage with this hobby. Music is particularly interesting concerts and performances are often described as having a unique experience to them. Seeing someone live is just a completely different experience. Do you think there’s room, or more importantly demand, for both live and online performances in a post pandemic world?
Hi Raymond,
I think that the audience on Twitch caters a lot to the positive discussion around mental health. Communities which might initially be developed on the site often grow on places like Discord where people have the ability to chat more easily with individuals and create relationships through there. Obviously with the online world, any social media site can also be detrimental to mental health with the threat of trolls however they are usually quickly dealt with or ignored in most cases. I also think that because of the wide variety and range of streamers that a viewer can choose to watch and interact with, viewers are spoilt for choice and can find someone they properly connect with and therefore find someone who has a community that they are comfortable in. Being comfortable definitely helps with these mental health discussions.
As for the other communities lasting through the pandemic, I’m not so sure. It’s an interesting question, and I definitely think that Twitch will never go back to being almost exclusively gaming streams however, the music industry is likely going to revert back to normality and no longer require streaming platforms. The largest category on Twitch for average viewership currently is ‘Just Chatting’, which is for having discussions and not related to playing games at all. This will almost certainly be the same for the foreseeable future, and shows the shift from gaming to a much more spread and variety based platform. It’s definitely an interesting time for the site, and after having such massive growth over the last few years during the pandemic, we will have to wait and see where it goes from here.
Thanks for reading!
Ben
Hi Benjamin,
Your point about communities being largely self-selecting makes sense to me. Mental health still has a stigma in many physical spaces so it makes sense that there is a larger presence surrounding mental health online.
Twitch’s growth is an interesting observation, especially how it continues to gather an audience outside of gaming. I wonder if it could compare with Youtube as a space for long-form video content.
Thanks for your thoughts.
I personally don’t think Twitch will ever compete with YouTube for long-form video content. If anything, YouTube is going to be dominating the streaming space in a few years and Twitch might be overrun.
I enjoyed your paper, Benjamin. I have heard of Twitch, but only with regard to live streaming music. It seems to be a part of a growing industry around live streaming and I enjoyed your assessment of the pros and cons. The distortion of “relationships’ seems an obvious issue. On the one hand, as you say, there have always been these issues with celebrities of film and stage, sports, etc. I guess the internet makes these things so much more scaled up in terms of numbers. The social and mental health benefits seem enormous and unprecedented. I found myself wondering whether in the future there will be bots and avatars which people believe are real people they are interacting with (and bonding with)? Will it matter? AI is certainly coming. You’ll see this stuff in your lifetime. What are your thoughts? By the way you might like to read my paper on identity: https://networkconference.netstudies.org/2022/ioa/300/me-2-0-the-ability-for-individuals-to-perform-multiple-selves-online-allows-greater-freedom-than-ever-to-explore-their-identity-at-a-cost/ I look forward to your comments.
Hi Brendan,
I think that the distortion of relationships is very much heightened because of social media sites and the increased accessibility that everyday people have to viewing the lives and every day moments of celebrities. Twitch really illustrates that even someone with not a relatively large following (compared to mainstream celebrities) can still create these ‘parasocial relationships’ with viewers which are quite dangerous.
AI is definitely something which is quite daunting, and it will be interesting to see where it goes and how people receive it. The question of ‘Will it matter?’ is particularly a good point, and I guess we won’t know until we see how people react to it, and to what extent is effects our daily lives.
Thanks for reading my paper!
Ben
Hello Benjamin,
Thanks for the paper it was a good read. I have spent a lot of time of this platform and concur with all that you are saying, I like how you brought up the music industry on the site as I have enjoyed that content also. You made an interesting point about having a misleading bond with a streamer, when talking in a busy chat a message is a fleeting one amongst hundreds of others, a 1 on 1 conversation usually cannot happen as the streamer is only human. They may only read the first message their eyes see, communicate to that message, then move back to what they were doing. I am what they call a “lurker”, I watch content but do not communicate at all with the streamer, but I have seen how people react when the streamer does not pay attention to their attempts to communicate. As you said this can lead to negative affects on a viewer, why do you think people feel entitled to the streamer’s attention? It is my view that if I was to type in a busy chat, it would be near pointless to actually connect 1 on 1.
I also wrote about Twitch and raised some similar points if you were interested in having a read
https://networkconference.netstudies.org/2022/csm/804/a-career-streaming-on-twitch-tv-empowering-content-creators-and-digital-communities/
Hi Harry,
I think that there is a difference in how these relationships work when comparing a large streamer with a relatively smaller streamer, however both work on the premise that the viewer is one among many. The viewer likely places a lot more importance on themselves being there than the streamer does, and therefore feels entitled to the streamer reading and communication with them. In smaller chats where most, if not all messages are read out, viewers can begin to think that they do have a closer relationship with the streamer than they actually do, which is potentially very harmful.
Thanks for taking the time to read my paper!
Ben
Thanks for your article, I’m a Twitch streamer, and I’m very interested in the quasi-social relationship you mentioned in your article, which is a very novel point of view, and I agree with you very much. Discussing with the host while ignoring the existence of other people, and the more trust the audience has in the host, the more negatively this relationship will have a negative impact on the audience’s mental health. In your suggestion that Twitch can allow musicians to generate income I think it is a bit far-fetched, because any streamer on the Twitch platform can generate income for himself, however Twitch is mainly for game live broadcast and chat live broadcast content. I think the music industry can generate income through short video platforms such as TikTok, which will be easier than Twitch, because the audience watching music performances on Twitch is not the mainstream.
In my article, I mentioned livestreaming on TikTok in China, which can be similar to Twitch, I would love to hear your opinion: https://networkconference.netstudies.org/2022/csm/796/douyin-platform- plays-an-active-role-in-poverty-alleviation-in-society/
Hi Xi Liu,
I think relative to before the pandemic, the music industry has been able to use Twitch as a means of surviving. Prior to COVID, Twitch was almost exclusively gaming, however now it has switched to being much more variety and encompassing of many different categories. I used the example of the music industry as a way to illustrate the potential that live streaming has in creating communities, and there were certainly artists who did this during the pandemic when they found little way to create an income without live performances. That being said, with the pandemic slowing down and things returning back to ‘normal’, I don’t think the music industry is something that will thrive and continue to have a place on the platform.
Thanks for taking the time to read my article,
Ben
Hey Ben, I think it’s excellent you discussed the prominence of parasocial relationships regarding the function of Twitch as a platform and how the creators interact with “chat”. It has become a problem that has spread to other social media platforms, with fans idolising creators in ways that subvert the reality of their relationship or lack thereof.
Hi Jack,
Parasocial relationships are something that I don’t think are really discussed enough as an issue of social media sites. They can be very detrimental to mental health, and the direct line of relationship that viewers have with streamers on Twitch definitely creates a place where these relationships are inevitable.
Thanks for reading my paper,
Ben
Hi Ben,
Thanks for this paper, it gave me a good introduction to Twitch and the benefits of this social media platform. It was interesting to read that the music industry made use of the platform to help generate income during pandemic lock downs. With regards to badges and group hierarchy within Twitch, being that it is a reward-based system, are you concerned that gaining badges and rising ranks could be addictive and coerce vulnerable people to pay more to gain level or rank? Id be interested to hear your thoughts.
David
Hi Ben!
Your paper is intriguing and insightful, particularly in relation to the detrimental aspects of communities forming parasocial relationships. I also believe this is not a one-way street, with many streamers and E-celebrities in general purportedly viewing their followers as their “friends”, despite these relationships being, quite often, shallow and lacking social reciprocity.
Overall, a great read with well thought out arguments, well done!