Introduction
Online gaming communities utilize social media platforms like Twitch to foster social connections and promote engagement among their members. Humans are by nature “intensely social beings” (Grossmann, 2015), and many find that through online gaming, they can fulfill the need for social interactivity. During the Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) in 2020, many turned to online multiplayer games, such as Minecraft, Among Us, and Animal Crossing, to satisfy the need for human interactions. Live-streaming services have been around for many years. However, Twitch has risen in popularity over the past decade as many creators favour the platform to connect with their audience. From video gaming to just chatting, every user can find some form of content they connect with on the platform. However, the most favoured category on the streaming platform is online gaming, with millions tuning into various streamers daily. The combination of online gaming and live streaming has enabled communities to foster social connections and promote engagement within the community.
Social Connections
Social connections between members of an online gaming community are predominantly virtual; however, many members will join with their real-life friends. Online gaming communities are categorized by the genre or a particular game one may enjoy. The COVID-19 pandemic urged the rise of multiplayer games, such as ‘Among Us, ‘ which relied on people to communicate to find who was guilty of murdering the other players. When social interactions were limited to none, people found other modes of fulfilling that need and creating a community of like-minded individuals.
The construction of relationships between players, both locally and internationally, has been aided using chat functions built within multiplayer games. Players can communicate virtually verbally using a mic and through typing with one another. Games such as Minecraft (2011) have established a cult-like community of players, with many re-visiting the game daily. The more a member engages with the community, the more included they are, which is why during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Minecraft community flourished. Minecraft (2011) is a single-player and multiplayer sandbox game where players can explore and create infinite possibilities and is considered one of the best video games of all time. Players can connect on a local network, or an online network called servers, which allows them to interact with players across the globe. Servers offer real-time human interaction without needing to be in the physical presence of another.
Popular public servers, like ‘Hypixel,’ have paid ranks, which allows players to unlock various perks and be a part of the higher-ranked members of the community. Hypixel is a public Minecraft server that has mini games that players can enjoy and compete against other players. While many of these servers are free to play, the social pressure to be more involved within server communities drives players to increase the money they spend on items within the server. For instance, on Hypixel, a VIP Rank costs USD 6.99, whereas an MVP+ Rank costs USD 44.99 (Hypixel, 2023). Additionally, players may be more inclined to purchase items in-game if one of their online friends has purchased them. Private servers are also popular for players who only interact with their close circle of friends within the community. These often do not involve participants financially and are a great choice for players wanting to play the base game. Overall, through built-in features, these online games enable players to interact with one another and create communities within them.
As physical and social interaction in this community is limited, there is more reliance on verbal and written communication between community members. Therefore, for a member to be heavily involved, they must spend extended periods on their digital devices, which can be mentally draining. However, for many, the value of the relationships outweighs the mental costs.
Community Engagement
The popular live-streaming service, Twitch, has enabled gaming creators (or ‘Streamers’), such as Dream, to form large communities and capitalize on them while promoting engagement within the community. Engagement on the platform can be categorized into two main categories: psychological engagement and financial engagement (Hilvert-Bruce et al., 2018). Psychological engagement consists of a user’s time watching a channel and emotional attachment to it, whereas financial engagement consists of the amount donated and time subscribed to a channel.
Online gaming community participants are often heavily involved in these communities to counteract a lack of social connectedness in their daily lives. Social connectedness alludes to “adolescents’ relationships with others in their environment” (Valkenburg et al. 2009), such as family members, friends, and those within their local community. Viewers of popular streamers can watch and engage with live streams for hours at a time, fulfilling the need for social interaction. They engage with like-minded individuals in the chat rooms of streams and establish relationships with others.
Viewers are attracted to streams where they feel more noticed and involved by the creator or other viewers. By subscribing, viewers receive an exclusive badge showcasing that their level of involvement is greater than the general viewer’s. Twitch subscriptions have three tiers and can cost subscribers between $4.99 and $24.99 monthly (USD), depending on which tier they select. Each tier unlocks different perks such as ad-free viewing, custom emotes which can be used during a stream in the chat, and subscriber badges (Twitch, n.d.). Therefore, viewers are more inclined to spend more money to unlock these perks to feel as though they are more involved within the community. Streamers can also enable a ‘sub-only’ chat where only those who have paid to become a member can use the chat feature.
Donations are also another way in which members can become noticed. Unlike a subscription to a channel, donations are a one-time payment from the viewer to the streamer. The creator often makes incentives to urge more donations, such as having a leader board on the screen in which the top donators are listed and having a message displayed on the screen that the creator can respond to. Some creators will set the minimum donation to an amount to minimize the mass of donations and messages to respond to but also make a large financial sum. Streamers may alternatively have a donation goal which, if reached, they will perform a task for their viewers. For instance, a streamer may set a goal of $100; if reached, they will follow the top contributor.
Content Creators
Online gaming content creators, such as Dreamwastaken (Dream) and GeorgeNotFound, have further created communities within the gaming community. Dream is a popular Youtuber and Twitch streamer with over 32 million followers across both platforms, mainly creating Minecraft content. He, alongside his fellow creators and friends, created a server known as the ‘Dream SMP,’ SMP standing for survival multiplayer server. Popular Minecraft streamers would be invited to join the server and stream alongside others, increasing their viewership and expanding their communities. As the server grew in popularity, the content evolved from friends playing a game together to having a storyline. The most popular storyline was “Lmanburg,” created by British streamers TommyInnit and Wilbur Soot. Fans tuned in almost daily, eager to watch the story unfold and to be provided with entertainment. With each stream, the viewer’s level of involvement increased as fan accounts on various social media platforms, such as TikTok and Twitter, were created. This formed another way the typical viewer could interact with their favourite streamer.
There is a drastic difference in community involvement depending on the size of the creator. Larger creators are less inclined to interact with all of their viewers due to the high viewership count, which leads some to prefer smaller creators as they are more likely to get noticed and have that one-on-one engagement. Fans of larger creators tend to have more involvement as they purchase their merchandise, create fan accounts of them, and create relationships with others who have fan accounts. Larger creators have more followers, thus meaning a viewer has more people to interact with. Those who are fans of smaller creators tend to have less involvement due to there being less viewership.
Parasocial Relationships
With the increase of content creators, there has been a redefinition of what could be considered a parasocial relationship. Traditionally, a parasocial relationship is one-sided, where a person idolizes a popular figure and forms an emotional relationship with the person (Kowert et al. 2021). There is limited to no interaction between the pair, and they are typically difficult to contact. For example, a fan will idolize their favourite celebrity and often talk about how much they value them; however, the celebrity has no direct contact with the fan. However, due to the increase of streaming and social media, there is now potential for a one-sided relationship to be reciprocated. In the early stages of their careers, content creators often interact with fans to create a loyal fanbase and establish a relationship. As they gain popularity, the number of fans expecting some form of interaction increases, and more pressure is placed upon the creator to show some form of interaction.
Twitter has become one of the main forms of communication between content creators and viewers. Creators can easily interact with fans by liking, retweeting, and replying to tweets. As mentioned, the Dream SMP has a well-established fanbase, with many creating fan accounts with usernames like their favourite streamer. Fans will create video edits using clips from streams, photo edits, etc., and post them hoping to be noticed by their idol. Other community members also interact with these posts and form relationships based on this person.
Furthermore, fans often envision a version of this creator based on what the creator shares. If a creator chooses to limit the content they share, fans will often create assumptions about their real life. Viewers feel more affiliated with creators if they are open with their audience and often reciprocate interactions. Therefore, to build a strong community, a creator must form some form of relationship with fans. The level of involvement which a viewer is involved in a content creator’s life has drastically shifted.
Conclusion
Online gaming communities utilize social media platforms to foster connections and promote member engagement. Twitch has enabled the rapid growth of such communities and contributed to the increase of parasocial relationships between viewers and content creators. There are different types and levels of involvement within gaming communities. Depending on the level of involvement, a community member can gain different levels of social connectedness to other members. There is also a high financial cost to being more involved within the community, spending money on memberships, equipment, etc. With the large variety of online gaming communities, members can find the one where they feel most included and become more involved.
References:
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Grossmann, T. 2015. “The development of social brain functions in infancy.” Psychological Bulletin, 141(6), 1266–1287. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000002
Hilvert-Bruce, Zorah, James T. Neill, Max Sjöblom, and Juho Hamari. 2018. “Social motivations of live-streaming viewer engagement on Twitch.” Computers in Human Behaviour 84:58-67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2018.02.013
Hypixel. 2023. How to Use the Hypixel Store. https://support.hypixel.net/hc/en-us/articles/360019604800-How-to-Use-the-Hypixel-Store#:~:text=On%20the%20Hypixel%20Store%2C%20we,MVP%2C%20MVP%2B%2C%20MVP%2B%2B
Kowert, Rachel, and Emory Daniel Jr. 2021. “The one-and-a-half sided parasocial relationship: The curious case of live streaming.” Computers in Human Behaviour Reports 4(2):1. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chbr.2021.100150
Kowert, Rachel, and Thorsten Quandt. 2020. The Video Game Debate 2: Revisiting the Physical, Social, and Psychological Effects of Video Games. 1st ed. New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429351815
Twitch. n.d. Bits and Subscriptions. Accessed April 5, 2023. https://www.twitch.tv/creatorcamp/en/paths/monetize-your-content/bits-and-subscriptions/
Valkenburg, Patti M., and Jochen Peter. 2009. “Social Consequences of the Internet for Adolescents: A Decade of Research.” Current Directions in Psychological Science 18(1):7-10. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8721.2009.01595.x
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