The Public Arenas of Game Streaming (on the Example of the Coronavirus Topic Representation)

Abstract

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 towards the capitalist appropriation of streaming 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 topics from 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 or local news information in a specific media format takes place. The article demonstrates this phenomenon using the example of the coronavirus, the most prominent topic of spring 2020. The pandemic vocabulary appears in different sections of Twitch game streams, such as titles, 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.