Twitch is a platform with unique and different parameters unlike any other platform. Twitch, focuses on the creator and the audience, allowing them to play and create whatever they want, and also allows for interconnectivity between both the consumer and the producer. This has been developed by their own term, crowdsourcing. C. Zhang discusses that Twitch’s main aim is to allow for streamers to be able to stream in front of a large audience. A content analysis was also being discussed while streaming on Twitch to see whether or not Twitch favours those already established on the platform, or showcases new talents on Twitch. Maintaining three main concepts was tough as there was only stream that was created, however, the three main concepts ended up changing as they were interactivity, connectivity, and, developing a persona through a game.
Twitch is such a unique platform that it is constantly moving, ideation is happening constantly, with currently, while writing this, 107,330 live channels on Twitch showing how important it is for live streamers to get their names out there. Therefore, being able to keep up with the consistent moving of the platform means to be streaming yourself.
The Digital Artefact focused on using this concept to its advantage in order to expand the Mavro Productions entity and allow for more fist feedback to be created. However, this was not produced as much due to the time constraints that came within producing these streams. A key theme of interactivity was discussed however, and this is further corroborated with Bruce-Hilbert and others who state that others love to watch people do. Using the source given, I made sure that interaction was always key in the ONE stream I did. Talking and addressing the comments by the viewers, makes the audience feel like they are a part of the stream and will continue to watch it, because it is human nature to want to be acknowledged.
Only doing one stream allowed for myself to experiment with what viewers like, and play games that are interesting to stream about. Ultimately, streaming GeoGuessr is an interesting game as it allowed for all three concepts to be intertwined into the stream. Interacting with the audience, connecting with them through stories while playing local maps, and continuing the persona of my Internet self by playing and streaming this game. The one stream has helped identify myself as a streamer, as this will continue to be curated upon the termination of the Digital Artefact, purely due to the nature of just talking and playing games in front of an audience.
Researching whether established Twitch streamers are favoured was not truly discussed due to the lack of depth that was put into streaming. However, what was seen in the short time was that a stream automatically plays on the home page. More often than not, it is a local big streamer, rather than a small streamer. Based on this, it seems logical that Twitch favours the big streamers, but, many streamers venture to other platforms such as YouTube like Ninja who streamed across 10 different platforms in one go. This shows that small streamers have to work extra harder to get recognition, many YouTube videos are centred around this notion, however, it is clear Twitch is a tough platform to get big on. In the case of me, I started on YouTube and ventured out onto Twitch, something which is not often seen within Twitch streamers. YouTubers continue to share their clips from Twitch onto their own YouTube channels. This shows that although Twitch’s purpose is different to other platforms, they intersect with YouTube in order to continue their growth of the platform. The best interactivity is on Twitch, which was clearly seen in the live stream that was curated. This helps many YouTubers keep their own fanbase and grow with a new fanbase too.
Upon reflection, a key issue that should have been addressed was not sticking to the timetable of streaming. Although interactivity, connectivity, and a persona was created this could have been further seen as the viewers could look forward to a stream on that day, and allow for more viewers. Sticking to a timetable means that the viewers have a day to look forward to when streaming and will come back as a result of this.
Any time someone wants to watch someone play a game, they want to feel like they are playing the game themselves, usually rooting for the person they are watching. Most of the time, these people are doing something else or out and about and so can watch the content as they do not have access to the game themselves. According to D. Williamson Shaffer and others the viewers think like they are a member of the GeoGuessr community and get to control that community through the live stream. So sticking to a set routine could have attracted more interactivity and allowed for more of a community sense within the live stream itself.
Developing a persona is key within a live streaming context as it allows for the persona to be spread to the viewers as well as the producer creating the content. To create a persona as a streamer who is consistent is pivotal to the growth of content, and this was not developed nor assessed in the ideation of this live streaming digital artefact. However, a persona as someone who is a geography fan and a sports fan has already been established and will continue to grow as more streams are created, and the creation of a persona as a Twitch streamer has also been made.
Connectivity is also a key concept. Being able to connect with an audience makes them come back and watch the content even more. Connectivity was developed by talking about the local soccer field and the games that were played by me there, and also sharing common facts about the field to establish a rapport with the audience. This clearly worked as new fans came into the stream, as well as a new subscriber and someone who was constantly commenting and establishing themselves within the live stream through interactivity and connectivity which, those two concepts are heavily corroborated together. If there is no connectivity, there is no interactivity. In order to connect with the audience there must be interaction, and this was a key message that I wanted to deliver in the DA, making sure I am always talking to the audience. As someone who watched live streams, and the producer does not acknowledge you, it does not bring the audience back to the live stream. This to me is a failed live stream if there is no interaction, but rather just someone playing the games without acknowledgement.
The stream that was produced was an hour long, enough time for all three concepts to be put into one. There was plenty of interactivity, connectivity, and a persona was newly created all in that hour space of the stream. This shows the overall power that Twitch has and how it can the way a content producer makes content. For me, it was effective as the focus on proper content is better than just rushing to get out content that may not be good. Although there was only one stream, the thinking behind the one stream was immense in creating one that will allow for all users to come back to the Twitch channel, and ensure everything would run smoothly once the actual stream was going ahead.
A sub topic of interaction is fan interaction. E. Chow states that Twitter is different in the way it reaches its audience. So, for me, it was important to get affirmation of old and new fans in order to ensure that it was not only me enjoying the content, but others too. Upon feedback received, it was clear that the feedback was all positive and shifted towards the way I was interacting with the audience. This allows me to curate and ideate more content targeted towards the audience for the next stream that will be live.
Conclusively, the Digital Artefact not only helped with the content I want to produce in the future but taught me about interactivity, connectivity, and maintaining and developing a persona. The research shown saw the clear favouritism of big Twitch streamers and how it becomes harder for a small streamer to establish themselves on the platform. All three themes which were established work together in order to create an intriguing stream. Interactivity does not work without connectivity and the persona which is created is seen through the previous two themes which were developed and discussed through the streaming. All in all, creating more streams would have led to better results for the DA and for the viewers in general.
Bibliography
C, Zhang, J, Liu, On crowdsourced interactive live streaming: A Twitch.tv based measurement study, viewed 19th September 2022, https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/2736084.2736091?casa_token=vRpRutVYNbYAAAAA:YAAFCRJ-15mCQq-laJqkoO1zkiQu6KenRBN0t2zCzOLWAMTeRc1hxQCrBA7QHEGIZn7ONnjsVQZM_g
D, Williamson Shaffer, K R Squire, R Halverson, J P Gee, Video Games and the Future of Learning.
E, Chow, 2016, Crowd Culture & Community Interaction on Twitch,tv, Osuva, viewed 19th September 2022, https://osuva.uwasa.fi/handle/10024/3995
TwitchTracker, Twitch Statistics & Charts, viewed 19th October 2022, https://twitchtracker.com/statistics.
Uddin, N 2011, Decolonising ethnography in the field: an anthropological account, International Journal of Social Research Methodology.
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