Investigating the Relationship between Viewer & Streamer on Video Game Live Stream Platform

Abstract

With the fast growing of media technology the live streaming creates new ways of communication Consequentially it changes the way people communicate from offline to online with real-time interpersonal communication Video game Live streaming is one most outburst of live streaming which expands the game industries that invite more people actively participate in the game community The objective of this research aims to better understand the video game live stream platform through both viewer and streamer and their interaction to explore the reason why many people watch video game live stream and to explore what relationship that they have and how to adapt it to the video game community This research adopted literature review observation and in-depth interview of five viewers and five streamers in video game live stream industry to collect data about their motivation characteristic and conducted interviews to two pairs of viewer and streamer to understand the interaction and relationship development between them across time The findings show two main results Firstly we identify five main reasons why viewers want to watch video game live has as being attracted by advertisements seeking for a community being learners sharing opinions and getting experiences Secondly the interactions and relationship development between viewer and streamer in video game live stream platform operate across phrases of initiating experimenting intensifying integrating and then differentiating The study contributes to clarify understanding of viewer motivation to watch and the relationship between the viewer and the streamer in video game live stream And the implications of these findings empower to develop the relationship between viewer and streamer in video game live stream community and to present a possibility for new streamers who want to jump into this industry

Date of Award	2019
Original language	English
Supervisor	Shyh-Nan Liou (Supervisor)