Twitch實況主直播動機探討 - 政大學術集成

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(1)國立政治大學國際傳播英語碩士學位學程 International Master’s Program in International Communication Studies College of Communication National Chengchi University. 碩士論文 Master’s Thesis. Twitch 實況主直播動機探討 The motivations behind Twitch Affiliate Streamers. Student: Julian Tirazona 朱利安 Advisor: Prof. J.H.T Lin, Ph.D 林日璇博士. 中華民國 107 年 6 月 June 2018 DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMICS.005.2018.F05.

(2) Twitch 實況主直播動機探討 The motivations behind Twitch Affiliate Streamers. 研究生：朱利安. Student: Julian Tirazona. 指導教授：林日璇博士. Advisor: Prof. J.H.T Lin, Ph.D. 國立政治大學國際傳播英語碩士學位學程碩士論文. A Thesis Submitted to International Master’s Program in International Communication Studies National Chengchi University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement For the degree of Master of Arts. 中華民國 107 年 6 月 June 2018 DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMICS.005.2018.F05.

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(4) Abstract Video game studies have been a widely researched area that continues to evolve. One such development is the emerging phenomenon of Twitch, which is driving millions of users to spectate live-streams of video games. This platform is a relatively new online streaming service and has facilitated an arena for spectators and streamers to create a strong online community. This thesis is a study of Twitch streamer motivation, in particular - motivations of Twitch Affiliate streamers.. Researching the motivations of live streamers and spectators is important because understanding whether a streamer is better motivated by monetary gains, community interaction or the enjoyment of video games lends itself to further understanding of how Twitch – and other streaming platforms – will develop in the future. This study took a qualitative approach using a Grounded Theory framework and one-on-one Online Text-Based Interviews. An evenly mixed group of male and female Twitch Affiliate Streamers were recruited to find any differences or similarities in motivations between men and women through a thematic analysis which coded interview transcripts. The research found the main motivations for male and female Twitch Affiliate streamers; community, intrinsic and extrinsic, and monetary. This information could prove useful to Twitch tv and other live-streaming companies to enhance their platforms by encompassing the motivations of why streamers decide to make use of their services.. Keywords: Gaming, Live Streaming, Video Games, Qualitative, Motivation, Twitch, Affiliate, Community, Social Media, Online. ii DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMICS.005.2018.F05.

(5) Acknowledgements I would like to express my deepest appreciation to my thesis committee who have inspired me to take up this subject to study. Without their guidance and persistence, this dissertation would not have been possible. In addition, I would like to thank my own family who have continuously gave me the courage and spirit required to finish my masters course far away from my home country. Without them I would not have had the motivation to finish. To my girlfriend Rebecca who has continuously been by my side telling me to never give up and keep going, and that in the end it will all be worth it. To my good friend and colleague Tomas F. Swinburne who has not only kindly provided me with the tools to do the coding component for this dissertation but has also been a helpful guide throughout the course and continuously helped me stay positive. Finally, I would like to thank all the respondents of the interviews held in this dissertation, for their full cooperation that made them a critical part to the study.. iii DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMICS.005.2018.F05.

(6) Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ iii Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................... iv List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... vii 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 1 2. What is Twitch? .......................................................................................................................... 3 2.1. Game Streaming and Twitch ............................................................................................... 6 3. Literature Review........................................................................................................................ 7 3.1. What is Motivation? ............................................................................................................. 8 3.1.1. Uses and Gratification Theory on Twitch ..................................................................... 8 3.1.2. Intrinsic/Extrinsic Motivation in Live-Streaming on Twitch ....................................... 9 3.2. Motivation derived from the Community .......................................................................... 12 3.3. Motivation derived from Social Support ........................................................................... 13 3.4. Motivation and Information Seeking ................................................................................. 14 3.5. Motivation and User-Generated Content ........................................................................... 16 3.6. Summary ............................................................................................................................ 17 3.7. Female motivations to stream on Twitch ........................................................................... 17 4. Methodology ............................................................................................................................. 20 4.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 20 4.2. Qualitative Method ............................................................................................................ 20 4.3. Grounded Theory ............................................................................................................... 21 4.4. Inductive Approach ............................................................................................................ 22 4.5. Data Collection – Text-Based Semi-Structured Online Interviews ................................... 23 iv DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMICS.005.2018.F05.

(7) 4.5.1. Purpose........................................................................................................................ 24 4.5.2. Type ............................................................................................................................ 24 4.5.3. Form ............................................................................................................................ 24 4.5.4. Medium ....................................................................................................................... 25 4.5.5. Location ...................................................................................................................... 25 4.6. Interview Guideline ........................................................................................................... 26 4.7. Sampling ............................................................................................................................ 26 4.8. Coding ................................................................................................................................ 28 4.9. Thematic Analysis ............................................................................................................. 29 5. Findings and Results ................................................................................................................. 31 5.1. Template 1 – Initial Template ............................................................................................ 32 5.1.1. Community Motivation ............................................................................................... 32 5.1.2. Intrinsic Motivators ..................................................................................................... 33 5.1.3. Motivation from Enjoyment of video games .............................................................. 34 5.1.4. Monetary motivator .................................................................................................... 35 5.1.5. Extrinsic Motivators.................................................................................................... 36 5.1.6. Gender Differences/Gender Equal .............................................................................. 36 5.1.7. Twitch Benefits ........................................................................................................... 38 5.1.8. Entertainment Motivator ............................................................................................. 39 5.2. Template 2 – General Final Template ............................................................................... 39 6. Discussion ................................................................................................................................. 41 6.1. Social Motivation for both male/female streamers ............................................................ 41 6.2. Other Shared motivations .................................................................................................. 42 6.3. Gender differences in motivations ..................................................................................... 43 6.4. Stream Styles ..................................................................................................................... 44 v DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMICS.005.2018.F05.

(8) 6.5. Summary ............................................................................................................................ 45 7. Limitations ................................................................................................................................ 46 8. Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 50 9. References ................................................................................................................................. 52 10. Appendix ................................................................................................................................. 70 10.1. Interview Guideline ......................................................................................................... 70 10.2. Codebook 1: Male Codebook .......................................................................................... 74 10.3. Codebook 2: Female Codebook ....................................................................................... 75. vi DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMICS.005.2018.F05.

(9) List of Figures Figure 1 - Twitch Channel .............................................................................................................. 3 Figure 2 – Inductive Approach ..................................................................................................... 23 Figure 3 – Participant List............................................................................................................. 28 Figure 4 - Coding (Saldana, 2009) ................................................................................................ 29 Figure 5 - Overall results .............................................................................................................. 44. vii DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMICS.005.2018.F05.

(10) 1. Introduction With digital gaming growing in popularity, a new form of entertainment has been emerging (Lin, 2016; Lin, Bowman, Lin, & Chen, 2017).Twitch tv, which is the biggest online live streaming platform, allows streamers and spectators to network and collaborate, creating entertainment content. Twitch is continuously growing more successful and is steadily becoming a new form of entertainment. . Streamers are finding different ways of attracting viewers, generating new content, while also creating their own ‘fanbase’ of consistent spectators. Thanks to the growing community and some streamers making it their real-life day to day job, livestreaming is an area in entertainment as well as a substantial part of the gaming industry, thus making Twitch a subject worth researching in academia The streamers record themselves while playing video games, or solely sharing a part of their life with the online world. The platform allows streamers to engage with their spectators through the chat, becoming a new form of audio-visual social media. . Since it was acquired by Amazon in 2014 for US$970 million, Twitch has become the world’s leading video game live streaming platform and community for gamers (Zhang & Liu, 2015). According to Twitch’s 2017 analytics, there are over 2.2 million distinct content creators every month using their platform, with average viewership being around 106 minutes per viewer (Twitch.tv, 2017). Many streamers are becoming a form of online celebrities, with hundreds and thousands of people subscribing to them, waiting for them to come online to stream on a daily or weekly basis. The success of these streamers through gaining subscribers, according to Hamilton, Gerretson, and Kerne (2014), can be attributed to a number of factors:. 1 DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMICS.005.2018.F05.

(11) •. Many viewers watch streamers to judge whether to buy a game or not, with streamers giving them an overview of the product beforehand.. •. With viewers being mostly gamers, they like to socialize with others like them who are playing the same game.. •. The chat on Twitch in this case provides a good platform for discussions.. •. Some viewers watch streamers to copy some strategies to enhance their skills and become better at the game that is being played, and so they watch some of the best players who stream.. •. Some viewers tune in because they value the entertainment, preferring charismatic and funny streams and streamers over more serious ones.. Naturally, a portion of Twitch streamers and broadcasters are female and have been receiving a lot of attention, though not always positive, many having been labelled as ‘booby streamers’ or ‘scantily clad young women who try to lure other users into buying them gifts or sending them Twitch’s official micro-currency’ (McKay, 2017). It is one of this research’s interests to find out whether female Twitch Affiliates have other different reasons or motivations from male Affiliates to stream. The aim of the study was to build an in-depth understanding of the motivations of Twitch streamers - Twitch affiliate streamers - who have put more dedication and time to the task than average casual streamer. In this thesis, a qualitative approach has been adopted using Online Text-Based Interviews with Twitch-affiliated streamers. Since this is a relatively new field of study, qualitative research provides rich information for us to better understand their motivations of these Twitch streamers. This thesis could offer future research valuable data and guidelines, 2 DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMICS.005.2018.F05.

(12) giving them the opportunity to analyze this subject through different methods and frameworks, to propose more representative data. Future studies could help not only understand further the needs and motivations of streamers but assist them in building a better platform on which they could build a network or community.. 2. What is Twitch?. F IGURE 1 - TWITCH C HANNEL Twitch is the world’s leading streaming service which is also becoming another social media platform for gamers. It was launched on June 6, 2011 and is now owned by the American electronic commerce and cloud computing company, Amazon. Everyday over 10 million visitors watch streamers, and chat with them and other viewers in real-time. There are over 2.2 million unique content creators per month with an average of 106 minutes watched per person daily (Twitch.tv, 2017). According to a Twitch whitepaper by Meredith Xcelerated Marketing (2015), 3 DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMICS.005.2018.F05.

(13) 64.1% of Twitch users are between the ages 18 and 34 with a heavily male-skewed audience at an overwhelming percentage of 93.6%. Twitch has even gone beyond just streaming video games with people livestreaming themselves doing things such as drawing, music playing, cooking, and building of model kits. It has ‘the fourth-highest website in peak Internet traffic in the United States’ (Burroughs & Rama, 2015) ‘behind Netflix, Apple, and Google, but ahead of Facebook, Amazon, and Hulu (Fitzgerald & Wakabayashi, as cited in LifeCourse Associates, 2014). Due to its ever-growing popularity and streamers becoming a form of online celebrities, Twitch has given streamers who attract a certain amount of views the opportunity to become an affiliate. The requirements to become affiliated with Twitch are: •. At least 8 hours of broadcast time in the last 30 days.. •. At least 7 unique broadcast days in the last 30 days.. •. An average of 3 concurrent viewers or more over the last 30 days. •. At least 50 Followers.. Affiliates can have subscribers, spectators that financially support the streamer through a regular monthly subscription fee. According to Hamilton et al (2014), once the streamers are affiliated with Twitch, they would get a share of the revenue of adverts generated from their streams and would also have the ability to configure ways in which ads appear on the stream. The revenue earned can vary between 2 and 5 US Dollars per 1000 views. The streamers sometimes provide incentives to their viewers such as chance to win a giveaway, receiving exclusive merchandise, or even a chance to play together with them. By becoming a subscriber to a channel, one can get several benefits and features such as: 4 DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMICS.005.2018.F05.

(14) Emotes: emoticons which are designed by that channel’s owner and can be used on any other channel or chatroom on Twitch. Thus, the more subscriptions one viewer has the more emotes are available to use. Badges: icons which are placed next to the username in the chat. Streamers are given the customizability of these badges and can be set differently depending on how many months the viewer is subscribed, displaying more loyalty to that streamer and thus encouraging others to subscribe. Special Alerts: Whenever a user subscribes to a channel, the streamer often has alerts popping up on the stream showing the subscriber’s name together with a customized thank you message. This not only gains the subscriber recognition but also helps the streamer know whenever there is a new subscriber. The subscriber can also add a custom message for the streamer to read. Exclusive Chatroom: Twitch-affiliated streamers have the option to create a subscriber-only chat allowing only their subscribers access that chatroom. This could be useful for those popular streamers with thousands of viewers, followers, and subscribers chatting together which would make it too cluttered and not allowing even the streamer the time to read. Exclusive Competitions: Some Twitch streamers sometimes hold competitions and giveaways for their subscribers, with prizes ranging from small items such as shirts and small tokens, but some streamers who are sometimes sponsored can also give away big prizes such as computer hardware, video games, or games consoles.. 5 DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMICS.005.2018.F05.

(15) Ad-Free Viewing: It is not guaranteed however some streamers also choose to allow their subscribers to watch them without having to watch any advertisements prior to or even during the stream. (Stephenson, 2018) These distinguished features have been an assistance for Twitch to gain the millions of content creators it has (~2.2 million until now). On Twitch, streamers can live-stream gaming, talk shows, singing. ‘Knowing what functions Twitch offers is the foundation to understanding why people use it.’ (Dux & Kim, 2018).. 2.1. Game Streaming and Twitch As game streams are the most watched types of streams on Twitch attracting more than one million views daily (Zhang & Liu, 2015), it is essential for researchers to study this phenomenon. The idea of video game streaming is straightforward, there is a person playing a video game, referred to as a streamer, and by choosing his or her channel, the spectator is able to watch what the streamer sees on his or her own screen. Furthermore, if a spectator creates an account with Twitch, he or she can chat with other spectators and get the chance to interact with the streamer. “Broadcasting and watching gameplay is a global phenomenon”, said Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s chief executive in an interview in 2014 (Daily Mail, 2014). It is hard to disagree with this with Twitch getting at least 55 million more video views in 2016 than America’s premium cable satellite television network HBO (Valens, 2017). Nowadays it has become easier to become a streamer even using game consoles like the Sony PlayStation or Microsoft Xbox. Both Sony and Microsoft are partnered with Twitch 6 DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMICS.005.2018.F05.

(16) enabling users to stream their gameplay through the Twitch application on their console (Graser, 2013). Before the incorporation of Twitch on Games consoles, streaming gameplay was not possible without the power of a computer. Since the origin of Twitch and its functions, it has made game streaming easier than before. As more users are moving to Twitch, demonstrating its rise in popularity over the years, more trial partners, business makers, and researchers are becoming aware of its importance and are growing more interested in studying this live streaming platform (Kaytoue, Silva, Cerf, Meira, & Raïssi, 2012).. 3. Literature Review As Twitch and its features have been introduced, this literature review will evaluate the main motivational factors of Twitch Affiliated streamers. The few previous studies of Twitch Streaming motivations such as Hilvert-Bruce, Neill, Sjöblom, and Hamari’s (2018) and Zhao, Chen, Cheng, and Wang’s (2017) were conducted quantitatively, whereas this study will be conducted qualitatively. In comparison, quantitative research deals with quantifying a problem by generating numerical data which can be later transformed to usable statistics. Qualitative data on the other hand deals with exploratory research such as this one. It is used to gain an understanding of ‘underlying reasons, opinions, and motivations’, and helps reveal new trends and opinion (DeFranzo, 2011). This qualitative approach will provide the ‘human’ side of the motivation, which previous quantitative studies lacked. The literature review provides a thorough background of the 7 DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMICS.005.2018.F05.

(17) subject of motivations to stream on Twitch together with how they might differ in relation to male and female affiliate streamers.. 3.1. What is Motivation? There have been many researchers who attempted to define motivation. As explained by Whiseand and Rush (1988), motivation is the willingness of an individual to do something and conditioned by actions to satisfy needs (Kian, Yusoff, & Rajah, 2014). More recently defined by Saraswathi (2011), motivation is the willingness to exert high levels of effort, toward organizational goals, conditioned by the effort’s ability to satisfy some individual need. According to Kian et al. (2014), most researchers agree that individuals’ motivations begin with cognitive recognition of a desire that ‘is not present at the time the individual noticed, followed by mental desire to achieve something, thus following by physical actions to obtain the desire.’ (Kian et al., 2014) 3.1.1. Uses and Gratification Theory on Twitch One of the theories in the field of communications that focuses on social communications is the Uses and Gratification Theory (UGT). It is a theory which has been used in previous Twitch studies such as the one conducted by Hilvert-Bruce et al. (2018). This theory takes a functional approach to communications and media, stating that the media’s most important function is to fulfill the needs and motivations of an audience (Mehrad & Tajer, 2016). According to Hilvert-Bruce et al. (2018) the theory originated from older theories about why people choose different types of media consumption (Rubin, 2009) which also includes livestreaming on twitch and Electronic Sports (Hamari & Sjöblom, 2017). Research in UGT found that in the case of playing video games, the social factor was a critical motivational factor for 8 DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMICS.005.2018.F05.

(18) young people, and although video games do not completely comply with the classic idea of media, it was concluded that using UGT was still applicable in this context. (Sherry, Lucas, Greenberg, & Lachlan, 2006). 3.1.2. Intrinsic/Extrinsic Motivation in Live-Streaming on Twitch Used in conjunction with the UGT to study the social factor as a motivation, the theories of extrinsic and intrinsic motivations were applied to analyze the streamers’ specific needs. A previous study conducted by Mysirlaki and Paraskeva (2010) provided evidence of a connection between developing a community and intrinsic motivations. According to Ryan and Deci (2000), an intrinsic motivation is doing an activity for an innate or internal satisfaction while extrinsic motivation is doing an action to obtain some separate outcome stemming from external sources such as society or social interaction (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Furthermore, Ryan and Deci argue that a person’s motivation is driven by the need to keep their self-confidence or self-worth up. Intrinsic motivation is characterized by a high degree of autonomy referring to behaviors originating from innate interest or enjoyment of the action itself (Zhao et al., 2017). Extrinsic motivation deals with actions initiated and maintained by external contingencies such as rewards or punishments, and can also be controlled (Nie, Chua, Yeung, Ryan, & Chan, 2015). Zhao et al. (2017) showed that Twitch Streamers could be subject to intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, which would result in their continuing to broadcast their Twitch streams. Zhao et al. outlined 3 intrinsic and 4 extrinsic motivations. Intrinsic Challenge Seeking: When streamers get motivated and excited from overcoming challenges they encounter, as well as completing difficult tasks. When livestreaming their 9 DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMICS.005.2018.F05.

(19) gameplay, streamers may come across several challenges. Sometimes their own spectators may request a challenge or to perform a certain task. Completing these challenges and requests, the streamer will be encouraged to solve more problems and pursue excitement. This in turn influences the streamers’ overall performance as well as the motivation to want to continue streaming further.. Enjoyment of Task: This refers to enjoyment that streamers gain from broadcasting on Twitch. Amabile, Hill, Hennessey, and Tighe (1994) defined enjoyment as the ‘self-expression and self-entertainment motivation orientations gained from task performance’ (as cited in Zhao et al., 2017). The enjoyment or lack of it impacts the performance and perceptions of broadcasting on Twitch.. Self-presentation: refers to streamers’ desire to present themselves through engagement on Twitch channels. According to Kamau (2009) and Leary (1996), the behavior of self-presentation is establishing an identity in a specific environment, for example establishing a desired image to the spectators. Two motivations related to selfpresentation were proposed by Schlenker (2003). The first is the wish to influence the spectators and obtain rewards through their self-presentation, for example when streamers show positive personality traits to get the affection of the spectators. The second is the desire to show off an image to form a unique identity and create connections with people who are similar to them. In the context of this study, live streamers may achieve self-presentation through Twitch which in turn motivate them to want to stream further. 10 DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMICS.005.2018.F05.

(20) Extrinsic Anticipated reward: When streamers anticipate obtaining extrinsic rewards such as financial (salaries, promotions, additional benefits) or non-financial (job security, positive social environment) rewards. A study on transactional virtual communities conducted by Sun, Fang, and Lim (2014) found that there was a positive correlation between achieving goals and external benefits. Thus, in the context of this study, Twitch affiliates would find external benefits as a motivator for their continuing streaming on the platform. Self-Esteem: This refers to the degree of the reputation and status gained by the streamers. Self-esteem is the individual’s evaluation of him or herself, as well as the evaluation of their own personal worth (Sheldon, 2004). In a study by Kuo and Feng (2013), results showed relationships between community interaction and community engagement on self-esteem benefits, thus affecting community commitments and impacting oppositional brand loyalty. When applied to Twitch affiliate streamers, establishing their reputation and status on their channel as well as community would influence their motivation to stream. Social Benefits: the extent of improving social relationships through streaming. According to Zhou, Jin, and Fang (2014) emphasis of social benefits are an evaluation of benefits originating from gaining the reason to socialize and establish social networks. Moreover, they indicated that these social benefits have a positive association on satisfaction, therefore it would also influence the motivation to continue streaming. These studies suggested that live streamers receive social benefits from interacting with their spectators and creating their own networks in turn influencing their motivation to stream. 11 DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMICS.005.2018.F05.

(21) Feedback: the extent to which feedback from spectators received by the live streamers affect their motivation to stream. In a study by Han, Min, and Lee (2015) on Twitter users found feedback having significant positive effects on the user’s sense of social presence in turn fulfilling their desire for connecting with others and enjoyment. In the context of live streamers, they would receive feedback from their spectators to which they can also reply and give feedback back to them. This would result in influencing the live streamers’ motivation to stream. To summarize, it is suggested that Twitch could satisfy intrinsic and extrinsic motivations of live streamers, performance, expectancies, as well as perceptions of platform’s attractiveness (Zhao et al., 2017).. 3.2. Motivation derived from the Community In addition to both UGT and Intrinsic/Extrinsic theories which have demonstrated significance towards social well-being, here the sense of community is being used to understand the social aspect as the motivation to subscribing to a channel or streamer. The idea of subscribing to a channel can be seen by the spectators as a way of maintaining the community and keeping the channel where the individuals gather open. Furthermore, according to Bingham (2017) a sense of a community is facilitated by personal interactions between the streamer and the spectator. Subscribing to a streamer could financially encourage him/her to maintain the channel, in turn the subscriber could also be supporting others who enjoy the channel and streamer in the same way. Therefore, by subscribing one could be aiding in a small way to maintain the community.. 12 DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMICS.005.2018.F05.

(22) According to Hamilton et al. (2014), two factors are outlined as to why spectators tune in to Twitch and subscribe to streamers. The first being to hang out and socialize with people of similar interests, who play the same games they do. The second is to have discussions with other spectators and possibly also the streamer him/herself by using the chat. ‘Community members develop an emotional connection through shared history and an identification with other members’ (Hamilton et al, 2014). In the same way as traditional sports, Electronic sports or E-sports spectators participate in the spectacle as a group and enjoy pleasure and excitement that games bring to the viewer (Cheung & Huang, 2011). There are billions of people worldwide connected to the internet through computers and smart devices, and millions of Twitch viewers daily across the globe. For many streamers, the focus on community is building discussion around tips, donations, and subscriptions (Bingham, 2017).. 3.3. Motivation derived from Social Support Linked to motivations gained from having a community as a stream, is the motivation of improving the well-being through interacting with others. This can be associated with the extrinsic motivations of self-esteem and social benefits. According to Miller (2011), people may decide to participate in online communities, such as Twitch to compensate for the absence of a community in real life. Online communities can be beneficial for the well-being of people who lack support from others such as their family, friends, or a local community (Bargh & McKenna, 2004). In a study by Valkenburg and Peter (2009) it was found that interacting with others online reduced loneliness.. 13 DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMICS.005.2018.F05.

(23) It was also found that interacting with people online can help those suffering with social anxiety, and those who find difficulty interacting with others in real life, making it easier for such people by providing low-threat alternatives to socializing in real life. Social anxiety is the fear of being evaluated negatively in social situations (Leary, 1996; Schlenker & Leary, 1982). According to previous studies, online interaction could remove social barriers that people suffering from social anxiety may experience, helping them better engage with others in ‘reallife’ (Baumeister & Leary, 1995; Desjarlais & Willoughby, 2010; Mazalin & Klein, 2008, as cited in Hilvert-Bruce et al., 2018). Those with higher social anxiety may perceive interacting with others online as less threatening thus increasing comfort and likeliness to prefer online interaction rather than face to face (Caplan, 2007; Feaster, 2010, as cited in Tian, 2011). When applied to Twitch Live streamers, they may choose to stream to not only interact with others but to improve a part of themselves, to improve their anxiety through interacting with other streamers and spectators.. 3.4. Motivation and Information Seeking Building a community does not only help social well-being and network with others but can also aid in obtaining new information, information which was previously unknown. Like ‘real’ sports such as football, tennis, and many others, spectating people playing video games or what is nowadays known as E-Sports, is becoming more popular thanks to the widespread use of the internet across the globe. Just as with spectating traditional sports, where one can learn or imitate techniques, so can spectators while watching game streams. Some streamers on Twitch also share their knowledge and commentate on what they are doing in real-time. Spectators. 14 DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMICS.005.2018.F05.

(24) consider skilled streamers as experts on the game they are playing, and naturally we can expect to learn best from experts who know what they are doing (Hinds, Patterson, & Pfeffer, 2001). According to Hilvert-Bruce et al. (2018), Entertainment together with information seeking have been identified as important motivators for watching livestreams. An important part of broadcasting on a platform like Twitch is for the streamers to give the audience an experience and allow the spectators to watch and learn from (Cheung & Huang, 2011). Some streamers also do game reviews by commentating on the game they are livestreaming, giving their spectators a better idea of what the game is about. Studies by Cheung and Huang (2011) and Trail, Robinson, Dick, and Gillentine (2003) found similar motivations with the study (Hamilton et al, 2014) with regards to the factors that lead to the success of streamers, specifically learning about the game and gameplay skills which is the focus of this section. Spectators could pick up strategies which they would not have been able to come up with themselves, information that would help them win the game or beat other players, and tricks they could imitate. It is not only spectators that can learn from streamers but aspiring streamers learning from more experienced, more established ones. McMillan and Chavis (1986) noted the importance of learning from other community members, observing the chance to benefit from unique techniques others use as a strong motivating in the community. According to Mysirlaki & Paraskeva (2010), learning nowadays is a social process and claim people are more likely to learn new skills through cognitive-demanding leisure instead of a structured learning environment. It can be understood that Twitch platform is a source of social and knowledge capital, sharing game experiences with other spectators, and the streamer 15 DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMICS.005.2018.F05.

(25) him/herself. When doing research on Twitch, the notion of learning skills and gaining information should not be neglected as it could be an important advantage of using Twitch TV or even a motivator for streamers.. 3.5. Motivation and User-Generated Content Apart from Information sharing and seeking, Twitch is also associated with content generated by streamers, it is of key importance to study the motivation related to User-Generated Content (UGC). UGC such as product reviews have become increasingly ‘social’, where consumers do not only consume but be part of the system which produces UGC. Previous studies conducted by Daugherty, Eastin and Bright (2008) provided evidence of a consumer’s willingness to experience UGC depending on his or her attitude towards the consumption or creation of UGC. The data about consumer’s attitude is obtained from the perceived value of the content and how it relates to the beliefs and feelings (Daugherty et al., 2008). The source of motivation had to be understood first so that they could understand and influence this behavior. UGC has led to the increase in the number of online companies that provide services exclusively to the users of their platforms to create content. The rise and success of Web 2.0 media - Facebook, Twitter, YouTube just to mention three - was all thanks to the participation and inputs from the users (Bruns, 2006). Twitch becoming a new form of social media could be another example of a Web 2.0 service where streamers together with their network of spectators create entertainment content. German researchers Stöckl, Rohrmeier and Hess (2007) distinguished six motives for the creation of user-generated content, which were: enjoyment, information dissemination, contact,. 16 DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMICS.005.2018.F05.

(26) personal documentation, passing time and earning external economic incentives (as cited in Arnhold, 2010).. 3.6. Summary From the previous literature, one can note several reasons and motivations why streamers could decide to broadcast on the Twitch platform – intrinsic/extrinsic motivations, learning skills, enjoyment, social support, and motivation to form or be part of communities. It is in this thesis’s interest to find out which of these are the main RQ1: What are the main significant motivations of Twitch Affiliate Streamers to broadcast on Twitch tv?. 3.7. Female motivations to stream on Twitch It is generally known that there are more male game players than females (Shaw, 2012). Although there is a great majority of male streamers on Twitch (Scholz, 2011), there are also female streamers who are affiliates and make a living out of it. Researchers like Shaw (2012), and Williams, Consalvo, Caplan, and Yee (2009) agree that the stereotypical video game player is a young, white, heterosexual male. The number of female gamers has been on the rise in recent years; according to the 2016 Entertainment Software Association annual report, 59% of game players were male, 41% were female, that is 3% more females than in 2006 (Romrell, 2014). However, females typically show higher levels of anxiety relative to males when it comes to playing online games (Huang, Hood, & Yoo, 2013). The ‘girl gamer’ stands out in the gaming community largely dominated by males, and because of this it is difficult for female gamers to viewed in an equal way to males. Previous studies proved that female streamers feel that their gaming skills are not relevant for them, with most 17 DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMICS.005.2018.F05.

(27) significance and importance put on their external appearance (Bentham, 2016). This demonstrates that compared to male streamers, popular female streamers are expected to have certain features such as good-looking appearances, rather than solely good gaming skills. Attention is being given to any possible gender differences due to a study that was done in 2015 by Online Performers Group where it was found that women were not seeing the same type of growth patterns as male streamers, with followers for male streamers four times more likely to turn into future concurrent viewers than followers for female streamers. Even though past researches mainly show females as being weaker than males in game streaming however, the following two reasons show how female streamers have been gaining their ground: 1. Twitch monetary fund offer for female steamers: In collaboration with a non-profit organization 1DF, Twitch is offering a special grant – The BroadcastHER grant – for female streamers. It is designed to support female Twitch streamers by granting $500 to $2000 and is awarded to two people every academic semester. According to the 1DF website, the award was intended to help the streamers “travel to gaming conventions, educational conferences, hardware upgrades, and instructional programs related to creative or artistic pursuits.” 1DFT CEO Christie Garton said “The initiative will not only raise critical funds but will also boost awareness around the shortage of support for these creative young women in the digital broadcasting space.” (Kaser, 2018) 2. Female streamers making a living from Twitch Rachell “Valkyrae” Hofstetter is a full-time video game streamer who has made enough money through subscriptions, donations, as well as sponsorships, that she managed to 18 DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMICS.005.2018.F05.

(28) settle her mother’s debt and fund her own childcare business. All of this together with keeping her bills paid living in southern California. “Streaming is about way more than entertainment… but do a lot of talking and reacting, so people say it’s just fun to watch, and it gives them hope that they can play better, or feel better about their playing”, said Hofstetter (Alexander, 2018). This shows that she does not only stream for monetary purpose only but to entertain and teach her spectators skills. Another streamer, Mia, who goes by the screen name SeriesofBlurs, is a relatively new Twitch streamer said that she did not have any gamer friends but when she found Twitch and saw many people making connections and sharing their experiences, she became motivated to start doing it herself. “I was working my normal full-time job and then I would come home and start streaming straight away… at the end of the day, I’m doing what I love”, Mia said (Convery, 2017). With regards to becoming successful, Chelsea, another streamer with over 330,000 followers (Convery, 2017), said that for female streamers, appearance plays a bigger role [in their success] than their actual game play compared to men. Getting donations from people was worrying because of the possibilities they could request for giving her their funding (Convery, 2017). Thus, from all this, the question comes down to whether females have other intentions of streaming that are different than male streamers. RQ2: What differences, if any, are there with regards to motivations of male and female affiliate streamers?. 19 DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMICS.005.2018.F05.

(29) 4. Methodology 4.1. Introduction The aim of this chapter is to discuss the approach taken to understand the Twitch Affiliate Streamers’ motivations behind their desire to stream. It will also present the method taken to select the sample and provide the method used for data collection together with the process used for data analysis. In the end, it will discuss the issues encountered throughout the process, and the limitations associated with this study.. 4.2. Qualitative Method The method that was adopted for this research was qualitative. There have been many attempts to define qualitative research in social sciences and there have been several explanations, with no unified set of techniques or philosophies, growing from wide ranges of intellectual and disciplinary traditions (Mason, 2002). Qualitative research involves the process of induction by which data related to a specific area is collected, after which the researcher will use that data to construct different concepts and theories (Conroy, 2010). This method was chosen for this dissertation as it will allow for better, more in-depth, meaningful data based on the streamers’ own experiences, as opposed to a more structured, numerically based quantitative approach. Since this thesis is dealing with a relatively new area of study, grounded theory, which is a qualitative research approach was adopted. Because it is dealing with conceptual thinking and theory building rather than theory or hypothesis testing which is usually done in a quantitatively, it was concluded that grounded theory would be the most efficient approach.. 20 DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMICS.005.2018.F05.

(30) 4.3. Grounded Theory Originally developed by Glaser and Strauss, Grounded theory is a method that allows movement from data to theory for new theories to be developed. Studies that adopt grounded theory were a step towards conceptual thinking and theory building more than empirical testing of a theory (Khan, 2014). It helped provide guidelines on how to identify categories and the links between them. Categories are groups of instances that share each other’s central features or characteristics (Willig, 2013). It is a framework by which one can understand the phenomenon being studied. According to Willig (2013), unlike most other research methods, Grounded theory merges the processes of data collection and analysis, in which the researcher moves back and forth to ‘ground’ the analysis in the data. Even the research questions are no permanent fixture in grounded theory, they will become progressively focused as the research progresses. Strauss and Corbin (1998) explain Grounded theory as: Data collection, analysis, and eventual theory stand in close relationship to one another…the researcher begins with an area of study and allows the theory to emerge from the data…grounded theories, because they are drawn from data, are likely to offer insight, enhance understanding, and provide a meaningful guide to action. Goulding (1999) recognized the need for flexibility in some aspects of grounded theory, in which the body of knowledge is vital to the development of new theories. It is important to balance the aspects of data collection that could allow the researcher to develop themes without prejudice and preconceptions (Goulding, 1999). 21 DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMICS.005.2018.F05.

(31) Although Grounded Theory was developed by Glaser and Strauss, changes have been made to its terminology and coding by Strauss and Corbin (1990) which resulted in a different research methodology in turn forcing data analysis to fit into the coding process, instead of allowing the data to be ‘grounded’, which was originally the purpose of grounded theory. Even though there have been these changes, it is important to note that grounded theory’s aim is not to be used as a prescriptive framework that cannot be adapted. The original aim was to keep the methodology open and encourage thinking about inquiry (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). Finally, according to Glaser (1992), grounded theory deals with inductive approaches rather than deductive approaches. As this is dealing with developments of new theories in gaming and social sciences, an inductive approach is most appropriate (Glaser & Strauss, 1967).. 4.4. Inductive Approach Inductive approaches are associated with qualitative research, concerning with the generation of new theory emerging from the data (Gabriel, 2013). This method is also referred to in research literature about grounded theory, developed by Glaser and Strauss. According to Glaser (1992), grounded theory deals with only inductive approach rather than deductive approach. Charmaz (2014) added that grounded theory is focused on inductive strategies for data analysis, starting with abstract concepts to explain and understand data. This method requires the researcher to have a completely open mind with the aim of generating new theory based on the data gathered (Gabriel, 2013). Since this research is dealing with a newly emerging area of study, without a lot of theories about it, it was most suitable to adopt an inductive approach.. 22 DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMICS.005.2018.F05.

(32) F IGURE 2 – I NDUCTIVE A PPROACH. 4.5. Data Collection – Text-Based Semi-Structured Online Interviews Grounded theory allows a wide range of data collection methods which includes semistructured interviews, participant observation, focus groups, and even diaries for data generation. By using the Qualitative method, interviews provided a powerful tool to get first hand, subjective experiences from the people being researched (Tuckman, 1994). While face-to-face interviews are dominant in academia, for this research text-based online interviews were conducted. On a practical level this method offers advantages in terms of access to participants, the process of conducting an interview, and the form of the data gathered (Girvan & Savage, 2013). By using online text-based interviews, there is the capability of having people from all over the world participating, those who are unable to travel due to cost, transport or time, and those who are more comfortable using text rather than Voice-Over-IP. Conducting real world face-to-face interviews can be expensive and more time consuming (Conroy, 2010). This medium also allows no restriction over location of the research, requiring only access to internet. Rich and detailed answers are most desired in qualitative interviews, allowing a certain degree of autonomy, and the researcher can delve deeper into the experiences of the interviewee. Although using semi-structure interviews allows flexibility, it is important that the researcher keeps in mind the subject being studied, what he or she wants to find out and thus drives the interview in the direction required. 23 DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMICS.005.2018.F05.

(33) According to Girvan and Savage (2013), there are five characterizing features of any kind of interview: purpose, type, form, medium, and location. 4.5.1. Purpose For this thesis, interviews were conducted to collect information related to the research questions. Secondly, it will also be used in combination with other data collection to develop deeper understandings or find out emerging aspects of the phenomenon being studied. 4.5.2. Type ‘The purpose of the interview then guides the selection of the interview type’ (Girvan & Savage, 2013). The literature in the study presents different aspects of the types of interviews (Cohen, Manion, & Morrison, 2007), most commonly the interviews range from being structured to unstructured or open interviews. In this thesis, a semi-structured synchronous online text-based interview type was adopted. The aim of semi-structured interviews is to analyze the interviewee’s subjective answers with the researcher seeking deeper descriptions and understandings of the subjects’ knowledge about the topic being studied (Datko, 2015). 4.5.3. Form One-to-one interviews are the most common form of interviews (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009). They can be time consuming but will allow researcher to get more personalized answers and perspectives from the subjects. One-to-one interviews also allow participants to answer freely without the fear of being shamed or ridiculed by other interviewees in group interviews or focus groups (Girvan & Savage, 2013). 24 DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMICS.005.2018.F05.

(34) 4.5.4. Medium There are several media by which one could conduct interviews, most commonly face-to-face or in some cases using telephone. With technological advances, the internet, and social media, it opened the horizons to allow doing interviews synchronously or asynchronously through electronic mail, instant messaging, or voice conferencing (Girvan & Savage, 2013). The medium being used in this study is Google Docs which acted as a form of chat-board. Using this method will shorten the time it would require transcribing the audio of a face-to-face interview to a script. This method would also allow the subjects to feel comfortable, in an environment that they are already familiar with which would allow for better answers to the questions. Using Google Docs as an interview platform also allowed the streamer interviewees to remain physically anonymous by not needing to show themselves. When follow-up questions were required, streamers were contacted again through social media. 4.5.5. Location Face-to-face interviews are limited in geographic location. Other methods such as telephone interviews allows further reach. According to Creswell (2002), the interview should normally happen in a quiet comfortable location with minimal potential disruptions. With online interviews, neither the researcher nor the subject is bound geographically, but simply require a connection to the internet. In a study by Stieger and Goritz (2006) on using Instant Messaging (IM) for InternetBased Interviews (text-based), it was found that IM interviews were just as feasible, in some respects superior to other methods of data collection. Not only was the quality of data collected satisfying, but the contact, response and retention rate were high. 25 DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMICS.005.2018.F05.

(35) 4.6. Interview Guideline Like in conducting a traditional face-to-face interview or focus groups, a guideline was written to act as a prompt reminding the researching of the necessary topics to prove and questions to ask. A guideline makes the process of the whole interview easier for the researcher. Since this is a semi-structured interview, it is not necessary for the researching to stick to the guideline completely and has the freedom to ask questions which are not on the guideline if deemed necessary. The interview guide does not need to be followed chronologically but generally helps the researcher to stick to the scope of the research and ensures flexibility in the process. Furthermore, it helps the researcher not include leading or suggestive questions. For the complete guideline refer to Appendix pgs. 70-73.. 4.7. Sampling For this qualitative study, a purposeful sampling method was adopted. According to Gentles, Charles, Ploeg, and McKibbon (2015), it is the most commonly described means of sampling in qualitative methods literature. Using this method, the participants were chosen based on their anticipated richness and relevance of information related to the research questions (Yin, 2011). No physical or monetary incentives were used in this study, however, during recruitment it was told to the volunteers that they would be ‘pioneers in Live Streaming Motivational Research’. Research conducted by Tanasiuk and Islam (2012) proved that people volunteer to be research subjects for various reasons. If the study is purely for public’s interest and objectives are clearly outlined, respondents would come forward for altruistic reasons (Tanasiuk & Islam, 2012).. 26 DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMICS.005.2018.F05.

(36) The study subjects were recruited from online social media groups, a source with high concentration of subjects with knowledge about the subject being studied. Specifically, the groups were: 1. Twitch Streaming 2. Twitch Streamers and Networking 3. Twitch Connect At the time of the research, these 3 groups had 16060, 6162, and 5068 members respectively. This however does not mean that all of them were Twitch Affiliates, or even Twitch Streamers at all. With closer observations, it was noted that a lot of streamers post their newly found status of ‘Twitch Affiliate’ on these groups. An identical post was created on each of the groups to get the attention of the required study subjects. Even though there were thousands of members on each group, finally only 10 were ready and willing to be interviewed. Eighty percent of the sample turnout was from the USA, which is not a total surprise due to most traffic on Twitch being from the United States according to Twitch 2018 Analytics on SimilarWeb.. USA. Time Streaming >2 years. Favorite Stream Style Game. Favorite Game/s Action Games. 25. USA. <1 year. Game Streams. Action Games. 630. M3. 34. USA. >1 year. Game Streams. Action Games. 424. M4. 30. USA. >1 year. Game Streams. Action Games. 317. M5. 25. USA. >1 year. Game Streams. Runescape. 294. F1. 27. USA. >1 year. Game Streams. Action Games. 570. Participant. Age. Country. M1. 23. M2. Streams. Followers 342. 27. DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMICS.005.2018.F05.

(37) F2. 24. Sweden. <1 year. Game. Action Games. 492. F3. 21. USA. <1 year. IRL Streams Streams. Fortnite. 756. F4. 23. USA. <1 year. Game Streams. League of Legends. 443. F5. 25. Canada. >2 years. IRL Streams. League of Legends. 933. F IGURE 3 – PARTICIPANT LIST. 4.8. Coding Coding is an exploratory problem-solving technique that does not follow any formulas, it is simply an initial step towards an even more in-depth analysis and interpretation of a document (Saldana, 2009). Pole and Lampard (2002) insist that the basis of qualitative analysis is effective coding, requiring comprehensive and careful analysis for the researcher to sort and organize ideas. By using coding, the researcher will look for ‘codes’. A code is often ‘a word or short phrase that symbolically assigns a summative, salient, essence-capturing, and/or consist of interview transcripts, participant observation field notes, journals, documents, literature, artifacts, photographs, video, websites, e-mail correspondence, and so on’ (Saldana, 2009). For this thesis, coding was done with the assistance of QSR International’s coding software nVivo. Since online text-based interviews were conducted, a line-by-line analysis was adopted, ensuring analysis is truly grounded and higher-level categories emerge from the data (Willig, 2013). To compare and contrast the possible gender differences, Male and Female interviews were coded separately but using the same method. Coding is an important link between data collection and the development of an emergent theory. It can be carried out line-by-line, sentence-by-sentence, paragraph-by-paragraph, pageby-page, section-by-section, amongst others (Willig, 2013). 28 DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMICS.005.2018.F05.

(38) F IGURE 4 - C ODING (SALDANA, 2009) In First Cycle coding, codes can range from one word to a whole sentence, or even an entire page of text. Second Cycle coding can be the same units or longer texts or reconfiguration of the codes from the First Cycle process (Saldana, 2009). Thus, coding is basically creating categories for the texts the researcher is analyzing, because they have the same type of characteristic. Creating these categories is the beginning of creating patterns. It is both natural and intended that there will be repetitive patterns or consistencies in human affairs and is the primary goal of the coder or researcher to look for these patterns (Saldana, 2009).. 4.9. Thematic Analysis Thematic analysis uses coding as its basic analytic strategy, and is the process of finding patterns and themes within the data, starting with the data collection and continues throughout the process of transcribing, reading and re-reading, analyzing and finally interpreting the data (Evans, 2018).Normally a theme would be found in the dataset multiple times, but does not 29 DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMICS.005.2018.F05.

(39) indicate its actual importance by frequency, a lesser frequent theme may be more important than another (Braun & Clarke, 2006). This is due to the study being a qualitative one and thus the importance or significance of a theme is how it relates to the ‘theoretical position’ or the research questions being explored (Evans, 2018). Since this study deals with the research of Twitch Affiliate Streamer motivation, an example from one of the online interviews was taken to illustrate what a theme is: M2: “my primary motivation is to get to know new people/other streamers and just grow a bigger community” This piece of text, or code, from one of the interviews is an example of one of the main recurring themes in the interviews, the theme of Community, which is also one of the main motivators. Some other themes were not as frequent, but they were nonetheless considered important because they are related to the overall research of this dissertation. In the process of analysis, a template or a series of templates is created with at least a few pre-defined codes to help guide the analysis. After the initial template or templates are created, if need be a revision of the template/s could be done to develop the final version. The decision of when the template is good enough depends on the study and the researcher, however no template can be considered ‘final’ if there are areas relevant to the research questions left unanswered (King, 2004). Going back to the question of what makes a theme, the explanation is that it is related to the theoretical consideration or research questions. It is the process of theorizing the data, making sense of it, and getting a message across about what the data really means (Evans, 2018).. 30 DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMICS.005.2018.F05.

(40) 5. Findings and Results After applying thematic analysis on all the ten interview transcripts, and analyzed males and females separately, even though the sample was not large enough to be representative, many similar or repetitive codes were noted. A codebook for each of the male and female interviewees was created for the codes which were analyzed in this dissertation (see Appendix pgs.74-75). An Initial template was created through the use of the male and female codebooks. In this template number ‘1’ or the first code, is the least significant code with least number of references, and 9 being most significant with most number of references. Template 1: Initial Template 1. Gender Equal 2. Entertainment Motivator 3. Twitch Benefits. More Significant. 4. Gender Differences 5. Extrinsic Motivators 6. Monetary Motivator 7. Motivation from Enjoyment of Video Games 8. Intrinsic Motivators 9. Community Motivation. 31 DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMICS.005.2018.F05.

(41) 5.1. Template 1 – Initial Template The male template shows distinctive motivations of streaming of the male interviewees. Most clear motivations that came out in the male interviews were those related to intrinsic motivation and motivation derived from the community. 5.1.1. Community Motivation In the female Twitch Affiliate streamer interviewees, the most noticeable motivation was the one related to community. The following quote is an example of how community motivates female twitch affiliate streamers: F5: “Networking and building community is so important, Twitter is a big one, you can meet and share a lot on it, all social media are good to grow your stream!”. Most significantly the community was referenced, but not always necessarily as a direct reference of motivation. In the same way as the male interviewees, though they did not always mention that community is the main driving force, it still shows how important it is to them to become successful, and gives them a positive feeling: F1: “I really love Twitch for the fact it’s becoming more like a social network, where Twitch streamers and their spectators connect together, and create content together.” For male streamers motivation from the community was found to be the second most significant motivator. There were several references which were not necessarily referring to motivation directly but shows how important the community is to male streamers and could play a bigger or even the biggest role in motivation to stream. 32 DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMICS.005.2018.F05.

(42) The following quote from demonstrates an example of how community motivates male Twitch affiliate streamers to start broadcasting: M1: “For me, it always has been and always will be the community. The friends I have made along the way have defined me as both a streamer and as a gamer, and everyone I’ve met will forever hold a place in my heart. There is nothing better in this world than sharing laughs and good times with people who care about one another” Similarly, an example of a reference to community, not necessarily being a direct reference as a motivation, is as follows: M5: “I think it really involves the audience and makes them feel like they are here playing with me when I’m able to ask their advice or rely on their experience”. 5.1.2. Intrinsic Motivators The most significant motivator for male Twitch streamers with most references to it is internal, or intrinsic motivation. An example of such reference of intrinsic motivation – challenge-seeking in particular – is: M3: “It was not too long after that they announced the affiliate program for twitch. This was my stepping stone to achieve something that I wanted so badly years ago and that’s eventually making twitch partner” For most of the codes of Internal (Intrinsic) Motivators in female interviewees, results showed relatedness to competence and bettering one’s self: F2: “I saw how fun it was to stream and wanted to take myself a step further and 33 DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMICS.005.2018.F05.

(43) get all the achievements that were required. And to also push myself to not be so shy and get out of my shell” Although the following quote is not a reference of motivation, it explores the question related to upsides of using Twitch as a streaming platform. However, it shows importance towards the self-esteem which is one of the intrinsic motivators: F5: “upsides would be you can really help yourself with self-esteem issue, anxiety, depression, you learn to love what you are cause there’s people supporting you” 5.1.3. Motivation from Enjoyment of video games Notable significance was given to enjoyment of playing video games, which was most of the time combined with references to community such as the following: M4: “I just enjoyed playing games and decided to stream so people could watch if they wanted to”. Although not the most significant it also worth mentioning that 1 male interviewee emphasized learning motives for streaming: M2: “I started streaming myself at the very end of February 2018 to give people the same outlet and resource I had as a means to enhance their gameplay and possibly learn some new techniques to incorporate into their play style” It was noted that in females, the motivation derived from enjoyment of playing video games was a less significant than in males. Even though it was found to be of less importance it. 34 DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMICS.005.2018.F05.

(44) was still important to take note of. The following quote demonstrates an example of how females found motivation in enjoyment of playing video games: F2: “I stream because I had for as long I can remember loved to play games” 5.1.4. Monetary motivator For the male interviewees, the monetary reason to stream was considered less important than intrinsic and community. Although the external motivation of money was not as important as the internal feeling of satisfaction, or the notion of building a community, it still is as important to mention: M2: “I found myself enjoying it a lot and realized I could make a little extra money doing something I was already going to do anyhow so why not give it a shot”. There have also been several indirect mentions of monetary motivation such as: M2: “Upsides to being a Twitch Affiliate is exposure for sure and the ability to make money doing something you love”. The above was a reply to a question dealing with positives and negatives but could be an unconscious motivation simply for mentioning that it was one of the upsides. Monetary motivation’s significance was found to be less significant in females, with less references to it than in Male Twitch Affiliate Streamers, however it is still significant enough to analyze. The following quote showing that there is a motive to make Twitch streaming a career: F4: “I really would like to make money and have twitch as a job honestly. I was able to gain affiliate in that week where I jumped in followers and was able to get 35 DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMICS.005.2018.F05.

(45) 3 subs on my first week of affiliate”. There was also a single indirect reference to gaining money, however it does not show it as being a main motivator but as an added benefit: F5: “Upsides, the path to Affiliate Program isn’t really hard to reach, compared to Partnership, so it’s really nice to get 3 emotes, to be able to have subscribers, to earn money out of hours and hours of stream!” 5.1.5. Extrinsic Motivators With regards to external (extrinsic) motivators, it was found that they were not as significant as internal motivators. This quote shows how the streamer felt motivated to start streaming from other streamers whom he followed: M1: “I had many opportunities to meet streamers who only had a handful of followers, up to streamers who had thousands of viewers every stream. All of them motivated me to start my own stream” In females, what was found to differ from the male interviewees was the significance of external motivators, some being their own family, others found social benefits attractive. The significance of external motivators was just as significant as internal motivators: F1: “My biggest motivation for becoming a Twitch affiliate was my kids” 5.1.6. Gender Differences/Gender Equal From this template one can also notice how the theme of ‘gender differences’ was referenced more than gender equal. The male affiliate streamers believed more that male and. 36 DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMICS.005.2018.F05.

(46) female streamers broadcast for different reasons, with different styles and requirements to become successful: M2: “I think for girl most of their viewership typically is due to looks or just the simple fact they are female. Typically, the more attractive a girl is the more viewers she will get. Skill is not a huge factor for female streamers although if they are very skillful and attractive they are going to do very well in the streaming world” Agreeing with the results of the male interviewees, female interviewees also thought male and female streamers broadcasted on Twitch for different reasons, with different styles and requirements to become successful. The difference noted with female streamers is that they gave more detailed accounts of this, and were more conscious of female streamers using their body to attract viewers: F1: “Skill definitely plays a part, if there was a female streamer as good as Ninja the gamer world would probably lose its mind. However, females do get a lot of attention if they have cameras and IF 1. That are obviously attractive, and 2. Show a LOT of unnecessary cleavage. You’ll see on some social media of women wearing clothes that purposely show more of their body than needed, I mean it’s just streaming, whatever you’re streaming” Only a single male streamer thought that female Twitch streamers shared the same characteristics as male streamers answering “yes I would say” to the question of whether the same characteristics apply to female streamers in order to become successful. Only one interviewee refused to comment on the same question. 37 DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMICS.005.2018.F05.

(47) The same as with male interviewees, only a single reference was made to the theme of Twitch Affiliate streamers being equal when dealing with gender: F2: “I don’t think that it’s harder for them to become successful, but I think that they have to put more energy into it. And the reason for that can be different things, for me example I have had a lot of time to work on my social skills through my childhood and my work because I work with and meet new people every day. And to answer the last question, yes, I think physical appearance and skills play the same role for most of the time for both genders” 5.1.7. Twitch Benefits With regards to benefits that Twitch offers as a motivation, most male streamers mentioned Twitch’s functionalities such as the emotes Affiliates get, or ability to have subscribers: M1: “It is well known, easy to use, and offers tons of ways for people to make a name for themselves”. Most streamers did not regard these benefits as a main motivator but showed that they were attractive factors to the streamers. These benefits were not given as much significance in females as other factors like monetary motivation, similar to the male interviewees, but still significant to analyze: F3: “The features such as the ability to have custom emotes is really fun, and the fans really love them too”. 38 DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMICS.005.2018.F05.

(48) 5.1.8. Entertainment Motivator When analyzing the factor of entertainment, this mainly dealt with whether the streamers’ spectators found their content entertaining and whether that gave them more motivation to stream. This did not seem as significant as other motivation such as enjoyment of playing video games as only one source (one streamer interviewee) referenced it: M2: “I think watching someone stream a video game is the same as watching someone play football or any sport for that matter. Entertainment is whatever you want it to be and everyone gets to decide on what their entertainment will be”. 5.2. Template 2 – General Final Template Using the previous results from the male and female codes of the male and female templates, a simple, more generalized template is proposed, summarizing the most significant motivators outlined in the findings and results: 1. Male and Female Twitch Affiliates a. Extrinsic Motivation More Significant b. Monetary Motivation c. Intrinsic Motivation d. Social Motivation This final template was generated using the method of revision suggested by King (2004) – insertion, deletion, changing scope, and changing higher-order classification: Insertion is when a researcher recognizes a problem in the text relevance to the research question/s thus generating necessity to create a new code. In this case Social Motivation was. 39 DOI:10.6814/THE.NCCU.IMICS.005.2018.F05.