title: Game streams and let’s play: Perspectives of a sociological analysis
metadata.name: dc.contributor.author
metadata.value: Zinovyeva, Nadezhda A.
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.date.accessioned
metadata.value: 2021-01-21T11:41:30Z
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.date.available
metadata.value: 2021-01-21T11:41:30Z
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.date.issued
metadata.value: 2020-12
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.identifier.citation
metadata.value: Zinovyeva N. A. Game streams and let’s play: Perspectives of a sociological analysis. Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Sociology, 2020, vol. 13, issue 4, pp. 460–475.
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.identifier.other
metadata.value: https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu12.2020.407
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.identifier.uri
metadata.value: http://hdl.handle.net/11701/22623
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.description.abstract
metadata.value: The article provides an overview of research devoted to the popular practice of watching game
  streams and let’s play. The goal is to outline the “points of growth” for sociological analytics
  of the new field. Streams and let’s play videos are divided according to the criterion of online
  and offline communication: streams are created and shown synchronously online, and let’s
  play videos are recorded and edited offline. Today, both of these kinds of videos are integrated
  into the computer game industry, and the emergence of comments for the public date back to
  television shows. Based on the research results, it is possible to speak about the social structure
  of streams and let’s play videos — the leading role of the gamer or commentator and the
  community that is developing around his channel. Although the text of a computer game is
  the basis for comments, it still does not cover the entire topic of communication between a
  streamer/let’s play creator and the audience. Analysts think that computer game commenting
  is a form of resistance to the direct consumption of a computer game. The comment content
  often reflects not only the gaming experience, but the current agenda — politics, economics,
  and popular culture. Thus, the most popular streamers/let’s play creators become opinion
  leaders, their status is similar to that of other media celebrities who are at the center of a parasocial
  relationship. Viewers of game streams/let’s play videos form online communities with
  common interests, skills, and knowledge. Immersion in one information environment, understanding
  of its language and other symbols strengthens the feeling of belonging to a group of
  “friends”. The author’s contribution consists in the systematization of the research experience
  on the problems of social aspects of commenting on computer games and in substantiating the
  sociological approach to this practice as a space for the life of new teams.
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.description.sponsorship
metadata.value: The report study was funded by RFBR according to the research project no. 20-011-00625А “The
  development of computer game projects in sociological researches”.
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.language.iso
metadata.value: ru
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.publisher
metadata.value: St Petersburg State University
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.relation.ispartofseries
metadata.value: Vestnik of St Petersburg University. Sociology;Volume 13; Issue 4
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: computer games
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: streams
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: let’s play
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: online communities
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.title
metadata.value: Game streams and let’s play: Perspectives of a sociological analysis
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.type
metadata.value: Article
metadata.lang: en_GB
resources.filename: 460-475.pdf
resources.url: https://dspace.spbu.ru/bitstream/11701/22623/1/460-475.pdf
resources.format: Adobe PDF
resources.size: 719,98 kB