Twitch is the leading live streaming platform in most of the world and
an integral part of contemporary digital gaming culture. Millions of
people broadcast their game play (as well as other activities) to over
a hundred million people who regularly visit the site. In this
accessible book, Mark R. Johnson offers both a synthesis of existing
Twitch research and a new way to understand Twitch as a public forum
for gaming. Drawing on ideas of the ancient Greek agora or public
forum, Johnson demonstrates how Twitch has become the key location for
game players looking to understand what is contemporary, relevant, and
important in modern gaming culture. He argues that Twitch has
constructed a particular kind of public forum for gaming, an
understanding which emerges from analysing the platform through its
technological infrastructure, its streamers and viewers, its broadcast
content, and its tightly knit communities. While this forum helps
shape gaming culture, it also exhibits many of gaming's existing
problems with harassment and cultural exclusivity. Despite being the
essential public space for contemporary gaming, Johnson shows that
Twitch is far more complex than it first appears, and is currently
expanding in ways that challenge this – until now – core focus.
This book is essential reading for students and scholars of game
studies, media studies, and anyone with an interest in the rapidly
changing nature of online communication.
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9781509558605
Publisert
2024
Utgave
1. utgave
Utgiver
Polity
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter