{"title":"“Nerds of a Feather”: Homophilic Drivers of Worldwide Video Game Viewership on Twitch","authors":"Ravi Thambusamy, E. M. Church","doi":"10.1080/1097198X.2023.2235231","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Twitch is a global online live streaming platform which is redefining how user-generated video content is produced and consumed. Streamers in countries all over the world have flocked to Twitch to broadcast themselves playing video games or engaging in other activities. Twitch has the potential to generate significant revenues for successful streamers. However, despite worldwide explosive growth in Twitch streamers, the number of streamers who actually gather a large enough viewer base to be called popular is rather small. This study examines these successful streamers and attempts to explain global Twitch viewership based on homophily and the tendencies of viewers to gravitate to streamers who seem most like themselves. A model of Twitch viewership is developed and tested based on four aspects of homophily. Ultimately, a Poisson panel regression analysis of data gathered on 207 of the most popular Twitch streamers from 27 countries shows that streamers who actively promote homophily in its various forms through their streaming practices have accrued a greater number of viewers than those who do not. The research’s implications for streamers, the Twitch platform itself, and researchers are also discussed.","PeriodicalId":45982,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Global Information Technology Management","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.0000,"publicationDate":"2023-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Global Information Technology Management","FirstCategoryId":"91","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1097198X.2023.2235231","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"INFORMATION SCIENCE & LIBRARY SCIENCE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1
Abstract
ABSTRACT Twitch is a global online live streaming platform which is redefining how user-generated video content is produced and consumed. Streamers in countries all over the world have flocked to Twitch to broadcast themselves playing video games or engaging in other activities. Twitch has the potential to generate significant revenues for successful streamers. However, despite worldwide explosive growth in Twitch streamers, the number of streamers who actually gather a large enough viewer base to be called popular is rather small. This study examines these successful streamers and attempts to explain global Twitch viewership based on homophily and the tendencies of viewers to gravitate to streamers who seem most like themselves. A model of Twitch viewership is developed and tested based on four aspects of homophily. Ultimately, a Poisson panel regression analysis of data gathered on 207 of the most popular Twitch streamers from 27 countries shows that streamers who actively promote homophily in its various forms through their streaming practices have accrued a greater number of viewers than those who do not. The research’s implications for streamers, the Twitch platform itself, and researchers are also discussed.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Global Information Technology Management (JGITM) is a refereed international journal that is supported by Global IT scholars from all over the world. JGITM publishes articles related to all aspects of the application of information technology for international business. The journal also considers a variety of methodological approaches and encourages manuscript submissions from authors all over the world, both from academia and industry. In addition, the journal will also include reviews of MIS books that have bearing on global aspects. Practitioner input will be specifically solicited from time-to-time in the form of invited columns or interviews. Besides quality work, at a minimum each submitted article should have the following three components: an MIS (Management Information Systems) topic, an international orientation (e.g., cross cultural studies or strong international implications), and evidence (e.g., survey data, case studies, secondary data, etc.). Articles in the Journal of Global Information Technology Management include, but are not limited to: -Cross-cultural IS studies -Frameworks/models for global information systems (GIS) -Development, evaluation and management of GIS -Information Resource Management -Electronic Commerce -Privacy & Security -Societal impacts of IT in developing countries -IT and Economic Development -IT Diffusion in developing countries -IT in Health Care -IT human resource issues -DSS/EIS/ES in international settings -Organizational and management structures for GIS -Transborder data flow issues -Supply Chain Management -Distributed global databases and networks -Cultural and societal impacts -Comparative studies of nations -Applications and case studies