Social motivations of live-streaming viewer engagement on Twitch

TLDR

An eight-factor socio-motivational model, based on Uses and Gratifications Theory, was trialled to explain four aspects of live-stream viewer engagement: social interaction, sense of community, meeting new people, entertainment, information seeking, and a lack of external support in real life.

摘要

Abstract Little is known about the motivations underlying viewer engagement in the rapidly growing live-streaming multimedia phenomenon. This study trialled an eight-factor socio-motivational model, based on Uses and Gratifications Theory, to explain four aspects of live-stream viewer engagement. Cross-sectional data was collected through an international, online self-report survey of Twitch users (N = 2227). Multiple and ordinal linear regression analyses identified six motivations which helped to explain live-stream engagement: social interaction, sense of community, meeting new people, entertainment, information seeking, and a lack of external support in real life. Compared to mass media, viewer motivations to engage in live-stream entertainment appear to have a stronger social and community basis. Furthermore, live-stream viewers who preferred smaller channels (