Whose stream is this anyway? Exploring layers of viewer-integration in online participatory videos

Bibliographic Data

ID21996191
AuthorsWeller Kevin (Technical University of Munich, corresponding author), Holaschke Michael (Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt)
Year2022
Volume14
Issue1
Pages17-32
Publication date2022-02-28
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Media and Communication Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2141-2545 • E-ISSN: 2141-2545
PublisherAcademic Journals (PUBLISHER • NG)
DOI10.5897/jmcs2021.0760
OpenAlexW4224293870
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited17

Within this paper, we explore variants of user-integrating (live) videos as examples of collaborative practices in social media. We propose an empirically informed typology of layers of user-integration in terms of: (A) directness / ‘bodiliness’ of interaction, (B) Unfinishedness in the content at hand and (C) Productive tensions through streamer-audience-interactions. As an example of spontaneously emerging (virtual) communities of practices, we argue that analyzing IOPVs - integrated, online participatory videos – allows us to outline the conditions for such participatory formats to unfold, and how video-communities engage with them. In this analysis, we connect to methodical literature on online participant-videos, applying ethnographic research-methods to our main case-studies ‘chAIR Speedtest’, ‘Snappy’s Chain-Stich’ and ‘Miko’s tormenting chat’, explicitly exploring methods of tracing viewer-producer-interactions. Here, we also add to conceptual literature on participatory (live) videos by questioning the understanding of live-participation as fundamentally peaceful collaboration. Here, our analytical categories (A-C) help us to get a broader understanding of the dynamics that keep such formats going and the required translation-practices from both viewer and video-producer alike. We conclude by summarizing our results and by discussing the issue of responsibility regarding (video) contents that emerge from such an asymmetrical collaboration. Key words: Video ethnography, IOPV, grounded theory, participatory media, virtual communities of practice

Citizen journalism · Ethnography · Media studies · Participatory culture · Social media · Sociology · World Wide Web · Computer Science · Digital Storytelling and Education · Multimedia Communication and Technology · Participatory Visual Research Methods

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