scholarly journals Understanding Memetic Media and Collective Identity Through Streamer Persona on Twitch.tv

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 69-87
Author(s):  
Nathan J Jackson
Keyword(s):  
Collective Identity ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Feedback Loop ◽  
Value Systems ◽  
Live Performance ◽  
Social Arrangement

Video game livestreamers on the leading platform Twitch.tv present a carefully curated version of themselves - negotiated in part via interactions with their viewers - resulting in collectively performed personas centred around individual streamers. These collective personas emerge from a combination of live performance, platform features including streamer-specific emoticons and audiovisual overlays, the games that streamers play, and how they play them. In this paper, I interrogate how these elements culminate in a feedback loop between individual streamers and non-streamer participants, specifically how platform features mediate and facilitate interactions between users. I also examine streaming persona as both a product and expression of this dynamic and the subsequent emergence of streamer-based social arrangement and collective value systems. I do this with particular attention to how memes operate uniquely within the livestreaming mode.

scholarly journals “I’VE GOTTA DO IT FOR THE BIT”: MEMETIC MEDIA AND COLLECTIVE IDENTITY THROUGH STREAMER PERFORMANCE ON TWITCH

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan J Jackson
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Collective Identity ◽  
Feedback Loop ◽  
Live Performance ◽  
Value System ◽  
Creation Process ◽  
Cultural Process ◽  
Internet Users ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Over Time

Videogame livestreamers on the platform Twitch present a carefully curated version of themselves negotiated in part via interactions with their viewers. This persona is encoded not just through their live performance, but also through other platform features including streamer-specific emoticons and audio-visual overlays triggered by stream events such as donations and subscriptions. From these customisable features emerges a complicated feedback loop between the streamer and non-streamer participants that ultimately results in a set of collective values performed and refined by both parties over time. In this paper I interrogate how the incorporation of Internet memes into streaming personas creates accessible avenues for communication with and between members of this collective that contribute significantly to this value system. I do this by defining the term memesis as the cultural process by which Internet users draw upon existing memes in order to create new memetic media. Through two contrasting case studies of Twitch streamers BrownMan and PaladinAmber, I examine how memesis reflects streamer agency and impacts the structure and values of stream collectives. In particular, I draw attention to the relationship between memes and stream collectives as it relates to streamer identity, memetic histories within streams, and the contrasting explicit and latent values within manifestations of particular memes, among others. Further, understanding how memesis renders visible the encoding of meaning and value into manifestations of meme by emphasising the creation process over the memetic product, I argue that the concept has value not just on Twitch, but within broader digital cultural spheres.

scholarly journals Synchronising institutions and value systems: a model of opinion dynamics mediated by proportional representation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Segovia-Martín ◽  
Monica Tamariz
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Feedback Loop ◽  
Opinion Dynamics ◽  
Proportional Representation ◽  
Value Systems ◽  
Opinion Aggregation ◽  
Local Coordination ◽  
Institutional Influence ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
The Impact

Individuals increasingly participate in online platforms where they copy, share and form they opinions. Social interactions in these platforms are mediated by digital institutions, which dictate algorithms that in turn affect how users form and evolve their opinions. In this work, we examine the conditions under which convergence on shared opinions can be obtained in a social network where connected agents repeatedly update their normalised cardinal preferences (i.e. value systems) under the influence of a non-constant reflexive signal (i.e. institution) that aggregates populations' information using a proportional representation rule. We analyse the impact of institutions that aggregate (i) expressed opinions (i.e. opinion-aggregation institutions), and (ii) cardinal preferences (i.e. value-aggregation institutions). We find that, in certain regions of the parameter space, moderate institutional influence can lead to moderate consensus and strong institutional influence can lead to polarisation. In our randomised network, local coordination alone in the total absence of institutions does not lead to convergence on shared opinions, but very low levels of institutional influence are sufficient to generate a feedback loop that favours global conventions. We also show that opinion-aggregation may act as a catalyst for value change and convergence. When applied to digital institutions, we show that the best mechanism to avoid extremism is to increase the initial diversity of the value systems in the population.

scholarly journals Why do i fall for the elf, when i am no orc myself? The ımplıcatıons of vırtual avatars ın dıgıtal communıcatıon

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 181-193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sercan Sengün
Keyword(s):  
Video Game ◽  
Feedback Loop ◽  
Information Sources ◽  
The Self ◽  
Online Video ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Uncertainty Reduction Theory ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Do So

Various recent research on online avatars debated their authenticity in terms of representing the individuals that manage them. Seemingly users would construct an enhanced or idealized presence of themselves online, yet fail to realize that others also do so when seeking information of other users through their avatars. This phenomenon becomes even more curious inside online video game spaces, since video game avatars are already expected to be unrelated with their players but are still seen as sources of information about them. This study approaches the issue as a communication problem and tries to explain the process through Berger’s Uncertainty Reduction Theory (URT). Merging URT with various other nonverbal and visual communication approaches, it is debated how video game avatars – seemingly unrelated or arbitrarily related entitites with their users – become information sources about them. Additionally to elaborate further on the process, the relationship between self and avatars is also analyzed. To create this link, semiotic theories of Saussure and Lacan were expanded and a new approach was proposed. Saussure’s signification process and Lacan’s chains of signification were adapted into digital avatars to define an on-going feedback loop between the video game avatars and the self.

scholarly journals Synchronising institutions and value systems: A model of opinion dynamics mediated by proportional representation

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (9) ◽  
pp. e0257525
Author(s):  
Jose Segovia-Martin ◽  
Monica Tamariz
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Feedback Loop ◽  
Opinion Dynamics ◽  
Proportional Representation ◽  
Value Systems ◽  
Opinion Aggregation ◽  
Local Coordination ◽  
Institutional Influence ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
The Impact

Individuals increasingly participate in online platforms where they copy, share and form they opinions. Social interactions in these platforms are mediated by digital institutions, which dictate algorithms that in turn affect how users form and evolve their opinions. In this work, we examine the conditions under which convergence on shared opinions can be obtained in a social network where connected agents repeatedly update their normalised cardinal preferences (i.e. value systems) under the influence of a non-constant reflexive signal (i.e. institution) that aggregates populations’ information using a proportional representation rule. We analyse the impact of institutions that aggregate (i) expressed opinions (i.e. opinion-aggregation institutions), and (ii) cardinal preferences (i.e. value-aggregation institutions). We find that, in certain regions of the parameter space, moderate institutional influence can lead to moderate consensus and strong institutional influence can lead to polarisation. In our randomised network, local coordination alone in the total absence of institutions does not lead to convergence on shared opinions, but very low levels of institutional influence are sufficient to generate a feedback loop that favours global conventions. We also show that opinion-aggregation may act as a catalyst for value change and convergence. When applied to digital institutions, we show that the best mechanism to avoid extremism is to increase the initial diversity of the value systems in the population.

scholarly journals Traditional Worldviews of the Slavs and the Balts: Towards Cognitive Comparative Research

2021 ◽  
pp. 162-180
Author(s):  
Stanisława Niebrzegowska-Bartmińska
Keyword(s):  
Collective Identity ◽  
Comparative Research ◽  
Value Systems ◽  
Cultural Concepts ◽  
European Culture ◽  
The World ◽  
The Baltic

Since the 1980s, research on linguistic worldview and collective identity, practised by anthropological, cultural, and cognitive linguists, has focused on identifying and defining the basic values of European culture against a possibly broad comparative background. If standard languages and national traditions have been under scrutiny in the project EUROJOS since 2009 (see the partial results in the five volumes of the “Axiological Lexicon of Slavs and Their Neighbours” and several other publications), value systems of folk cultures have not been studied systematically so far. I therefore propose to revive the idea of an ETNOEUROJOS project, parallel to EUROJOS. In an article published in 2013 in the journal Etnolingwistyka, I postulated that values in folk languages and cultures be investigated within the methodology of the Lublin-based “Dictionary of Folk Stereotypes and Symbols”, whose aim is to reconstruct the folk Polish view of the world and of humans. I now propose, by analogy to the project EUROJOS, to extend the scope of this new program onto the Baltic peoples. A survey conducted among distinguished researchers of Slavic and Baltic traditions has revealed a set of values important for the Slavs (life and health, fam ily and kinship, home, lan d, work and diligence, love, beauty, happiness, wisdom, can didness, honesty, faithfulness, justice, freedom, honour, faith/religion, and God) and for the Balts (lan d, bread, work, fam ily, home). The first stage of the project will be designed to reconstruct the four values common to both the Slavs and the Balts (lan d, work, fam ily, home), to propose parallel descriptions of these values, and to compare these cultural concepts for their semantic invariants. The descriptions obtained in the two projects, EUROJOS and ETNOEUROJOS, will help corroborate or refute the prevalent view that at the level of folk cultures, Slavic and Baltic communities are much closer than at the level of national, elite-shaped cultures.

Free Play Meets Gameplay: iGotBand, a Video Game for Improvisers

2010 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 11-12
Author(s):  
Joshua Pablo Rosenstock
Keyword(s):  
Video Game ◽  
Feedback Loop ◽  
Free Play

The author presents an experimental musical video game called iGotBand. Fans are central to the game's narrative, capturing a feedback loop in which the audience shares responsibility for performance.

scholarly journals Symbolic Thickening of Public Culture and the Rise of Right-Wing Populism in Poland

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 435-471 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Kotwas ◽  
Jan Kubik
Keyword(s):  
Collective Identity ◽  
Feedback Loop ◽  
Public Culture ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Symbolic System ◽  
The Social ◽  
Central Argument ◽  
Basic Distinction ◽  
Right Wing Populism ◽  
Definition Of

A key feature of thin populist ideology is a sharp division of the social world into “good people” and “bad elites.” Populist ideology “thickens” when it is combined with another ideology, for instance, when this basic distinction is formulated in terms of a nativist or religious discourse with the aim of defining “aliens” or “enemies.” Ideological thickening of populism is boosted by and contributes to the cultural process we call symbolic thickening. Thin symbolic systems, congruent with some forms of populism, have relatively few symbols with rather simple connotations, are amenable to many interpretations, and are thus potentially attractive to a large group of people. They can be “thickened” by adding new symbols and suggesting tight interrelations between them. The resulting “thick” symbolic system offers a narrower definition of collective identity and thus attracts a narrower group of people. Our central argument is that a powerful cultural-political feedback loop has emerged in Poland. A gradual symbolic thickening of the Polish public culture through the intensification of Catholic and nationalist discourses resulted in the expansion of the discursive opportunity structure. This produced conditions conducive to the thickening of populist ideologies and helped to increase the legitimacy of populist movements and parties. The rising legitimacy and popularity of the increasingly vigorous “thick” populism, in turn, contributed to the further symbolic thickening of public culture. The argument is based on detailed descriptions and interpretations of four performances and visual displays.

Novel players fine-tune plant trade-offs

2015 ◽  
Vol 58 ◽  
pp. 83-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Selena Gimenez-Ibanez ◽  
Marta Boter ◽  
Roberto Solano
Keyword(s):  
Ubiquitin Ligase ◽  
Feedback Loop ◽  
Molecular Level ◽  
26S Proteasome ◽  
Signalling Molecules ◽  
Transcriptional Reprogramming ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Jaz Proteins ◽  
Regulatory Feedback Loop ◽  
Fine Tune

Jasmonates (JAs) are essential signalling molecules that co-ordinate the plant response to biotic and abiotic challenges, as well as co-ordinating several developmental processes. Huge progress has been made over the last decade in understanding the components and mechanisms that govern JA perception and signalling. The bioactive form of the hormone, (+)-7-iso-jasmonyl-l-isoleucine (JA-Ile), is perceived by the COI1–JAZ co-receptor complex. JASMONATE ZIM DOMAIN (JAZ) proteins also act as direct repressors of transcriptional activators such as MYC2. In the emerging picture of JA-Ile perception and signalling, COI1 operates as an E3 ubiquitin ligase that upon binding of JA-Ile targets JAZ repressors for degradation by the 26S proteasome, thereby derepressing transcription factors such as MYC2, which in turn activate JA-Ile-dependent transcriptional reprogramming. It is noteworthy that MYCs and different spliced variants of the JAZ proteins are involved in a negative regulatory feedback loop, which suggests a model that rapidly turns the transcriptional JA-Ile responses on and off and thereby avoids a detrimental overactivation of the pathway. This chapter highlights the most recent advances in our understanding of JA-Ile signalling, focusing on the latest repertoire of new targets of JAZ proteins to control different sets of JA-Ile-mediated responses, novel mechanisms of negative regulation of JA-Ile signalling, and hormonal cross-talk at the molecular level that ultimately determines plant adaptability and survival.

Predictors of Problematic Video Game Usage in Childhood and Adolescence

2013 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 153-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Mößle ◽  
Florian Rehbein
Keyword(s):  
Social Environment ◽  
School Children ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Video Gaming ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Childhood And Adolescence ◽  
Longitudinal Control ◽  
Peer Problems ◽  
Media Usage ◽  
Usage Patterns

Aim: The aim of this article is to work out the differential significance of risk factors of media usage, personality and social environment in order to explain problematic video game usage in childhood and adolescence. Method: Data are drawn from the Berlin Longitudinal Study Media, a four-year longitudinal control group study with 1 207 school children. Data from 739 school children who participated at 5th and 6th grade were available for analysis. Result: To explain the development of problematic video game usage, all three areas, i. e. specific media usage patterns, certain aspects of personality and certain factors pertaining to social environment, must be taken into consideration. Video game genre, video gaming in reaction to failure in the real world (media usage), the children’s/adolescents’ academic self-concept (personality), peer problems and parental care (social environment) are of particular significance. Conclusion: The results of the study emphasize that in future – and above all also longitudinal – studies different factors regarding social environment must also be taken into account with the recorded variables of media usage and personality in order to be able to explain the construct of problematic video game usage. Furthermore, this will open up possibilities for prevention.

Frustration and Violence in Mobile Video Games

2020 ◽  
Vol 79 (2) ◽  
pp. 63-70
Author(s):  
Petr Květon ◽  
Martin Jelínek
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Implicit Association Test ◽  
Self Determination Theory ◽  
Psychological Needs ◽  
Basic Psychological Needs ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Mobile Video ◽  
Violent Content ◽  
Before And After

Abstract. This study tests two competing hypotheses, one based on the general aggression model (GAM), the other on the self-determination theory (SDT). GAM suggests that the crucial factor in video games leading to increased aggressiveness is their violent content; SDT contends that gaming is associated with aggression because of the frustration of basic psychological needs. We used a 2×2 between-subject experimental design with a sample of 128 undergraduates. We assigned each participant randomly to one experimental condition defined by a particular video game, using four mobile video games differing in the degree of violence and in the level of their frustration-invoking gameplay. Aggressiveness was measured using the implicit association test (IAT), administered before and after the playing of a video game. We found no evidence of an association between implicit aggressiveness and violent content or frustrating gameplay.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document