Leiden University Student Repository

Valk, Rutger de (2023)

Exploring Digital Identity on Twitch.tv: Perceptions, Strategies, and Challenges of Viewers in Live Stream Channels

Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)

This thesis explores the presentation of digital identity within a digital social space through a two-month case study of practices on a platform that has not yet been extensively researched, and furthermore, that has been subject to incredible growth in the past few years, Twitch. By analyzing the way the audience presents itself within the chat, and furthermore, by asking viewers directly about their experience and practices within the chat of several different live streaming channels, this thesis looks at how we can understand the phenomenon of how people present themselves and experience their identity within this setting, by showing how perceptions, strategies, and challenges of viewers influence this process.

Digital

Identity

Power

Anonymity

Media Entertainment

Livestreaming

viewership

Twitch

Author

Valk, Rutger de

Faculty

Faculty of Social & Behavioural Sciences

Specialisation

Global Etnography

Supervisors

Ochigame, R.

ECTS Credits

60

Language

en