The Authenticity Engine: Livestreaming on Twitch

Key insights

6 takeaways

01
Micro-streamers, typically those drawing fewer than 100 concurrent viewers, perform authenticity through the liveness of their broadcasts, with the unscripted, real-time nature of livestreaming on Twitch generating a distinctive form of authenticity.
02
The large majority of micro-streamers are neither partnered nor affiliated with Twitch and do not stream as a full-time occupation; most treat it as a leisure pursuit alongside school or paid work, yet maintain regular schedules of several days per week.
03
Streamers perform authenticity intentionally by sharing personal details, keeping consistent schedules, and interacting with their communities on and off stream.
04
Unintentional performances, including emotional outbursts, gameplay failures, breaking the fourth wall, technical disruptions, and responses to harassment, are central to how liveness produces authenticity.
05
The study is based on three years of observation across more than 100 channels with diverse streamers, plus 44 semi-structured interviews of 45 to 200 minutes each and a follow-up survey conducted a year later.
06
The follow-up survey examined which streamers had continued broadcasting, why others had quit, and what challenges they faced, providing insight into the sustainability of micro-streaming.

Summary

This paper examines how micro-streamers on Twitch, typically those drawing fewer than 100 concurrent viewers, perform authenticity through the liveness of their broadcasts. The authors argue that the unscripted, real-time nature of livestreaming, combined with Twitch's particular platform affordances, generates a distinctive form of authenticity. The central questions concern how individuals engage in livestreaming and how the practice alters the experience of gameplay itself.

The study draws on three years of observation across more than 100 channels featuring variety streamers of diverse gender, race and ethnicity, sexuality, age, and ability. It also includes 44 in-depth semi-structured interviews lasting 45 to 200 minutes, along with a follow-up survey conducted a year later to determine which streamers had continued broadcasting, why others had quit, and what challenges they faced. The data comprise hundreds of pages of transcripts and fieldnotes and hundreds of screenshots and videos.

Findings show that the large majority of micro-streamers are neither partnered nor affiliated and do not stream as a full-time occupation. Most treat the activity as a leisure pursuit alongside school or paid work, yet they approach it seriously, maintaining regular schedules of several days per week. Streamers described intentional performances of authenticity, such as sharing personal details, keeping consistent schedules, and interacting with their communities on and off stream. Equally significant were unintentional performances, including emotional outbursts, gameplay failures, breaking the fourth wall, technical disruptions, and responses to harassment, which the authors identify as central to how liveness produces authenticity.