Live streaming
Livestreaming services encompass a wide variety of topics, including social media, video games, professional sports, and lifecasting.
Chat rooms are a key feature in livestreaming, allowing viewers to interact with the broadcaster and join ongoing conversations.
[2] However, live stream commerce today enables sellers to showcase products through streamers, mimicking in-store sales tactics to encourage customer purchases.
It allows people to upload videos that cover a wide array of topics including original comedy, drama, and news programming.
[8] YouTube head of product for consumers, Manuel Bronstein, stated that livestreaming gives creators the opportunity to "actually create a more intimate connection with their fans.
Although Kick is not officially linked to Stake.com co-founders, records show they are the main shareholders of the company owning the streaming site.
[9][10][11] Notable streamers like Hikaru Nakamura and Nickmercs, formerly popular on Twitch, joined Kick, contributing to its average of 235,000 live streams per day as of June 2023.
This modern phenomenon allows people to share even mundane events in real-time, giving viewers an intimate look into someone's routine.
[14] This lifecasting platform eventually evolved, serving as the foundation for a new style of online sharing and paving the way for more diverse content.
Kan's innovation in this area led to the popularization of lifestreaming, which has since evolved to include various forms of content and millions of users worldwide.
[15] Today, the influence of the original concept can be seen across multiple platforms and in different variations, extending beyond individual lifecasting to live broadcasts of events, gaming, and more.
While Twitch remained the biggest company in the business, Mixer attempted to raise its stock by signing multiple big streamers to Mixer-exclusive deals.
[32] Other video-game oriented streaming websites include Smashcast.tv, which was formed after the merging of Azubu and Hitbox.tv, and the South Korea-based afreecaTV.
Viewers are encouraged to donate for incentives during the stream such as naming characters in a run, having the runners attempt more difficult challenges, or winning prizes.
[35] Professional streamers can generate livable revenue from viewer subscriptions and donations, as well as platform advertisements and sponsorships from eSports organizations, often earning much more from streaming than from tournament winnings.
The International 2017, a Dota 2 tournament with the largest prize pool in eSport history, was primarily streamed through Twitch, having a peak of over five million concurrent viewers.
[45] With livestreaming becoming a financially viable market, particularly for esports, streamers and organizations representing them have looked for metrics to quantify the viewership of streams as to be able to determine pricing for advertisers.
[51] Many instances of serious crimes such as rape and assault, along with suicides, have been streamed live, leaving little to no time for administrators to remove the offending content.
[53] A mass shooting in Jacksonville, Florida, resulting in the deaths of two in addition to the shooter, occurred during a Madden NFL 19 tournament.
[56] They may also be victim to stalking as with other celebrities; for example, a teenager showed up uninvited to a streamer's house and requested to live with him after having saved up for a one-way transcontinental flight.
[59] The livestreaming platform Twitch is a common focus among researching trying to transfer its user engagement success to other applications such as improving student participation and learning in massive open online courses (MOOCs).
