Play, Playbour or Labour? The Relationships between Perception of Occupational Activity and Outcomes among Streamers and YouTubers

The increasing digitalization and gamification of different aspects of our lives has blurred the line between what we consider work and play. Therefore, our productivity may increasingly depend on how we negotiate and view our occupations and work. Through an online survey (n=382), this study examines the relationship between the perception of online video content creation as either work, play or equally as both, and the activities and income of these video content creators (streamers and YouTubers). The results indicate that those who view their content creation as work had the highest levels of activity and income, whereas those who associated their content creation with play, earned more income than those who regard their content creation equally as play and work. The results demonstrate the emergence of new forms of digital entrepreneurial practices in the work-oriented group, but also the highlight the increasing workification of our play activities

Casual Play, Hardcore Community: Social and Spatial Ecosystems in Location-Based Mobile Gameplay

This thesis explores the social and spatial dynamics of two major Location-Based Mobile Games communities in Montréal. By conducting interviews and play sessions with fifteen active members of the local Ingress (Niantic, 2012) and Pokémon Go (Niantic, 2016) player communities, I identify that the social ecosystems that have developed around both games have generated forms of play that extend far beyond the limits of the games themselves. In the first chapter, I draw from Celia Pearce’s understanding of ‘communities of play’ and T.L. Taylor’s notion of ‘power gaming’ to posit that Location-based games communities and their social practices exist somewhere between those found in MMOGs and those found in Social Games. Further, as players are often involved in moderation, research, and organizational activities, I found that interviewees’ engagement with their game of choice means that the typical boundaries between labour and play sometimes disintegrate entirely. Accordingly, I explore the emergent theme of cheating, highlighting how each community perceives, negotiates punishes forms of rule-breaking within their social spheres. As locative gameplay takes place within both the realm of the physical and digital, it can be thought of as having simultaneous modalities of presence. Accordingly, the second chapter investigates how co-presence in locative play can generate tensions between players and non-players in the ‘real world’ and explores how spatial awareness of local play areas transforms through a process of mental mapping. Moreover, spatial experience often correlates with either habitual (everyday) play habits or situational (event-based) instances of play. Like many other games’ communities, the social and spatial ecosystems of Ingress and Pokémon Go are “messy, contested and constantly under negotiation” (Taylor, 153); yet conducting a qualitative analysis around active players within these communities has helped provided a research framework for a more nuanced understanding of how localized micro-communities operate, coordinate and experience locative play

The identity construction and representation of diasporic Chinese content creators on YouTube

A significant number of diasporic Chinese content creators have emerged on YouTube in recent years. Unlike their parents, these Chinese diasporas in Western world spend most of their time in the receiving countries and have been marginalized by the mainstream society during their growing up period. With the intention to represent their own diasporic identity, a series of videos were made to share various cultural related content ranging from ethnic food preparation. generational relationships, and heritage language practices. Many of these videos have already received hundreds of thousands of views, showing its potential to have a large social influence. Thus, this study decided to examine how Chinese diaspora construct and represent their cultural identity on this platform, with a specific focus on the Chinese in Western countries. To understand the topic, this study will combine theories such as diaspora and transnationalism, cultural identity and semiotics, representation and power relations while also considering YouTube’s outstanding “participatory culture” and its commercial attributes. In terms of methodology, this study will treat YouTube’s environment as a whole and it has adopted a series of methods from online observation, semi-structured interview and textual analysis. The findings will be divided into three chapters with each chapter focusing on one cultural element (Chinese food, parents and heritage language) and the influence of these elements on Western Chinese identity construction and more importantly, how they represent these symbols online. During this process, power relations behind the representation process will be carefully investigated to understand how a hybrid identity was formulated through these online practices

Individualised work and wellbeing: Homeworking, self-employment and creative labour

This thesis examines home-based, self-employed creative labour as an example of individualised work, and investigates its effect on subjective wellbeing. Despite the benefits of autonomy and the potential for meaningful and enjoyable work, questions and concerns remain about the burdens of precariousness, the attainability of self-fulfilling labour, the possibility of isolation, and the repercussions of work-life integration for leisure and home. To contribute to our understanding of these issues that are characteristic of individualised work, the thesis analyses how the intrinsic benefits, precarious freedoms, socialities, and work-life boundary dynamics of this work influence subjective wellbeing. 21 participants took part in the research. Questionnaires measuring emotion, satisfaction, and social-psychological functioning provided an assessment of their wellbeing, while participant-led video diaries and semi-structured interviews enabled an in-depth investigation of their experiences.The questionnaires revealed positive subjective wellbeing across the sample, and an analysis of the interviews and video diaries helps to explain the influence of work to this end. While the vulnerability and uncertainty of work was a source of stress, the benefits of autonomy and to a greater extent the personal enrichment of creative labour evidently contributed to the high levels of wellbeing reported. The socialities of the work-home and independent creative labour as well as individualised networks of social spaces and connections mitigated experiences of isolation. Work-life integration and the precariousness and responsibility of work did have some negative consequences and could undermine the positive relationship between flexibility and leisure time satisfaction. Considering the emotional geographies of homeworking, the home remained a space of rejuvenation and the dynamics of the work-home were mutually enhancing of both domains, although feelings of entrapment and the importance and challenges of getting out of the house also emerged. To conclude, the thesis outlines the contributions made and avenues for future research and methodological design

Professional gaming and work: Challenges, trajectories, and labour market impacts amongst professional gamers

Over the last decade the popularity of video games has risen tremendously. A new industry around professional gaming has emerged alongside this growth in the popularity of video games. In professional gaming, individuals play video games competitively while their matches and games are streamed online to a global audience. As a result of the growth in the sector, compensation for some individuals has reached well into six and seven figures. Knowledge of these salaries has resulted in an influx of individuals interested in working in professional gaming. This study investigates not only those individuals who play video games professionally, but also those who work in the periphery and infrastructure of the gaming industry. This dissertation critically investigates work in the professional gaming industry drawing on qualitative interview data. Two primary questions are asked: What is the nature of work in professional gaming? What are the experiences of individuals who pursue careers and work in this industry? This exploratory research utilizes thirty-four semi-structured interviews with individuals involved in the professional gaming industry. The participants describe a range of challenges, difficulties, and issues they experience both transitioning into and working in this industry. The results suggest that work in professional gaming is rife with exploitation, precarity, and non-standard work arrangements. Pursuing a career in this industry is difficult, and participants often lack social support during their transition from playing video games as leisure to being employed in professional gaming. This lack of social support is not determinative and the participants often accessed their social capital in other ways in order to succeed. Financial difficulties, geographic challenges, and issues with discrimination and sexism were faced by the participants working in this industry. The present study provides important recommendations for future research. Overall, the study sheds new light on the nature of work in this industry – work that many dismiss as simply leisure – revealing tensions, contradictions, and inequalities within it