Let’s Players: Creating Social Capital
Let’s Players have been around and gaining popularity for the last 5 years. More and more people have been following the trend of uploading themselves playing videogames with commentaries and adding a camera recording their reactions in the corner of the screen. If this sounds boring to you, or you can not understand how this could become popular, you are not alone. Many people have questioned why these Let’s Players have gained such a large following online. They ask why people do not just play the game themselves. But many people tune in on YouTube to watch Let’s Plays, or on Twitch.tv to watch live streams of videogames. One of the most famous people to come out of this era is the YouTuber known as Pewdiepie. With over 50 million subscribers on YouTube, his videos reach more people worldwide on a regular basis than a world leader. But what does all of this mean for the viewers and creators of Let’s Plays, and what has allowed this rapid growth of a certain type of content?
Social Capitol is defined as “ the network of social connections that exist between people, and their shared values and norms of behavior,which enable and encourage mutually advantageous social cooperation” (Dictionary.com). These connections are no longer limited to face-to-face encounters due to the abundance of social outlets that exist through social media. Instead of these connections being limited to one’s family and friends, the network of social connections now includes: Facebook friends, Twitter followers, YouTube subscribers, etc. Nearly everyone in the world is now accessible through one form of social media or another. But how does this idea correlate with Let’s Players?
As stated prior, there is a large following around the world in the category of Let’s Plays. This following can be expanded further to the group that watches not just Let’s Plays, but also Major League Gaming and Videogame Streaming. Just last year, the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive MLG tournament took place. The event was aired on live television, and streamed online at Twitch.tv where over 100,000 people world wide were viewing the tournament live. With a market like this, social capitol is just waiting to be taken advantage of. All of the platforms for sharing videogame footage include sections for either live chat, or a commenting system. Fans and creators are able to instantaneously connect and share information through these systems, which will strengthen the connection between audience and creator. But what does that look like?
There are several ways that this can benefit a Let’s Player. The first is the ability to profit off of their videos. Once a creator is “popular enough,” companies will reach out and offer money in exchange for advertisements placed before and after the videos. This usually bubbles down to: the more views, the more money. This is true for any content creator on YouTube, but Let’s Players get an advantage on other sites such as Twitch.tv. Twitch has a feature built in that allows for paid subscriptions to channels, and to donate “bits” to a creator as a form of direct payment. These features are also only available once the site has deemed one “popular enough.” But this is not the only benefit witnessed via social capital.
One of the better things I have seen Let’s Players do with their social capital is to use it for charity. Many of these people do “Charity Live Streams” in which any money directly donated to, or any “bits” given to them will go directly to charity. Many of them do this several times a year. These Let’s Players use their vast reach from their network of online connections to bring awareness about a cause and encourage donations. Millions of dollars have been raised through campaigns such as this, and it is always nice to see someone with extensive social capital using it to try and better the world.
