Special Collection: The Psychology of Live-Streaming

Submit Abstract/Manuscript

Deadlines

Submission Type #1:  Registered Reports:

Initial Submission of Registered Reports (Stage 1 Proposal): Extended deadline: September 30, 2022

• Please submit using the Special Collection article type, “The Psychology of Live-Streaming”

Final Submission of Completed Project: Given the considerable variability in possible research designs, authors of registered reports should provide a clear expected timeline in their initial submission. The feasibility of this timeline will be evaluated by the reviewers and action editor who will then give an explicit deadline for final submission if the pre-registered study is approved. 

Submission Types #2 and #3: Single/Multi-Study Reports & Theoretical, Conceptual, or Integrative Reviews:

Initial Submission of Abstract: Extended deadline: September 30, 2022

• Please submit abstracts [of approximately 250 words] using the “Special Issue Abstract” article type

Final Submission of Completed Manuscript: December 31, 2022

Publication of the Collection: As Technology, Mind, and Behavior is an online-only journal, final manuscripts that are accepted for publication will be published immediately (i.e., rather than waiting for all manuscripts accepted to be finalized).

Editors and Editorial Board

Guest Editors:

Elliot Panek

Associate Professor, Department of Journalism and Creative Media

College of Communication & Information Sciences

The University of Alabama

[email protected]

Bridget Rubenking

Associate Professor, Nicholson School for Communication and Media

University of Central Florida

[email protected]

Vivian Hsueh Hua Chen

Associate Professor, Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information

Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

[email protected]

TMB Editors:

Nicholas David Bowman

Associate Professor, Journalism and Creative Media Industries

College of Media and Communication

Texas Tech University

[email protected]

C. Shawn Green

Professor, Department of Psychology

University of Wisconsin-Madison

[email protected]

 Guest Editorial Board:

●     Elizabeth Cohen, West Virginia University, [email protected]

●     Nicky Lewis, University of Kentucky, [email protected]

●     Krista-Lee Malone, University of Wisconsin Madison, [email protected]

●     Mina Choi, Kent State University, [email protected]

●     Rebecca Britt, University of Alabama, [email protected]

●     Jihyun Kim, University of Central Florida, [email protected]

●     Nicholas Sellers, Florida State University-Panama City, [email protected]

●     Jan de Vit, Tilburg University, [email protected]

Overview

Modern media systems, such as self-broadcast streaming services, now allow experiences that were once reasonably isolated to be actively shared in-the-moment with digital audiences small and large, far and wide (Lin et al., 2019; Phelps et al., 2020). Streaming platforms such as YouTube and Twitch allow individual users to live-broadcast themselves engaging in myriad hobbies and interests, such as playing video games (one of the more popular uses of these platforms, with nearly 9 billion hours of content viewed in the first quarter of 2021; Statisca, 2021). Other types of content that are commonly (or not so commonly) live-streamed include providing health and beauty tips, cooking and lifestyle activities, science experiments (Ather, 2019), autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) videos, and even live-streams of people “unboxing” new products and broadcasting their responses online. Whereas online video services such as YouTube encouraged their users to “broadcasts themselves” as far back as 2005 (and public access television services extend into the late 1960s; Janes, 1987), online live-streaming allows users to broadcast on demand and from nearly any location, with much lower barriers to entry in the way of cost and technical acumen. Moreover, and as seen on platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and Reddit, live-streaming need not be focused on any specific focal object or hobby. While niche interests are commonly shown and discussed on “live” streams, mundane, day-to-day content along with addressing those in the audience in a conversational format is also quite common. 

The rise of live-streaming brings with it new avenues of scholarship, not only those focused on streaming per se, but also how live-streaming offers a new context for which to understand broader theories and perspectives on media uses and effects. To this end, this special collection is a call for scholars to more deeply and critically consider the psychological mechanisms underlying the appeal, production, and effects of live-streaming, broadly construed. Specific topics that would fit under this special collection includes work focused on (but not exclusive to):

●     understanding the motivations, characteristics, and behaviors (including outcomes) of those who live-stream (e.g., hobbyists or as professionals, such as esports athletes or social influencers),

●     understanding the motivations, characteristics, and behaviors (including outcomes) of audiences for live-streaming (such as the cultivation of intense parasocial relationships between audiences and streamers)

●     Social interactions between streamers and viewers (parasocial or otherwise), as well as motivations for and outcomes of these interactions.

●     Technological features and affordances of streaming platforms that influence streamer-audience interaction/relationship/community building.

Notably, although studies on specific technologies and platforms can be considered for publication, TMB favors research that offers theoretical insights into the underlying constructs of interest for the study of human behavior. Empirical investigations are preferred (as are registered reports), but theory-focused manuscripts that substantially contribute to live-streaming research will be considered.

References:

Ather, S. H. (2019, July 19). Livestreaming science. Science, 365(6450), 294. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.365.6450.294 

Janes, B. T. (1987). History and structure of public access television. Journal of Film and Video, 39(3), 14-23. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20687778

Lin, J-H. T., Bowman, N. D., Lin, S-F., Chen. S. (2019). Setting the digital stage: Defining game streaming as an entertainment experience. Entertainment Computing, 31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.entcom.2019.100309

Phelps, A. Consalvo, M., & Bowman, N. D. (2021). Streaming into the void: An analysis of microstreaming trends and behaviors utilizing a demand framework. Proceedings for Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 2863-2872. https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/70963/0280.pdf

Statisca (2021). Number of hours of video game live streams watched on streaming platforms worldwide in Q1 2019 to Q1 2021. Statisca. Retrieved from: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1125469/video-game-stream-hours-watched/

Instructions for Authors

Authors interested in submitting a paper for this issue can do so via the journal’s website (instructions can be found here:https://tmb.apaopen.org/submit). In your letter to the editor, please make sure to indicate that your submission is for the special issue “The Psychology of Live-Streaming” to ensure that it is appropriately categorized by the editor.   

Note that if authors are unclear whether their proposal would fit within the scope of the special issue, they are encouraged to email Dr. Nick Bowman: [email protected]

Finally, we note that in order to facilitate rapid reviews for all, which is all the more important given the likely timing constraints of much of the proposed work, we will likely ask that all individuals who have submitted proposals themselves also serve as reviewers on at least one other proposal.

Open Access

Technology, Mind, and Behavior is a Gold Open Access journal whereby articles are made open immediately upon publication, promoting broad access to the content. Publication costs are offset by article processing charges (APCs). The current APC for TMB is $1,200 USD. An article’s corresponding author is responsible for arranging such payment upon acceptance of a manuscript for publication. APCs are most often paid via support from an author’s grants, special funds including from one’s institution or department, contracts such as via the government, or one’s employer when the work was done as part of official governmental or corporate duties. If you are a resident in any European Union country, you will be expected to add Value-Added Tax (VAT) at the rate applicable in the respective country.

Articles are published under a CC-BY-NC-ND (Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivatives) license, allowing others to download and share them for noncommercial use as long as you are credited as the author.

To protect the integrity of your work, this license does not allow for modifications to be shared; sharing only the article as published is permitted.

APA Open Waiver Policy for Technology, Mind, and Behavior

In cases where an author’s research was not supported by the means outlined above, the author may apply for an APC waiver. Considerations for granting a discounted APC or full waiver will be whether an author is from a country classified by the World Bank as low or lower middle income or evidence that an author has exhausted the typical funding sources outlined in the previous paragraph. Waivers and discounts will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Authors wishing to apply for a waiver should complete the form available on the TMB website and wait up to two weeks for administrative handling. Corresponding authors should apply for the waiver upon submitting the manuscript through the peer review system. Applications are handled separately from the manuscript; the editorial team will not be made aware of any waiver requests or granted waivers. For questions regarding waivers, please contact Cheryl Johnson at [email protected].

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