How livestreaming is shifting fan engagement in the attention economy
The future of fan content looks a lot like what you might already find on the livestreaming platform Twitch. Its CMO, Rachel Delphin, sees a future where fan content is not only interactive, but also collaborative, and creates deeper connections in real-time across languages and cultures, where anyone can belong.
Kate MacArthur: Why has livestreaming become so popular, especially among younger people?
Rachel Delphin: It offers a sense of connection that keeps people engaged. Livestreams are dynamic, unscripted and interactive and that serendipity keeps you tuned in. You're able to interact directly with streamers and other fans in real time, making you an active participant rather than a passive viewer. It’s that sense of immediacy and community resonating deeply with people, but certainly with younger audiences.
MacArthur: How has livestreaming changed fans’ content consumption habits?
Delphin: There's an expectation that consumption is communal. Livestreaming brings that first- and second-screen experience into a single-screen experience. You can consume, react and influence the action on the screen and interact with the subject. This creates that deeper sense of engagement and personalization.
MacArthur: How is content consumption evolving?
Delphin: It's not pure consumption anymore. It is participation and contribution now. Fans want to understand what's the motivation, the story behind the story, the lore. Showing fandom is a way to confer status. There's been this real embrace of who you are in your deep fandoms.
MacArthur: How do events on streaming platforms affect that relationship between fans and creators?
Delphin: Special events tend to bring more people in. But the thing that really strengthens the bonds is repeated time spent over a long period. The typical behavior on Twitch is not endless scrolling. You’re here for 30 minutes or a couple hours, several times a week. So you’re spending upward of 30 minutes, maybe a couple hours on a single creator's or maybe a couple creators’ channels. You have membership in someone’s channel and are recognized by other members within the community.
MacArthur: Do you have a favorite example?
Delphin: Twitch Plays Pokémon. It was a collective experiment where over 16 days, about a million people completed Pokémon Red by inputting commands in chat. It became this sensation and a seminal example of the community experience.
MacArthur: How do global fandoms influence content creation and platform development?
Delphin: There’s a Twitch streamer who’s a big Minecraft personality and his name is Quackity. He started this international game show, and it includes real-time translation. One of the harder things to overcome is language barriers. Being able to do it in real time is really interesting because then the cultural change becomes immediate. The other way is that being a fan has status. Creating content with depth, leaving something behind where there's a trail where people are looking for the signs and symbols and sleuths to decipher — many superstars like Taylor Swift do this really well. That's the advice for brands: Build the fandom, leave Easter eggs for people to find and follow and dissect.
Livestreaming brings that first- and second-screen experience into a single-screen experience. You can consume, react and influence the action on the screen and interact with the subject.”
MacArthur: How does monetization influence both the content and the fan relationships?
Delphin: People pay because they’re supporting the stream market, and they want the creator to continue. For the creator, there’s income. Having income from either subscriptions or memberships tends to be more predictable. That value exchange is clear, and viewers feel good about being able to support creators.
MacArthur: Do you see a role for AI in influencing all those experiences going forward?
Delphin: There are a lot of tasks that a creator has to do. They are obviously talent, but they’re also their own social media managers, editors and assistants. The more we could reduce the other mundane tasks and administrivia that creators have to do, that would be great. There’s certainly room in an ecosystem for something like that so creators can do what they love.
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