Research On Live-streamers From The Perspective Of Uses And Gratifications

The research on "uses and gratifications" has been changed from the study on the relationship between the media and the audience to that on the behaviors and motivations of users' choice of media by taking them as subjects with their gratification seeking since 1940 s.The concept of media user is changed from traditional message receiver to content producers in the era of web 2.0,which makes the research on user's media choice from perspectives of "uses" and "gratifications" meaningful and significant.As representatives of the network anchors,the live-streamers have changed the concept of anchors as being official spokespersons only,to being individual disseminators as well.As one of the earliest group of network anchors,the live-streamers are typical of being both disseminators of the traditional audience and the audience themselves as users of live-broadcasting app.and platform.Based on uses and gratifications approach,this paper focuses on the live-streamers as active voluntary users of live-broadcasting platform.In-depth interviews with 18 live-streamers and 4 trade professionals are conducted in detail for their different background of workplace,age,income,and etc.Together with the use of Maslow's hierarchy of needs and human nature hypothesis theory,the study mainly focuses on the live-streamers' selection of live-streaming platform,and the corresponding gratification seeking with the use of the platform in their live-broadcasting activities.Based on the latest data of industry reports of CNNIC and Momo,a main live-streaming platform for general information of the composition of the live-streamers,and the in-depth interviews with individual live-streamers,the study probes into the motivation of live-streamers as "economic being","social being" and "self-actualizing being" respectively,discusses the inducements affecting live-streamers' choice and use of live-streaming media,and evaluates the different levels of gratifications obtained in live-streaming activities in terms of economic benefits,social recognition and self-actualization.The study summarizes that thelive-streamers have gone through identity change from spokesperson to platform or app user first,and then to content producer.With the current prevalence of UGC/PGC and the widespread of live-streaming media,ordinary people are empowered with a greater say.But on the other hand,the current laws and regulations,as well as the power of latent capital intervention and control measures in political field are all in effect at all times.Thus the live-streamers as users are never completely free in their use of live-streaming broadcasting and gratification obtaining.