TV Reality
One example of a media ritual that I wanted to highlight in this post comes from ex-professional League of Legends video game player, Michael Santana. Known better by his in game name, imaqtpie, is one of the top players in the most popular video game in the whole world. As of November of 2020, imaqtpie had over 2.6 million followers on Twitch and entertains upwards of 40k viewers every time he livestreams. This is a clear example of a media ritual as thousands of people will follow his streaming schedule just so that they can plan their day around watching him. I myself even did this during the start of the strict quarantine that was imposed in Spain. imaqtpie does not only offer his fans top level game play, witty and funny commentary, but the chance to escape from their lives for a couple hours and see into his. This helps reinforce the idea of the myth of the mediated center because it is not the streamer who conforms to his viewers when creating his streaming schedule, but the viewers who closely follow his schedule in order to watch him. It is not society that is the center here but the media content provided by imaqtpie.
It is also important to remember that imaqtpie is streaming a video game, not a traditional sport, however, it seems like his fans do treat it like an actual sport (I would argue e-sports are sports, but that is another topic). The idea of fandom here is evident as the streamers viewers cheer for him, root for him and laugh and smile when he makes an amazing play, and even cry when he fails to win a game or beat a personal best score. These fans even make "pilgrimages" to LA just to meet him and see where he streams.
From all of this, I think it is evident that this is a clear example of a media ritual. Not only do imaqtpie's fan regularly and consistently tune into his stream in order to learn from his content and simply enjoy his company in real time, but they fund him by donating money to his stream to keep it up and running.
References List
Campbell, R., Martin, C. R., & Fabos, B. (2014). Media & Culture: Mass Communication in a Digital Age (9th ed.). Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin's.
Twitch. (n.d.). https://www.twitch.tv/. Accessed on April 20, 2021.
Wonderful post Dimitri, I am particularly interested in this argument: "it is not the streamer who conforms to his viewers when creating his streaming schedule, but the viewers who closely follow his schedule in order to watch him." Media rituals have changed, but we still organize our lives around them . Another good example that your post reminded me is binge watching and Netflix: even when self-scheduled, series have never taken up this much in our lives.
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