This week there was the topic of streaming. This is something I am passionate about. As far as streaming goes, I have watched a lot of streams. I have mainly watched streams on Twitch and YouTube but there are definitely a lot of other sites. Recently in the news, several large Twitch streamers has gone over to a new platform called “Mixer”. This platform was developed and maintained by Microsoft. This is interesting now that some of the largest tech companies have their hands dipped in the streaming world. As far as other large companies, Twitch, owned and operated by Amazon is the most popular for gaming.  Platforms such as YouTube are also popular but not so much for gaming due to the lack of a live chat interaction.

Streaming is something that is very unique compared to other forms of entertainment. A streamer can have a very small tight knit community or it can be as large as a mainstream television show. This is what is most interesting to me because everyone that streams and gains any kind of following is always unique.

I think that streaming will take over television sometime in the future due to the fact that it is live. There is nothing like being able to watch your favorite celebrity and have Realtime interaction with them. Some may say that you can do this on another medium such as twitter or Facebook.

Several software’s were talked about this week such as open broadcaster software and XSplit. These are primarily used for streaming. I have learned a lot about these indirectly through watching streamers setup their own computers live. I have personally used open broadcaster software due to its ease of use and the fact that it is an entire recording sweet open to the public, for free.

As far as the readings talked about this week, Ruberg, Cullen, and Brewster outlined some ideas about the current streaming atmosphere. In their latest source “Nothing but a ‘titty streamer’, outlines some of the problems surrounding livestreaming. A lot of people view female streamers as only streaming due to their gender. This is definitely a problem and creates a toxic environment that was never meant to happen. Over the next few years, the livestreaming space will most certainly change and problems outlined by these writers must be fixed.

Also, the streaming space has brought to light competitive gaming, this is known as esports which is a growing field and I personally think anyone who likes sports and is interested somewhat in games will really enjoy looking into the esports field, it is quite exciting.

I have considered using open broadcaster software for my multimedia creative research project for the end of the semester, this week there is the project proposal which I will most likely be talking about how I plan to use some of the software’s spoken about this week.