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Dear Past Elliot,

            In these next few months, you will embark on a journey that you will not be expecting. There will be a lot of times where you think you know what to expect, but it will turn out that something will take much more time than you might have thought. One example: the discourse analysis. I will give you one piece of advice, and you probably won’t listen to me just as I didn’t listen. You need to do the work as soon as possible for each part of the essay. Otherwise, you will get drowned by multiple things assigned at once. Things like tests for other subjects as well as trying to finish a project for Formula SAE will take up a lot of time, so you need to manage your time well. I will commend you, however, on keeping up with other classes as your work was assigned. You never had to turn in a late assignment. However, you should have done more side quests for English before the final unit. I am currently stressing on trying to get them done, and I am mad at you for doing that to me. But, that’s not the point. What I would really like to talk to you about is how much you will have developed as a writer.

            You will get much better at staying on topic when writing. For example, in the first main quest boss fight “They Games We Play”, you will write about how Minecraft is a game that pushes the argument that the player needs the online community surrounding the game in order to be successful. In the essay, however, you will tend to get off track. Your professor will tell you to “be careful about thesis shift” which can be solved by using a technique called reverse outlining. You need to this advice and put it into action with your next big assignment, the Discourse Analysis. If you do this, you will be commended for staying on topic and keeping your essay about your initial thesis. For example, your professor might say in his feedback for the analysis, “Good tie back to the full-circle argument here” when commenting on a certain part of the essay. You will be able to tie back each paragraph to the main thesis where before, you kept ranting on about the topic until you were not even on the topic anymore. I would like to be able to congratulate you on developing in this area. One thing I want you to do for the discourse analysis that I was not able to do is cite more specific evidence throughout the essay. I know it’s hard to get specific quotes from videos and such, but in order to get a good score you need to include this kind of thing in your essay. I did not do this very well, which is why I got feedback like “show us a source here? A quote or two here would go a long way” for a certain part of it. If you don’t do this, you will have to deal with it in the revisions of your essay like I am doing. As for the video game, make sure you learn Twine. It is an easy platform for your game, and it makes the most sense to use for the design. Your group may struggle to all meet at the same time, and be prepared for that. It will take work, but you can get through it.

            Overall, I am very excited to see where you will go in this adventure of an English class. I hope you can be successful in the areas I mentioned and keep doing what you know works for you. I am glad I experienced this class, and I want you to be able to say the same. Good luck!

Gals and Gaming: Side Quest

For the side quest, “Gals and Gaming”, I watched the video titled “Ms. Male Character-Tropes VS Women in Video Games”. Many points were brought up about how the women in the video games mentioned such as Super Mario World and Donkey Kong were just female versions of the male main character. They only way to identify the fact they were women was their attire and/or personality, as well as their relation to the main character. The claims made in the video were hard for me to agree with. I don’t believe that there is anything wrong with having female versions of the male character. This allows the game to represent the relationship between characters, as well as provide a companion for the original character. The argument she is trying to make is inherently flawed due to the belief that the gender binary is a non-accurate description of society. All of society is either a man or a woman, however there are men who are more feminine, and there are women who are more masculine. This does not change the fact that they are a man or a woman. The video games use the stereotypical masculine man and feminine woman to appeal to the large majority of society. The creators do not do this to undermine women; they do this purely for sales. Another point she brought up was about the creation story of Adam and Eve. She claimed that it was a myth, and that goes directly against my religious beliefs. Also, she claimed that the story was sexist because it explains that Eve was a derivative of Adam, the man. This is simply how God created the world. It does not mean that women are worth any less than men, it means that man and women are one in marriage. This is what many video games try to express with the female versions of the male characters; it is not to undermine women, but to provide companionship within the video game.

Setting the Stage: Side Quest

The image shows the topic of conversation in the middle. It spreads out to the 3 groups, the media, fans, and youtube gamers. It then spreads to the different topics they discuss/focus on and how each topic is related between groups. The image also displays a disparity between gamers and the media, as well as silence from YouTube about the conversation.

A Case of Identity: Side Quest

I chose to use my avatar on my snapchat account, my Bitmoji. My bitmoji and I are very similar in what I wear and what I look like. For example, it has red hair, glasses, and a similar outfit to what I wear. However, when I use it, it is usually displayed as very happy and energetic, and I’m definitely not always like that even though I’m a generally happy person. In general, however, I like to use avatars that resemble me in real life because I want to be as similar in game to myself as I can make myself be; I want to be portrayed in a realistic light during a game or on a social media account because I don’t like the idea of making myself seem different or better or worse on social media than I really am. When I am using my bitmoji, I only have a limited option of what I can make it do, so I usually just use it to portray emojis in a more specific sense. He can do things that I can’t do in real life in order to show an emotion that I might be feeling.

Discourse Analysis Revision Material

First Draft

Gaming on YouTube is Changing-But Why does it Matter?

            Becoming a gaming YouTuber has always been seen as a difficult thing to do. There’s lots of time commitment that goes into it, as well as having to capture an audience and keep it. So, one can imagine that almost all gaming YouTubers have faced these difficulties. However, there are other difficulties that have surfaced within the past few years. Things like demonetization and a constantly changing appeal has brought many YouTubers to their demise. The problem with this is that these obstacles are not known by the general public, causing a lack of change for the better in the world of YouTube gaming.

Literature Review

Gaming on YouTube has become a very integral part of today’s culture. It has become many influencers’ main and only source of income as they have been able to become extremely successful. When discussing this topic of conversation, there are 3 main groups that come into play. These include the general media, the content creators themselves, and the fans who watch the videos produced by the now called “YouTubers”. When considering the plain facts about the profession, including the creators’ income and fame, is when the general media comes in. They enjoy talking about topics such as the “Top Gaming YouTube channels”, “The highest paid YouTube stars”, and how “e-sport pro video gamers are making millions before 30 and retiring”. A lot of the time, these pro video gamers also have a gaming YouTube channel, such as members of the FaZe and Optic clans. These YouTube channels bring in even more money on top of their winnings from e-sports competitions. The point is, these media companies are mainly focused on the riches and fame that these gaming content creators are bringing for themselves. The media does not consider the amount of work it takes in order to be successful, or the difficulty of abiding to YouTube’s strict guidelines as a platform in order to make money from a video. However, the people making the videos and their fans seem to be much more aware of this aspect. The youtubers are beginning to become stressed out and upset about the amount of restrictions that YouTube has placed on their videos. They won’t want to continue making videos if they’re not going to get paid for it, especially if they believe there’s no reason their videos are getting demonetized. The fans are in a similar boat; they don’t want to see their favorite content creators quit because of YouTube’s guidelines. They also feel that YouTube is being unfair in their practices, and they will support their content creators on almost every subject when concerning this topic. They are fans for a reason so they will be on the same side as the youtubers.

The real issue that surfaces from this conversation is how there is a disparity between the media and the content creators. The media is not shedding any light on the struggles gaming youtubers are facing with demonetization and the amount of work they are having to put in; they are only talking about the success brought out of the struggle, the amount of subscribers, money, and attention they are receiving from their work. They are not putting any pressure on YouTube as a company to make any changes to their guidelines to make them more accepting of content published to their site. Even though content creators and their fanbases seem to backlash ever so increasingly, the general public may not be as aware of the problem as the people involved; this is caused by the lack of pressure YouTube is receiving from the media, allowing this platform to get away with this problem. This lack of pressure is also causing a silence from YouTube; they don’t feel the need to have to change what they’re doing, so they are not going to try and alleviate the problem. There has been plenty of complaining from the users of YouTube, but since the general public is not aware of the problem there is nothing YouTube feels they need to change in order to continue being successful.

The Media

The general media has always been the go-to place to get information about a specific topic for the general public. This causes media companies to have an immense amount of influential power to present information and influence public opinion concerning certain ideas. At the same time, they have the option over what they want to present to the people. How does this pertain to gaming on YouTube?  It’s simple: money. Different sources I have found including CNBC, Forbes, and Mediakix show that the general media has only shed light on one aspect of YouTube gaming, money. For example, Forbes wrote an article about the top 10 highest paid YouTubers. While this article did not just include gamers, a large part of the story was about Markiplier, an extremely famous gamer on YouTube. They went on to explain his success story, including where he started out, and how much he is currently making (17.5 million per year). This kind of reporting glorifies YouTube gaming as an easy way to make a lot of money fast. The problem with this kind of report is it fails to mention just how hard it is to maintain an audience and continue to be paid for the videos a content creator makes. It takes a very long time as well as dedication and hard work to get to where Markiplier is at, which Forbes does not consider in its article.

Another example of this kind of this type of media comes from CNBC, who focuses on the world of esports and how many gamers “are making millions by 30 and retiring.” Similar to Forbes, CNBC sheds light on how much money professional gaming can make someone. The problem is that they don’t talk about how if this is being put on YouTube, the gamers may not make the money they deserve from the video. Many competitive games on the market contain very violent and mature content. This kind of content is not monetized by YouTube, not allowing the gamers to make money from the video they upload. This problem has gotten increasingly more difficult to deal with as more and more content is censored and demonetized, which causes gamers to become discouraged and eventually quit gaming altogether. The media could talk about this if they wanted to, but instead they choose to talk about things like money and success, because that is what’s going to make money for themselves. Therefore, YouTube is not taking any heat because the general public is unaware of this, which is quite upsetting for almost any gamer that is trying to produce content.

The Content Creators (Gamers)

            When comparing the discourse between the content creators and the general media, I’ve noticed that it’s quite opposite. While the media likes to put their success on the spotlight, the gamers have no interest in doing so. In fact, many are very humble when it comes to their success. What the gamers do talk about much more than the media, however, are the challenges they face as gamers on YouTube, as well as what it takes to be a gaming youtuber. For example, creators such as JackSepticEye have talked about how gaming on YouTube has changed, and how it is much more difficult for him and many others to put out the same content as they have in the past, as well as get paid for it. He includes how difficult it has been for him to continue to produce the same amount of content he has in the past. He also talks about the hardships of demonetization; he says how many content creators have had to stick to just one type of game that is allowed on YouTube and go with that, instead of being able to play a plethora of different games. This problem would be solved if YouTube would allow monetization of all types of games, regardless of what is in it because in the end, it is just a video game. However, YouTube sees no need to do this, as they don’t have any backlash from the media since they only talk about these gamers’ success.

Additionally, other creators such as PewDiePie and Kevin David talk more about what someone needs to do if they want to start a gaming channel. They say what equipment, skill set, and personality is needed to build a successful channel on YouTube. However, PewDiePie had a different opinion in what it takes to be successful on YouTube; he spoke more about how one needs to be different in order to stand out. Kevin David, however, said the exact opposite. He said that one should stick to what works and almost copy what’s already out there. Either way, it is not nearly as easy to make it as a YouTube gamer because it takes so much time, commitment, and energy to really make it. The lack of information on this topic from the media portrays an inaccurate view of what it’s like to be a YouTube gamer, since they seemingly idolize it as a money pool anyone can get into.

The Fanbase

            The fanbase is what makes the platform of YouTube work. If there weren’t any fans in support of creators, there wouldn’t be any reason to make content. That being said, the fans can’t completely control what becomes popular and what doesn’t, as YouTube’s algorithm pushes certain content and pulls others. However, the fans can give their two cents on the conversation on gaming on YouTube, how it’s changing, or what’s wrong with it. At the same time, there seems to be a split between the fans; some look just at the numbers and how well a YouTube channel is doing, similar to the press. One example of this is from JackSepticEye when he spoke about the drop in views he had. The said the reason for this was because he had went from making 2 videos a day to just one. Some of his fans, according to JackSepticEye, saw this cut in views and simply said he was no good anymore and they unsubscribed. This is sad because he loses their support, and it sheds a false reality of his channel. This is similar to the media in that they only look at the numbers and level of success for certain YouTubers, ignoring the reality of the situation the gamers are in. This leads to a lack of action from YouTube since there is no pressure from the media.

On the other hand, The rest of them sympathize with the gamers themselves, knowing the hardships they deal with daily. One example comes from a fan named Rafael Rego Drumond. He says “I want to watch videos where the YouTuber is actually having fun. Please take care of yourself first! Mental health comes first!” What this tells us is fans like him care about the people they watch; they don’t want them working as hard as they can to get the top weekly numbers, they only want to see the gamers having fun and being healthy about it. What this quote shows is that the Youtuber mentioned in the quote is not being healthy about his profession since he is having to deal with the hardships of being a YouTuber, which is not at all mentioned by general media, causing a lack of action from YouTube themselves. Another more direct comment about this issue is from a fan called TheWatchingEye, who says “Gaming isn’t dying. Demonetization is killing it. And people being able to claim your content. Combined with Youtube’s horrible system for content creators to fix it.” This quote shows the anger from the fanbase about the actions YouTube has taken on the platform to demonetize different videos, which is one of many difficulties the gamers have to face when creating videos. Since the media has not brought up demonetization or the other problems that gamers face on YouTube, there doesn’t seem to be any change on the platform in the future.

What’s Next?

            Since the media has not yet put forward the many challenges faced by content creators, there has been no change from YouTube; it has almost seemed to get worse. Different problems like demonetization and figuring out what is popular for fans are widely unknown by people outside the gaming community. This needs to change. People need to make media aware of the problems as well as YouTube themselves so they can do something about it. It might be hard to get YouTube to change anything if it’s just the people within the community talking about it; that is why the media needs to become a useful tool to make YouTube aware of these issues in order to fix it. The media, gamers, and fans might be on slightly different pages through discourse on this topic, but in order to solve this problem, everyone needs to be on the same page.

Reverse Outline

Intro: Gaming youtubers deal with struggles that go along with making videos, but these struggles are not widely known, causing a lack of change

Discourse analysis: The media, gamers, and fans all have something different to say about youtube gaming, but there is a disparity between the media and the rest that causes an issue with the topic

Media: The media does not explain hardships such as demonetization and other struggles, which causes a lack of action from YouTube

Gamers: The gamers explain the struggles they have to deal with, as well as how hard it is to maintain a status as a youtuber

Fans: The fans are either ignorant like the media which causes the problem, or are on the side of the gamers who understand the problems

Conclusion: The public needs to be informed of the disparity so that they and the media can put pressure on YouTube to fix the existing problems

Discourse Analysis Final Draft

Elliot Johnson

Professor Peter Berge

EN 103

10 December 2019

Gaming on YouTube is Changing-and Here’s Why it Matters

            Gaming on YouTube has always been a go-to source of entertainment or information about a certain game, since people who enjoy these games and are knowledgeable about them decide to post videos about them on YouTube. What many don’t realize is there’s lots of time commitment that goes into making those videos, as well as having to capture an audience and keep it. So, one can imagine that almost all gaming YouTubers have faced these difficulties one way or another. However, there are other difficulties that have surfaced within the past few years. Things like demonetization and a constantly changing appeal has brought many gaming YouTubers to their demise. The problem with this is that these obstacles are not known by the general public, causing a lack of change for the better in the world of YouTube gaming.

Literature Review

Gaming on YouTube has become a very important part of the gaming culture. It has become many influencers’ main and only source of income as they have become extremely successful. When discussing this topic of conversation, there are 3 main groups that come into play. These include the general media, the content creators themselves, and the fans who watch the videos produced by the youtubers. When considering the plain facts about the profession, including the creators’ income and popularity, is when the general media comes in. They enjoy talking about topics such as the “Top Gaming YouTube channels”, “The highest paid YouTube stars”, and how “e-sport pro video gamers are making millions before 30 and retiring”. A lot of the time, these pro video gamers also have a gaming YouTube channel, such as members of the FaZe and Optic clans. These YouTube channels bring in even more money on top of their winnings from e-sports competitions. The point is, these media companies are mainly focused on the riches and fame that these gaming content creators are bringing for themselves. The media does not consider the amount of work it takes in order to be successful, or the difficulty of abiding to YouTube’s strict guidelines as a platform in order to make money from a video. However, the people making the videos and their fans seem to be much more aware of this aspect. The youtubers are beginning to become stressed out and upset about the amount of restrictions that YouTube has placed on their videos. They won’t want to continue making videos if they’re not going to get paid for it, especially if they believe there’s no reason their videos are getting demonetized. The fans are in a similar boat; they don’t want to see their favorite content creators quit because of YouTube’s guidelines. They also feel that YouTube is being unfair in their practices, and they will support their content creators on almost every subject when concerning this topic. They are fans for a reason so they will be on the same side as the youtubers.

The real issue that surfaces from this conversation is how there is a disparity between the media and the content creators. The media is not shedding any light on the struggles gaming youtubers are facing with demonetization and the amount of work they are having to put in; they are only talking about the success brought out of the struggle, the number of subscribers, money, and attention they are receiving from their work. They are not putting any pressure on YouTube as a company to make any changes to their guidelines to make them more accepting of content published to their site. Even though content creators and their fanbases seem to backlash ever so increasingly, the general public may not be as aware of the problem as the people involved; this is caused by the lack of pressure YouTube is receiving from the media, allowing this platform to get away with this problem. This lack of pressure is also causing a silence from YouTube; they don’t feel the need to have to change what they’re doing, so they are not going to try and alleviate the problem. There has been plenty of complaining from the users of YouTube, but since the general public is not aware of the problem there is nothing YouTube feels they need to change.

The Media

The general media has always been the go-to place to get information about a specific topic for the general public. This allows media companies to have an immense amount of influential power to present information and influence public opinion concerning certain ideas. At the same time, they have the option over what they want to present to the people. How does this pertain to gaming on YouTube?  It’s simple: money. Different sources I have found including CNBC, Forbes, and Mediakix show that the general media has only shed light on one aspect of YouTube gaming, money. For example, Forbes wrote an article about the top 10 highest paid YouTubers (Robehmed and Berg). While this article did not just include gamers, a large part of the story was about Markiplier, an extremely famous gamer on YouTube. They went on to explain his success story, including where he started out, and how much he is currently making (17.5 million per year). This kind of reporting glorifies YouTube gaming as an easy way to make a lot of money fast. The problem with this kind of report is it fails to mention just how hard it is to maintain an audience and continue to be paid for the videos a content creator makes. Just in the first sentence, the article reads “What was once solely the province of superstar athletes and Hollywood A-listers now includes ‘Markiplier,’ one of the world’s highest-earning YouTubers, who hauled in $17.5 million over our 12-month scoring period”(Robehmed and Berg). It takes a very long time as well as dedication and hard work to get to where Markiplier is at, which Forbes does not consider in its article.

Another example of this kind of media comes from CNBC, who focuses on the world of esports and how many gamers “are making millions by 30 and retiring”(Kharpal). Like Forbes, CNBC sheds light on how much money professional gaming can make someone. The problem is that they don’t talk about how if this is being put on YouTube, the gamers may not make the money they deserve from the video. Many competitive games on the market contain very violent and mature content. This kind of content is not monetized by YouTube, not allowing the gamers to make money from the video they upload. This problem has gotten increasingly more difficult to deal with as more and more content is censored and demonetized, which causes gamers to become discouraged and eventually quit gaming altogether. The media could talk about this if they wanted to, but instead they choose to talk about things like money and success, because that is what’s going to make money for the media companies themselves. Therefore, YouTube is not taking any heat because the general public is unaware of this, which is quite upsetting for almost any gamer that is trying to produce content.

The Content Creators (Gamers)

            When comparing the discourse between the content creators and the general media, I’ve noticed that the conversations are quite opposite of each other. While the media likes to put the creators’ success on the spotlight, the gamers have no interest in doing so. In fact, many are very humble when it comes to their success.One example comes from SeanMcLaughlin, AKA Jacksepticeye, saying “it seems like some people who watch the channel seem to care more about the numbers aspect of it more than I do”(Mclaughlin). What the gamers do talk about much more than the media, however, are the challenges they face as gamers on YouTube, as well as what it takes to be a gaming youtuber. JackSepticEye has talked about how gaming on YouTube has changed, and how it is much more difficult for him and many others to put out the same content as they have in the past, as well as get paid for it. He comments that uploading 2 videos a day “affected my day to day life, because I didn’t even have time to go out and get groceries or anything”(McLaughlin). He also talks about the hardships of demonetization; he says how many content creators have had to stick to just one type of game that is allowed on YouTube and go with that, instead of being able to play a plethora of different games of their choice. This problem would be solved if YouTube would allow monetization of all types of games, regardless of what is in it because in the end, it is just a video game. However, YouTube sees no need to do this, as they don’t have any backlash from the media since they only talk about these gamers’ success.

Additionally, other creators such as PewDiePie and Kevin David talk more about what someone needs to do if they want to start a gaming channel. They say what equipment, skill set, and personality is needed to build a successful channel on YouTube. However, PewDiePie had a different opinion in what it takes to be successful on YouTube; he spoke more about how one needs to be different in order to stand out. Kevin David, however, said the exact opposite. He said that one should stick to what works and basically copy what’s already out there (David).He tells viewers “don’t reinvent the wheel. Go out there and look at what the most viewed videos are, when it comes to Apex Legends, when it comes to Fortnite, and remake videos similar to those videos”(David). Either way, it is not nearly as easy to make it as a YouTube gamer because it takes so much time, commitment, and energy to really make it. The lack of information on this topic from the media portrays an inaccurate view of what it’s like to be a YouTube gamer, since they seemingly idolize it as a money pool anyone can get into.

The Fanbase

            The fanbase is what makes the platform of YouTube work. If there weren’t any fans in support of creators, there wouldn’t be any reason to make content. That being said, the fans can’t completely control what becomes popular and what doesn’t, as YouTube’s algorithm pushes certain content and pulls others. However, the fans can give their two cents on the conversation of gaming on YouTube, how it’s changing, or what’s wrong with it. At the same time, there seems to be a split between the fans; some look just at the numbers and how well a YouTube channel is doing, similar to the media. One example of this is from JackSepticEye when he spoke about the drop in views he had. He said the reason for this was because he had went from making 2 videos a day to just one (Mclaughlin). Some of his fans, according to JackSepticEye, saw this cut in views and simply said he was no good anymore and they unsubscribed. This is sad because he loses their support, and it sheds a false reality of his channel. This is similar to the media in that they only look at the numbers and level of success for certain YouTubers, ignoring the reality of the situation the gamers face. This leads to a lack of action from YouTube since there is no pressure from the media.

On the other hand, the rest of them sympathize with the gamers themselves, knowing the hardships they deal with daily. One example comes from a fan named Rafael Rego Drumond. He says “I want to watch videos where the YouTuber is actually having fun. Please take care of yourself first! Mental health comes first!” What this tells us is fans like him care about the people they watch; they don’t want them working as hard as they can to get the top weekly numbers, they only want to see the gamers having fun and being healthy about it. What this quote shows is that the Youtuber mentioned in the quote is not being healthy about his profession since he is having to deal with the hardships of being a YouTuber, which is not at all mentioned by general media, causing a lack of action from YouTube. Another more direct comment about this issue is from a fan called TheWatchingEye, who says “Gaming isn’t dying. Demonetization is killing it. And people being able to claim your content. Combined with Youtube’s horrible system for content creators to fix it.” This quote shows the anger from the fanbase about the actions YouTube has taken on the platform to demonetize different videos, which is one of many difficulties the gamers have to face when creating videos. Since the media has not brought up demonetization or the other problems that gamers face on YouTube, there doesn’t seem to be any change on the platform in the future.

What’s Next?

            Since the media has not yet put forward the many challenges faced by content creators, there has been no change from YouTube; it has almost seemed to get worse. Different problems like demonetization and figuring out what is popular for fans are widely unknown by people outside the gaming community. This needs to change. People need to make the media aware of the problems as well as YouTube themselves so they can do something about it. It might be hard to get YouTube to change anything if it’s just the people within the community talking about it; that is why the media needs to become a useful tool to make YouTube aware of these issues in order to fix it. The media, gamers, and fans are on different pages through discourse on this topic, but in order to solve this problem, everyone needs to be on the same page.

Works Cited

“The 20 Top Gaming YouTubers For 2017.” Mediakix, 31 May 2017, mediakix.com/blog/top-gaming-youtubers-channels/.

David, Kevin, director. How to Start A Gaming YouTube Channel With NO MONEY! YouTube.com, YouTube, 15 May 2019, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhxlP4-kyHM.

Galaxy Breaker. “Game Theory: YouTube Is Ruining Gaming!” YouTube.com, 23 June 2019, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2To2KA0jPQo.

Kharpal, Arjun, and Saheli Roy Choudhury. “Pro Video Gamers Are Making Millions by Age 30 in the Booming World of ‘Esports’.” CNBC.com, CNBC, 3 Oct. 2018, 6:28 AM, http://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/03/esports-pro-video-gamers-are-making-millions-by-age-30-and-retiring.html.

Kjellberg, Felix, director. How To Get Started on YouTube. YouTube, YouTube, 10 Aug. 2017, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVu8OWN90eY.

McLaughlin, Sean. Gaming On YouTube Has Changed. YouTube.com, YouTube, 26 July 2019, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QG0yVN3-ec.

Patrick, Matthew, director. Game Theory: YouTube Is Ruining Gaming! YouTube, YouTube, 23 June 2019, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2To2KA0jPQo.

Robehmed, Natalie, and Madeline Berg. “Highest-Paid YouTube Stars 2018: Markiplier, Jake Paul, PewDiePie And More.” Forbes.com, Forbes Magazine, 3 Dec. 2018, 5:40 AM, http://www.forbes.com/sites/natalierobehmed/2018/12/03/highest-paid-youtube-stars-2018-markiplier-jake-paul-pewdiepie-and-more/#c0b4dce909ac.

Phase 2

The 3 main groups who are discussing the possibility of becoming a gaming youtuber are extremely different in the way each of them sees this topic. They all seem to be discussing different things about it, whether it be how successful someone can get as a gaming content creator, all the way to just how hard it is becoming and maintaining a career in this field. However, there are certain disparities between each group, and in some cases within a group. These groups, which include the general media, content creators, and their fans, all seem to be voicing their opinions about gaming on YouTube. This makes it extremely difficult to find the reality of this career, so what I have found through my research is the true discourse going on between and among these groups, allowing the general public to be able to acknowledge what is really going on and find a solution to any problems that emerge. The specific problem I will be focusing on is the disparity between the creators and the general media. The media likes to talk strictly about money. They produce articles ranking the highest paid content creators or focusing in one a specific youtuber’s success story. They don’t like to talk about what is currently going on in the YouTube gaming community. All the problems revolving the demonetization of videos, the work it takes, and even the money required to start a channel are unheard of when focusing on the general media. However, these problems are all anyone hears about from the creators. They explain how hard it is to stay on top as a creator because of the fast-moving nature of what is popular on YouTube. They explain the difficulties of figuring out exactly what kind of content is monetized and what is not, and how even if they think it should be monetized, sometimes it still isn’t. Still, YouTube itself remains silent about these issues. They don’t feel the pressure from the media to make any changes because the media only likes to talk about the success. The only group I have yet to mention is the fan bases of all the gaming youtubers. Of course, we will not hear from the entire demographic, as some are too young to understand the difficulties the creators are going through. The rest, however, seem split. On one side, the fans feel for the youtubers; they understand the conflict they are dealing with, so they generally talk about the same things as the content creators. They support them in what they do and do their best to help, including sharing videos and liking/commenting on them. On the other side, there seems to be a number of fans that only look at the numbers to determine their success, very similar to the general media. This is observed by the creators who see their fan base and how they lose some fans just because they only care about their current success. The discrepancies about this topic between the general media and the youtubers have created a large disparity, causing an unresolved issue which is yet to be solved.

Kill the DJ Side Quest

Today our team group all met up and created a playlist of songs that reminded us of video games, were in video games that we have played, or even just songs we thought should be in video games. We had a lot of fun creating this playlist and listening to the different songs together. Our playlist mostly consists of songs from video games such as Mario, Zelda, Wii, and more. Everyone collaborated and added a wide variety of music to the playlist. It was interesting to see the different ideas each person had. A common effort of the playlist was definitely nostalgia. When we played the songs they would remind us of games we used to play and bring us back. I would say that the purpose of our playlist is to provide an insight to the games we enjoy playing while also bringing nostalgia to the listener. We had a a lot of fun with the playlist and I think it shows through out song choices!

Elliot: I brought in a wide array of songs, including a song from call of duty, the Nintendo Wii Mii page, a rap song I enjoy listening to while playing racing games, and the Halo theme song. I felt that these showed what I was interested in, and how I enjoy my time in the world of video games. They bring back nostalgia for anyone who played these games.

Katelyn: I chose to add my specific songs to the playlist because they represent my favorite type of games, in a way. They are all very exciting and present an upbeat and incredibly stylistic 8-bit tone. For many, including myself, these tracks represent a certain time in their lives and are filled to the brim with nostalgia.

Jenna: My songs include C418, the Flappy Bird mobile game sounds, Mario Cart’s Rainbow Road theme, and Video Killed the Radio Star by The Buggles. I chose these songs in particular because they all come from my gaming history. I’ve had so much fun playing these games and listening to this music. I always become so happy we I can play these games again.

Augusta: I added songs from old Wii games and also some Mario songs because they reminded me a lot of playing games with my sister when I was younger. I didn’t play a wide variety of games when I was younger, but I spend literally my entire day either playing wii or on my Nintendo with my sister and neighbors. We played a lot of Mario Kart and Mari Party if we weren’t playin Wii Sports.

Whitney: For the games I selected, dragon age has always and will always be a game that has a place in my heart. The song I chose from it was from a really momentous part of the game that I still adore to listen and watch. Undertale is an equally amazing game with its meta and witty humor as well as extremely lovable characters. The game’s music is one of its best parts, so I chose the shop theme from the Snowdin town because of its peaceful and happy tune (and because of the 8-bit style we all know and love).

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