New communication technologies have enabled politicians to interact and engage with their constituents constantly and unmitigated by mainstream media. Among them, emerging live streaming platforms rise as an essential political communication tool. However, in consolidating politicians' base, these technologies similarly run the risk of polarizing the society, resulting in disruption and healthy development of democracy. This case study describes and examines the role of live streaming platforms and influencers in generating political participation to account for the success of President Tsai Ing-wen's 2020 re-election campaign in Taiwan. This study focuses on the roles of live streaming platforms and influencers in contributing to the growing and alarming global phenomenon of populism and polarization associated with politicians' campaign strategies. This study also discusses whether the employment of live streaming influencers as a viable political communication tool in this campaign may ultimately contribute to the democratic deepening in Taiwan.
TopIntroduction
Live streaming platforms, commonly known as live video broadcasting (Yang, 2016) or social media streaming (Twitch, 2017), are defined by their technical capabilities to “broadcast videos to a remote audience in the instant that it is captured” (Juhlin et al., 2010, as cited in Rein & Venturini, 2018, p.3361). Streaming technology usually refers to “any audio or video content delivered over a network based on Internet protocols” (Kariyawasam & Tsai, 2017, p. 268). The rapid diffusion of live streaming platforms has prompted Nielsen to launch its streaming audience measurement service, Gauge, to monitor consumer television usage behavior (Nielsen, 2021). Streaming usage across all television households has climbed up to 26% of their television watching time (Nielsen, 2021). These platforms also enable live streamers to interact with their fans, followers, and other viewers in real-time through online chat or monetary donation (Yu et al., 2018). Streaming contents can be recorded and archived for asynchronous viewing later (Yang & Kang, 2021).
The rise of live streaming platforms has been found to impact voters’ political behaviors, engagement, and participation (Yang & Kang, 2021; Yu et al., 2018; Wilbert, 2020). As a result, politicians have rushed to capitalize on these technologies as a critical component of their political campaigning activities (Yang & Kang, 2021). For example, Donald Trump has relied heavily on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to assemble and consolidate his loyal fans and followers to win the 2016 U.S. election (Pérez-Curiel & Naharro, 2019). Other candidates, such as the rising star in the Democratic Party, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), from New York, once live-streamed on Instagram to share her home life (Thompson, 2019) to engage with young voters who watch more live streaming services (such as Netflix) and YouTube videos (McAlone, 2017). In 2020, AOC also teamed up with another member of the Squad, Ilhan Omar, to host a streaming event on Twitch; the event ended up as the third-largest in the history of this gaming platform with 430,000 recurrent viewers (Khan, 2021). AOC returned to Twitch in November of the same year to raise $200,000 for charity causes (Khan, 2021).