Navigating the Virtual Realm: Exploring Harassment of Female World of Warcraft Streamers on Twitch

• In Event: The Virtual Wild West: Managing the Risk of Victimization in Cyberspace

Abstract

In 2023, over 7.3 million channels streamed on Twitch each month, with an average of 93,000 channels streaming concurrently and over 2.4 million concurrent viewers (https://twitchtracker.com/statistics). As gaming and live streaming continue to increase in popularity, concerns about online harassment have surged. For streamers, harassment can take many forms, to include toxic behavior from live chatters, hate raids, harassment on social media, and even real life stalking. For example, in July 2023, a man was sentenced to two years federal imprisonment for stalking and harassing a female World or Warcraft (WoW) streamer he first met via chatting in her Twitch channel (Schlepp, 2023). While the gaming industry has historically been male dominated, it is now estimated that half of all gamers are women (Chen, 2023). Through qualitative interviews, this paper seeks to highlight the experiences of female WoW streamers with toxic behaviors and harassment as well as the ways in which they manage the impact of toxicity directed at them. This research strives to contribute to the literature on online harassment and offer suggestions for making the streaming community more inclusive.

Authors

• Rhonda R. Dobbs, Tarleton State University

• Rebecca Morrow, Tarleton State University

• Courtney Waid, Auburn University at Montgomery