Dr Brandon Harris

Model of "Cycles of Antagonism", in which "Creator A" and "Creator B" participate in never-ending antagonistic skirmishes. These often take the form of Creator A making a claim about Creator B in their content, then Creator B replies to these claims in content of their own. Since both creators are paid for content creation, these cycles of antagonism are likely to continue forever until external measures are taken- like a platform banning one of the creators, or one of the creators deciding to retire.

I'll be discussing the state of political discourse on Twitch. Creators develop on- and offline harassment campaigns or "smear" attacks on rivals. I use "cycles of antagonism" to explain the cyclical nature of smear campaigns
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3pm EST/12pm PST- VOD later

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Headed to #ICA25, excited to share 2 presentations w/ yall at the #DebatingCreatorCulture precon— talking how anon hate creators and NIL athletes do influencer work. Looking forward to seeing old friends and making new ones, say hi 👋🏻

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Was recently quoted in CNN on the resurgence of the r-word as a slur by figures like Joe Rogan, Musk, and Ye. Cruelty is good for business in the creator economy but audiences need to reject it to make it less profitable

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Thanks Scottie Andrew!

Me and @bowmanspartan.bsky.social wrote on trad'l sports franchises experimenting w/ esports & gaming content for the Beyond Sports Initiative. icir.ua.edu/bsi/ NFL channel incorporated athletes to create new entertainment genre, NBA made esports tourneys but struggled for viewership

In a new paper for Convergence, @pamogranite.bsky.social & I examine the challenges Instagram & TikTok creators at risk of de-platforming face when holding onto communities, arguing that these spaces' turn towards entertainment & selling is producing fatigue: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

we talking about twitch again in games and culture class! teaching some of my favorite readings and doing twitch field trips in class... last week we found a musician playing guitar, class asked me to request "mr brightside" in chat, streamer said we had poor taste... poggers

Infographic - Event name: Research Luncheon Who: Dr. Jack Lipei Tang & Dr. Brandon Harris When: March 21, 2025, 11 AM - 12 PM Where: Ph 466 or Zoom

Excited to share ongoing work w/ The University of Alabama College of Communication & Information Sciences family this Friday. I'll present some current research on inconsistent platform governance on Twitch and how that benefits androcentric hegemony in gaming and esports communities.

@tsingleton.bsky.social so great to connect with you at IACS this weekend!

Headed to Chicago for the @IACSacademic conference, presenting ongoing work on professional sports leagues that are experimenting with esports and content creation w/coauthor @bowmanspartan.bsky.social — see my Beyond Sports Institute folks soon 🙌🏼

5 more days to submit to the @icagames.bsky.social precon on toxic masculinity! All disciplines are welcome because this is a problem that affects all of us, not just the games industry. Join us :) icagames.org/2025preconfe...

a blackboard with red hearts and the words happy valentine 's day on it ALT: a blackboard with red hearts and the words happy valentine 's day on it

Roses are red, violets are blue, plz keep applying to our tox masc precon In June!

Submissions due Feb 28, all disciplines & fields encouraged to submit and join our conversation on how tox masc is a threat to the media industries and beyond

icagames.org/2025preconfe...

New publication! 🚨 Together with my brill team (@taylorannabell.bsky.social & @cgoanta.bsky.social), we explore how parents turn kids into commodities on TikTok, diving into the nuances of *kidfluencers* & raising legal questions about platform governance. See🧵 journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1...

Digital journalism names 8 articles as finalists for outstanding articles of the year.

Thrilled to be included in this list of finalists from @djeditorialteam in 2024. Go check out @MaxwellFoxman @william_partin and I's article on Twitch streamers doing news work on the platform - innovation and collapsing boundaries while producing news for fans

doi.org/10.1080/2167...

Flyer for International Communication Association preconference, “Draining the Swamp: Toxic Masculinity as a Threat to the Media Industries and Beyond” When: June 12, 2025 Where: Denver, CO Questions and submissions: icagameprecon2025@gmail Submissions due Feb 8th

We’re all still waiting for ICA submission decisions, but a reminder that ICA GSD is hosting onsite precon on toxic masc in gaming & media industries June 12. Submissions due Feb 8th icagames.org/2025preconfe...

Very excited for my games & media course this semester! Lots of exciting readings, guest speakers, activities, playing games, and thinking about how games are made/what they mean and represent in our culture. Hope my students are ready for me to absolutely nerd out on this every week

Watching the beast games show on Amazon and I think Jimmy has finally transformed/emerged into a villain.. clip of him screaming “find you someone money can’t buy” while forcing ppl to compete for 5mil in his own squid games seems like he’s taken a turn for the worst

a woman wearing a cowboy carter sash rides a horse Alt: Beyoncé wearing a cowboy carter sash rides a horse, artwork from the cowboy carter album

Get your “Netflix is crashing, they bad at livestreaming” memes ready for the Beyoncé halftime show with a football game sandwiched around it next week

Streamer Amouranth is latest example of ‘Twitch thot’ harassment problem Amouranth says she’s suffered harassment, doxing threats

I didn't think I would get to include "Twitch thot" in my manuscript but here we are... misogyny in streaming isn't v. creative. You can swap "topless meta" or "hot tub meta" and achieve the same article today
www.polygon.com/2018/6/27/17...

Dad

Screenshot of historic “Charlie the Unicorn” video with the three unicorns.

Almost 20 years of unsupervised internet culture straight to the dome and look at me now…

@combatwombat1.bsky.social WELCOME BROTHER

Yes!! Love when my friends publish amazing things, congrats on publication day, yall have been working on this for a while and it’s out in the world now!

Twitch policy update: in line with that approach, starting today, using the term “Zionist” to attack or demean another individual or group of people on the basis of their background or religious belief against our rules. We recognize that “Zionist” and “Zionism” also refer to a political movement. Using the term to refer to the political movement, whether in a supportive or critical way, does not violate our hateful conduct policy”

safety.twitch.tv/s/article/An...

More inconsistent governance from twitch, by banning streamers from using Zionist as personal critique, while allowing streamers to critique the political movement & policies… destiny, Ethan Klein, asmongold organizing off platform complaint campaigns to censor all

Starting so soon! Making some coffee now 🙌🏼

Infographic- CCSN Chats: Academic & Industry Insights Into Creator Culture Featuring: Brooke Erin Duffy, David Craig, Jess Rauchberg, and Michelle Beaver

First of many #ccsnchats is tomorrow! Live discussion at 9am pt/12pm et. www.eventbrite.com/e/ccsn-chats...

Thank you for drawing attention to him. Very few people have received perma bans from twitch, but the man peddles so much hate while posing as some respectable centrist. Happy to talk more if you ever write a story on him

It is a tough balancing act and manually posting the same thing on both gets tiresome, but I like the sentiment that being present in the town square is important— we should consider ways we can keep each other safe even there

Yes! So glad to get your fashion advice & snark on both apps

Glad it’s helpful for you! My PhD/MA are in media studies, but it’s an interdisciplinary field! Lots of folks from comm, media studies, sociology, gender and race studies, etc. the world is your oyster 🙌🏼

YouTube video by UAlbertaArts ✨ Meet Christine H. Tran! ✨ (Playful Horizons Speaker Series)

Now Live™️ (and asynchronous)! My interview with UAlbertaArts’s Playful Horizons featured speaker series about the past, future & artificial present of ✨🔮 livestreaming✨

🔮 youtu.be/gB7lhBAzE6M?...