Motivations and Expectations for Virtual Gift-Giving in Douyin Live Streams

TL;DR

This paper explores the motivations and expectations behind virtual gift-giving in Douyin live streams, highlighting its role in social interaction and content creation within Chinese short-video platforms.

Contribution

It provides insights into user motivations and expectations for virtual gifts in Douyin live streams, a relatively underexplored area in social live streaming research.

Findings

Virtual gifts enhance social bonding and user engagement.

Givers expect recognition and social status from gift-giving.

Receivers view gifts as a form of appreciation and support.

Abstract

Social live streaming services (SLSS) (e.g. Twitch, YouTube Live) combine real-time presentation of user-generated content with social networking features that allow streamers and viewers to interact in a co-present social online setting. Mobile live streaming is now an integrated feature in many social media apps (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat) and has recently advanced as a popular form of content creation on entertainment-based short-video apps, especially in the Chinese market and foremost Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok.