Aggressive Speech Behaviour In The Disсourse Of Game Video Blogs And Streams

Abstract

The article considers the cases of communicative aggression use in the speech of game vifeo bloggers and streamers. Studying the theoretical and practical researches of the Western and Russian scientists, the author of the article reveals the mechanisms of speech aggression, used in the process of creation of the game video blogs and streams content, and defines the reaction of the consumers of this content on the cases of aggressive behaviour in the speech of game video session presenters. The material of the research includes popular Russian game video blogs and streams (N=137). The author draws the conclusion that the average volume of speech aggression cases in the general speech flow of game presenters is quite high (from 15 to 20%), and the frequency of use of mechanisms of speech aggression is also high (more than one time every two minutes). The article defines the mechanisms of speech aggression used by game video bloggers, the key ones being the use of obscene words, emotional and expressive aggressive statements and intolerant speech behaviour; also it describes the reasons of aggressive speech behaviour of presenters. After the survey, the author notices the general negative reaction of consumers on speech aggression and underlines a high degree of the influence of game video bloggers speech on the formation of speech culture of users.

Keywords: Game journalismspeech aggressionvideo streamvideo blogdiscourseintolerance

Introduction

Contemporary Internet environment provides with a great number of opportunities to realize the aggressive speech behaviour in the communicative process of the discourse participants. Such communicative strategies of speech aggression as spam, flood, flame, trolling are frequent elements of communication in chats and forums. The moderation of the mentioned genres of virtual communication allows decreasing the proportion of aggressive speech behaviour, and we should remember that forums and chats exist on the principle free-to-talk, i.e. weakly limited from the point of view of conventional borders of communication with exception of common marginal presentations – race and gender discrimination, extremism, nazism etc.

Online journalism and communicative processes initiated, on the other hand, must exist on a solid foundation of professionalism, excluding many tendencies, character for spontaneous, informal communication. First, a journalistic message is a planned phenomenon, having certain agenda of the discourse. Second, ideas about journalistic ethic and laws in the sphere of mass media automatically destroy a number of possible cases of eccentric speech behaviour, character for the discourse of chats and forums.

Analyzing quite a narrow sphere of journalistic practice in the form of game video blogs and streams and the problem of language and speech in the given form of mass media, we face the absence of sufficient theoretical base in the Russian science. At present the journalistic researches in Russia only state the fact of existence of game journalism. Thus, Tarmaeva (2015) and Kudryashova (2017) underline the status of game journalism and pose the question about the institutionalization of the given kind of practice as a kind of journalistic activity. Supported with the theoretical foundations of game journalism functioning, Oreshkin (2019) considers the genre-making of game editions in details by the example of computer game reviews. The formation of genres of game journalism finds its reflection in the researches of Ivanova (2017), studying “let’s play” as a genre of video blogging. Computer games are considered as the element of content of printed mass media in the works by Kozlova (2016), marking the factors of mentioning entertaining video games in the press and the content component of informational product, devoted to computer games. The problems of professional activity of game journalism, the ethic component of the game journalist work are discussed in the work by Medkova (2018). Game journalism in the aspect of mass communication, interaction with society and as a socially significant phenomenon is studied in the work of Grishin and Inglin (2015). The social significance of game journalism is stated in the work by Tretyakov and Glebovich (2018), underlining the educational potential of game media text. The typological peculiarities of game journalism by the example of single journals (for example, “Igromania”) are highlighted in the works by Bobryshova (2009) and Shpakovsky and Daniluk (2017). The typology of game journalism by the example of Internet sites are studied by Skurlatova (2016).

The Western thought more actively addresses game journalism as the object of research, and the aspect of problem status bears both theoretical and practical character. For example, the work by Amrich (2012) is a table-book for a game journalist, helping to understand not only the essence of game review creation but its sale perspective as well. On the other hand, the works by Foxman and Nieborg (2016) and Tennant (2019) bear the clearly theoretical research approach, describing the game journalism as a complex polynomial phenomenon, possessing philosophical, ethical, cultural etc. foundations.

In its turn, the problem status of speech aggression in the Russian linguistics is sufficient enough. Thus, Voroncova (2016) remarks that speech aggression became quite a popular subject of contemporary linguistic researches. We may watch the recent appearance of a significant number of scientific works on the research of speech aggression in Internet discourse, such as the works by Sumarokov (2016), concerning aggressive behaviour in the press and Internet, and Vasenina and Pronchev (2018), describing the communicative aggression in social networks.

It is the all-aspect consideration of computer games and game journalism and the experience of the Western researches that help to understand the reasons and mechanisms of active aggression of speech behaviour in the discourse of game video blogs and streams.

Problem Statement

Aggressive speech behaviour is character for this format, and it does not matter who is the creator of the content – a professional journalist or am amateur gamer. The reasons of speech aggression in such video blogs are the strong emotions of the presenter (journalist) in the process of playing, focus on the target audience of a certain age, following the manner of communication in the game chat, the desire to create the unique content due to the shock value, and spontaneous plot (in video streams and blogs, dedicated to the game processing). For our research it is significant to define the degree of influence of aggressive speech behaviour on the users of this Internet content and the attitude of game video blogs consumers to the cases of speech aggression of presenters.

Research Questions

• What is the general volume of aggressive speech behaviour in the game video blogs in the general speech flow of the presenter?

• What are the reasons of aggressive speech behaviour and what mechanisms of speech aggression are used by the presenters while creating the content of game video blogs?

• What is the reaction of game video blog content consumers on the clear appearance of speech aggression of the presenter and how high is the degree of influence of aggressive speech behaviour on users?

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of the research is to reveal the mechanisms of speech aggression, used in the creation of the game video blog and stream content, and to define the reaction of consumers of the content on the cases of aggressive behaviour in the speech of the game video session presenters.

Research Methods

The results were received due to the use of such methods as quality and quantity analysis: we analyzed the content of game video blogs for appearance of speech aggression and its endurance in time, and the number of cases of speech aggression use in a video blog. The method of selection is used to choose game video blogs, containing the cases of speech aggression. To find the mechanisms and types of speech aggression we used such methods as the semantic analysis and content-contextual analysis. The descriptive method served as the instrument of description of visual content in the textual form. To know the reaction of users on the content with speech aggression we used the survey and statistic method.

Findings

Basing on the material of the research, including single video blogs and streams as well as YouTube channels of famous Russian video bloggers (D. Manzursky, Crashhot, Roman Bukeev, SeeYouGo and some others), we tried to define the average volume of the aggressive speech behaviour in the general volume of speech flow and to distinguish the tools and techniques of speech aggression used actively by presenters. The material of the research was chosen with the rating of popularity of the Russian game video bloggers among the consumers of the content and with the help of top-10 lists of the Russian sites devoted to computer games. The total analyzed video sessions are 137.

The average volume of aggressive speech behaviour in the general volume of speech flow varies from 15 to 20% depending upon the journalistic content producers. The data were received due to the scheduled timing of game video sessions, i.e. the quality indexes of time spent on aggressive speech behaviour. The frequency of use of mechanisms of speech aggression varies from 6 in the shortest video blog (duration is 08.36) to 18 in the longest one (duration is 30.12). So, the appearance of speech aggression in game video blogs happens to be more than one time every two minutes.

In the course of the research we found out that the tools and techniques of speech aggression used in video blogs and streams include:

• Use of obscene vocabulary;

• Use of jargon, including the game slang;

• Colloquial expressions, vocabulary of low style;

• Emotional and expressive address to the watcher;

• Clichés and stamps of aggressive character;

• Set aggressive communicative strategies and tactics;

• Judgments;

• Intolerant statements.

While surveying the students of the South Ural State University, the South Ural State Humanitarian Pedagogical University and Chelyabinsk State University at the age of 18 to 22 who constantly consume the content of this kind to check the reaction of consumers on such content (the total number of the interviewed is 478), we offered to watch three video blogs. The first one did not contain any cases of speech aggression, the second one had a mild content of speech aggression, the presenter of the third video blog actively used the mechanisms of speech aggression. The results showed that 58% of students answered that they had negative impressions from watching the “aggressive” video blog, 20% of students showed their indifference to the speech content of all the video blogs, 16% of students claimed that the “aggressive” video blog was emotionally full and interesting in comparison with the previous two. The question “Does the speech of game video bloggers influence the formation of your speech culture?” was answered positively by 74% of students; 18% of students answered negatively and 8% of students had difficulties to answer this question.

Thus, we watch the conscious perception of game video blog content by consumers, who think that video sessions influence the formation of their speech behaviou; the majority of the interviewed negatively percept the fact of aggressive speech behaviour of game video blog presenters.

Conclusion

So, we see that aggressive speech behaviour as the negative factor of journalistic content creation occupies quite a large space in game journalism of video blog and stream kind. The speech and language level of such materials does not satisfy the high standards of the products of journalistic activity. Such a phenomenon testifies the deprofessionalism of game journalism in the discoursive practices and the necessity of appearance of quality journalistic product of game video blog and stream kind with low (or zero) level of speech aggression.

The index of average volume of speech aggression in this kind of journalistic practice is quite high, which tells about the low level of speech culture of the content creators. The specter of used mechanisms of speech aggression is variable, unclear for a naked eye and includes both the direct influence on the addressee and the contextual, subconscious one.

The majority of consumers of the game content consider the speech aggression in game video streams to be a problem which needs solution, demonstrating the refusal to watch such video blogs due to dislike or negative feelings. For the majority of the interviewed Internet (video sessions in particular) is the source of the formation of speech culture and, as the result, the danger to obtain the skills of aggressive speech behaviour.

Acknowledgments

The author is grateful to the Fund of Perspective Scientific Researches of CSU for the financial support of the research.

References

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