Investigating the Role of Real-Time Chat Summaries in Supporting Live Streamers

Live streaming platforms have become established communication channels where streamers and viewers can communicate through the chatbox. While there are numerous benefits to streamer-viewer interactions, managing messages can become challenging for streamers, especially during high-activity periods. In this paper, we investigate a strategy to supporting streamers that involves providing them with real-time summaries of chat messages. We investigate the feasibility of this approach through a prototype called the Stream Assistant, which provides automated poll summaries, a Word Cloud depiction of chat messages, and an overview of popular Emotes in the chat. We explore the potential utility of this approach in a multi-session study with 10 streamers, where we interviewed participants on their current chat management approaches and perceptions of the Stream Assistant after using it during one of their live streams. Our findings highlight the role of the chat in boosting engagement and audience growth and illustrate how streamers from different domains balance the chat with their activity. Our findings also indicate that many participants were enthusiastic about the Stream Assistant’s lightweight polling, whereas the utility of the other features might depend on the pace of the chat and the intensity of the streamer’s activities.