Congratulations to Imogen Richards from ADI who has secured funding from Swansea University for a project titled “Let’s Play” Extremism.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

‘“Let’s play” extremism’ is an exploratory research project examining the remediation of gaming videos on YouTube, produced and shared by far-right accounts.

“Let’s play” videos consist of an entire game played start to finish, usually for several hours and over the course of several episodes. The streamer comments on the game and other themes as they play.

Through an interdisciplinary approach, the project investigates the creator culture of Let’s Play videos, aiming to shed new light on how gaming media co-opted by far-right political actors are received, potentially contributing toward greater mainstream engagement with ‘far-right’ – supremacist and exclusivist – political ideals. It also considers the architectural features of the platform, and how Let’s Play videos operate within the political economy of YouTube’s informational environment.