Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

What Is "Speedrunning?" Industry, Community, Identity, Riley Scott Kelfer

Senior Scholar Papers

What drives interaction in online contexts? How do “internet communities” form, and how do they generate a sense of interpersonal closeness? I address such questions through a cultural analysis of video game “speedrunning,” an emergent online community that some commentators have noted for its remarkable commitment to compassion and mutual advancement. While several game scholars have explored the narrative and temporal implications of the live-streamed and recorded speedrun, few have directed their attention to the ways in which video game speedrunning, as a community of dedicated practitioners and spectators, is informed by historical precedents and contemporary social processes. I place …