Between Humor And Hostility: A Reception Analysis Of Verbal Aggression In Windah Basudara’s Schoolboy Runaway Game Livestreams
Abstract
This study examines how viewers of Windah Basudara interpret his verbal agression in Schoolboy Runaway game live-stream by applying Stuart Hall’s Reception Theory and McQuail’s Uses and Gratification Theory. Using qualitative methods with semi-structured in-depth interviews of nin informants and thematic analysis supported via Nvivo15, this research reveal that the viewers intrepretation are are vary and included in all three major interpretive positions. The negotiated positioned with the most informant reveal that viewers accept verbal aggression by Windah as humour within contextual limits, influenced by entertainment gratifications and community interactions while rejecting his vulgar toxicity. Few informants in dominant-hegemonic positioned where viewers fully normalize aggressive language as authentic performance within the gaming culture, driven by their enjoyment of aggressive expression and familiarity with Windah persona. Small informant in oppositional position revealing that viewers reject Windah verbal aggression based on their parental, religious and moral values, prioritizing gameplay interaction over aggressive commentary. This research findings demonstrate that viewers interpretation is coconstructed through their moral framework, cultural knowledge, viewing motivations, and participatory live-stream environment and particularly live-chat dynamics. This study also extends Reception Theory by revealing how technical infrastructure intensifies collective meaning-making in digital spaces, while reinforcing the role of gratification dimension in shaping tolerance toward verbal aggression act in Indonesia gaming culture. Keywords: Reception Analysis, Verbal Aggression, Gaming Live-stream, Uses and Gratification Theory, Digital Communication
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