In this chapter, analysis focuses principally on asynchronous substrand comments on an Ethan Gamer YouTube video, which are elicited by single main strand comments. Analysis reveals that in most instances, YouTube main and substrand comments interaction has a unique one-way structure, where comments by individual users are addressed mainly to the producer and participant of the video, in this case Ethan Gamer, or to the commenter who posts the main strand comment which elicits the substrand. While adjacency and sequence are disrupted by various software features in the main strand comments, sequentiality is adhered to in the substrand comments where users have access to meaningful written interaction and conversational sequences. However, Ethan Gamer’s replies to commenters’ posts are infrequent. Nonetheless, Ethan Gamer YouTube commenters use the substrand comments tool to connect with both unknown and familiar other users, engaging mainly in talk about gaming hardware, Ethan Gamer’s gameplay, and sometimes to clarify their actual age where adults’ accounts are being used to access YouTube. Nostalgic YouTube substrand posts may also comprise tellings, which suggest commenters’ social orientation through a search for commonality with other users.

This chapter applies principles outlined in previous chapters, especially Chapter 4 Videogame Talk, to understand group written interaction between Ethan Gamer and his fans, as visible on a public YouTube Minecraft gaming session. Unlike games such as FIFA where game objectives and points scoring dominate, Minecraft involves building digital environments, similar to Lego. The game software facilitates both written and spoken talk for the collaborative achievement of game activities, though survival and progression through levels are objectives in most Minecraft contexts. Analysis indicates that affiliative social talk, including reciprocal greetings, positive evaluations and smiley emoticons deployed by game participants promote a supportive gaming environment while also modeling prosocial affiliative gaming behaviours. Teamwork and problem-solving behaviours which scaffold game participants in their game play are also enacted frequently and reciprocally in text chat. These include requests or offers of assistance and advice giving related to the game-in-progress, including coordination of defensive actions as a result of a threat, which may require collaborative team work to progress the game. Both Ethan Gamer’s voice interaction and the group chat interactions promote a supportive prosocial environment which can be shared with all participants, including YouTube viewers.