Defining the Pillars of Successful Esports Social Media Platforms: Gamerie’s Potential in Shaping the Competitive Esports Industry

Abstract

This thesis examines the competitive esports industry and its deep interconnection with social media, focusing on the structural limitations and fragmentation that shape the current digital ecosystem intended to support its stakeholders. Unlike traditional industries with established developmental pipelines, esports rely heavily on general-purpose social media platforms for talent discovery, career progression, and professional networking. These platforms, however, are not designed specifically for esports, often resulting in disjointed recruitment processes, inconsistent visibility, and financial instability for emerging talent.

The primary aim of this research is to develop a theoretically informed and empirically grounded framework, termed the pillars of successful esports social media platforms, to guide the design and strategic direction of Gamerie, a new esports-specific platform. The study adopts the Uses and Gratifications Theory, particularly Weiss and Schiele’s (2013) adaptation for esports, to examine how competitive stakeholders selectively engage with digital environments (social media, and in-game ecosystems) to satisfy ten proposed gratifications.

Employing an abductive, qualitative methodology, this exploratory research integrates insights from a narrative literature review and 16 semi-structured interviews with three key stakeholder groups; active professional players, aspiring professionals, and esports organization representatives. Data were analysed using an abductive thematic analysis to identify patterns in platform usage, stakeholder preferences, and perceived limitations of existing tools.

Findings revealed a strong reliance on platforms such as TikTok, Twitch, YouTube, Discord, X, Instagram, and game-specific analytics pages, with each one serving distinct yet complementary functions. Findings also revealed that stakeholders value platforms for their utility, algorithmic visibility potential, and ease of integration, but express dissatisfaction with oversaturation, toxicity, inconsistent discoverability, and fragmented data landscapes.

Building on these insights and capitalizing upon Naeem et al. (2023) conceptual model to translate themes into practical concepts, six foundational pillars emerged. Namely, visibility and discoverability; intelligence and interoperability; monetization; simplicity and usability; safety and trust; and operational coordination. Each pillar addresses as well as takes into consideration critical pain points noted during research, offering a strategic blueprint for Gamerie’s design.

The thesis concludes with a comparison between Gamerie’s proposed features and the derived framework, offering recommendations to improve the platform’s alignment with the real-world needs of competitive esports stakeholders. Beyond its practical utility for the platform’s development, the research contributes to wider academic discussions on the professionalization of esports and the design of digital infrastructures. This research also responds to Weiss and Schiele’s (2013) call for continued exploration of their proposed gratifications, twelve years into the future.