"On the Flip Side"

Discussion Post:

When you think about having your life broadcasted for complete strangers to see one would often have a lot of questions regarding why someone would volunteer to take part in such an overexposure of your life. However, after reading “Camgirls: Celebrity & Community” many of the questions are immediately answered. As I turned the pages I found several things that surprised me and some things that enlightened me. Throughout the book the author discusses the timeline of webcaming and different aspects what went along with the territory of having live camera feeds in one or several parts of your home. It stuck out in the mind at the beginning of the book when the author speaks about her fan base just getting off the ground and the mentioned how “she eventually realized these people felt they were owed some entertainment” (pg. 9).  This got me thinking about the relationship between the audiences and the cam girls. It has to be unlike any other relationship that exists in your life because these are complete strangers that have an active part in viewing your life. Yet the usual dialog that takes place between a cam girl and her audience is typed messages that can be seen in black and white on the screen. At times the cam girls expressed that they forget the cameras are even there and then on the flip side they mention that they “feel exhausted by the constant pressure of the webcam’s eye”(pg. 64).  One part of the book that was unexpected and raw was the part where the author talks about one of the cam girls, Karen (pg.67), that she was studying who was struggling with several emotional and mental issues that had unfolded right in front of the eyes of her audience. Some of these issues became life threatening and in essence crossed some type of line that audiences members didn’t even realize existed. It was raw, real, and live for people to interpret and respond. Why leave yourself so vulnerable? One of the things I realized after reading this book is that when you mention cam girls and having constant webcams lives in one’s home people automatically think of forms of entertainment that come in drama, sex, or action. However, throughout the book the author mentions several different emotional encounters on both sides of the webcams. Just when you think you have something figured out and you can pretty much assume how an experience like that would turn out; it has to be said that there is always the realm of the unknown and all of the different possibilities that can come into fruition, which is what we see the author uncover in this book.

Question for the Author:

Throughout your book you mention several different perspectives and bridges that are formed between the owners of the webcams and the audiences that are viewing the webcams. In chapter 3 you mention how viewers identify with camgirls and how it somewhat common for viewers to feel like they know you (or other Camgirls) from just watching what takes place on screen even though there is no direct relationship or dialog. In addition, I recall in the beginning of the book you had mentioned the start of your efforts and how with your fan base you had “realized these people were owed some entertainment” because you were the “camgirl writing about camgirls”. After reading about the viewers’ perspective and some of your own thoughts, my question falls under my interest to find out about your own perspective. Did you feel you had a familiarized or personal relationship with your viewers even though there was no direct verbal dialog through webcam screenings? (Not including your posts or responses that you typed out to fans) If so, how well did you feel like you knew your fans and how accurately did you believe they perceived you?

Melissa King