Making Creator Headlines · Page 6
Streamer Becomes So Famous the Category Needs Stretching
· New York time
Joe Bartolozzi argues that Darren “iShowSpeed” Watkins Jr. has become too big for the Streamer of the Year category in which they are both nominated. Bartolozzi told his audience that iShowSpeed has crossed into celebrity territory and should be judged outside that race. It is an argument about classification, not an announced change to the award. The distinction matters because creator careers increasingly span formats and audiences. A label that accurately describes how someone began may become less complete as the work and public profile expand. Awards prefer tidy boxes. Careers have a habit of climbing out of them while wearing the name tag. The result is a wonderfully modern question: can someone become so successful at a category that success becomes evidence against belonging in it? There is a substantive issue beneath the ceremony. Categories can compare similar kinds of work, or they can reward the largest overall cultural presence. Those are different tasks, and an audience may reasonably care which one an award is attempting. For creators, the debate also reveals the limits of job titles. A person can still stream after becoming a celebrity. The internet has not yet installed a turnstile that requires famous people to surrender their original equipment.
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