Reddit has been acknowledged in medical journals as one of the most reliable Internet sources of public health information, particularly during the pandemic (Thompson et al., 2022). However, in a paper suggesting that social media sites be included in pandemic response information for the public, Reddit along with other popular social media platforms such as TikTok and Facebook have also been criticised for not enabling enough oversight from recognised medical authorities (Eghtesadi & Florea, 2020). Prior to the pandemic, among a plethora of topics of public interest, research shows that Reddit’s online communities (or subreddits) were already established as safe and anonymous spaces for patients sharing information on personal experiences of physical health conditions (Du et al., 2020);, youth mental health issues (Sit et al., 2022), and substance use behaviour (Bunting et al., 2021). During the pandemic, Reddit was a major source of patient experience information about long-term effects of COVID-19 (Thompson et al., 2022). To the researcher’s knowledge, there have been no in-depth studies published to date that focus on Reddit’s former livestreaming platform.

Current research and discourse around livestreaming and social media focuses on problematic use (e.g., cyberbullying, trolling, Internet addiction, misinformation) and the adverse impacts of social media, digital cultures, and digital design factors. There is very little research exploring the positive impacts and benefits of social media (including livestreaming) on people’s mental, physical, social, and emotional health (Wang and Li, 2020). This research aims to fill this gap in knowledge. The small amount of existing research that focuses on livestreaming during COVID-19 reflects various common livestreaming platforms and usage purposes such as entertainment and gaming (Scerbakov et al., 2022; Vandenberg et al., 2020; Warren, 2020);, personal and company branding (Abidin et al., 2020); and everyday life streaming (Khobra & Gaur, 2020; Ruberg & Lark, 2021). There is some emerging research into livestreaming as a form of maintaining mental health and wellbeing (Gandhi et al., 2021; Johnson, 2019; Xu et al., 2021), most recently in times of social isolation and anxiety caused by the pandemic (Willcox et al., 2021).

In information and knowledge research, boundary objects are understood as abstract or physical artefacts that exist at the interfaces between groups (Huvila et al., 2017). While existing literature has explored boundary objects theory in various contexts, such as communication, evaluation, and knowledge sharing (Huvila et al., 2014; Star & Griesemer, 1989), the application of this theory to digital livestreaming platforms represents a significant gap in the field. This research addresses this gap by aiming to extend understanding of boundary objects by conceptualising livestreamed videos and embedded chat interactions on r/pan as informational boundary objects, defined as tangible yet malleable forms of information that different communities use and interpret in various ways (Miller, 2020). Additionally, this study builds upon emerging research into information experiences on social media (Miller et al., 2019), encompassing complex, multi-dimensional engagements with information that integrate actions, thoughts, feelings, and social-cultural dimensions (Bruce et al., 2014; Hughes, 2014). However, there is a conceptual tension around how information is defined in this digital context. Emerging conceptions of information experience focus on engagement with substantive content such as verbal communications, demonstrations or messages. This study adopts a broader perspective, viewing the digital platforms and their features as informational entities themselves. The technological infrastructure not only delivers information but constitutes the information experience through:

Based on these gaps in the literature, this study addresses two primary research questions:

In this study, livestreamed videos and embedded chat interactions were conceptualised as digital informational boundary objects. Each livestream was viewed as a malleable informational artefact that facilitates collaboration and meaning-making across different communities with flexible interpretations (Huvila et al., 2017; Miller, 2020). This theoretical framework was suitable for analysing livestreaming because these digital artefacts simultaneously serve multiple functions, for example, entertainment content, social interaction spaces, and identity construction and validation sites. As Huvila et al. note, ‘the inbetweenness of the concept of boundary object makes it a valuable analytical device for examining ensembles of people, information, and technology that are ever-shifting and multi-sited’ (p. 1819).

The study developed specific analytical criteria based on Bruce et al. (2014) for identifying information experiences within participant narratives: transformational engagement involving interactions with information that produced changes in understanding, behaviour, or emotional state; multi-dimensional processing encompassing simultaneous cognitive, emotional, and social engagement with information; and, since this study adopts a broader perspective, viewing the digital platforms and their features as informational entities themselves constituting the information experience, contextual meaning-making involving information acquisition and interpretation situated within the specific affordances and norms of the digital livestreaming environment. The identification process was demonstrated through detailed analysis of participant narratives, such as Blake's identity transformation where audience feedback as information processed and shared through vulnerable self-disclosure resulted in transformed self-perception (categorised as Exploring self-identity), and Wax's performance development through positive feedback loops as information that facilitated competence development (categorised as Self-improvement).

Reflexivity in this study involved multiple reflexive practices throughout the digital content data analysis process, including positionality examination involving continuous reflection on the researcher's status as anonymous observer rather than active livestreamer, considering how this position might limit experiential understanding whilst providing analytical distance, It also involved theoretical bias monitoring through regular questioning of how boundary objects theory shaped pattern recognition and whether alternative theoretical frameworks might reveal different insights. Additionally, interpretive transparency was considered through systematic documentation of selection criteria for exemplar quotes, thematic grouping decisions, and the handling of contradictory participants’ interviews and digital traces of interactions and experiences (Pink et al., 2015).

Following Lévi-Strauss's (1966) concept of bricolage as a metaphor, adapted for qualitative research by Denzin and Lincoln (2011), individual participants’ interview data and digital traces were woven together to create collective narratives while preserving the integrity of individual experiences. This process involved iterative cycles of coding, memo-writing, peer consultation, and where possible, member checking to ensure participant voices remained central to the analytical outcomes. The study's validity was enhanced through multiple strategies:

This methodological approach of digital ethnography captured the complex, multi-layered nature of information experiences within social livestreaming environments whilst maintaining appropriate ethical standards for research in digital spaces (Association of Internet Researchers, 2020).

r/pan provided a low-key, semi-anonymous space to discover one’s true self, values, and passions, and to share these with other people, often complete strangers, to help validate their self-disclosure, a key step for establishing a healthy self-identity. One young man, Blake, called r/pan his ‘miraculous lifeline, as it buoyed [his] spirits in difficult times’, having experienced a job loss in the pandemic without a close support system. For forty minutes per day over a several weeks, he livestreamed his self-talk counselling sessions from his car where he was temporarily living in the depths of a 2020 shelter-in-place requirement in an American city. While he streamed his thoughts around what he had learned from the experience on a personal level, he invited interactions from an audience of hundreds across the world: faceless but warm and non-judgemental. Many audience members gave him encouragement to express his emotions through uplifting and empathetic comments in the chat room, sending upvotes and emoticons as rewards embodied by Snoo the alien (Reddit’s mascot) such as ‘faith in humanity restored’, so he could feel their love and relating in real time. This led to his epiphany that: ‘Being alone has allowed me to embrace my self-worth – I’m no longer comparing my situation to others’. Within months, he was back on his feet with not just a new job and place to live, but a new sense of self-worth and purpose, ‘taking a more spiritual not materialistic life path’, and this was reflected in the new group of friends that he met through r/pan.

Blake’s stream interactions with his audience brought to light the importance of self-disclosure (disclosing information about personal epiphanies and insights), in what was perceived as a safe space. The platform was closely moderated to instantly block antisocial behaviour, although these instances were rare on this platform because of the mostly friendly personalities who were using it. Not only were the informative insights shared having an impact on streamer and audience, but the act of self-disclosure itself was paramount to Laurence, a middle-aged single dad who streamed his self-talk about random topics from his living room in an undisclosed location. He was not necessarily feeling socially isolated, but his current social network was not allowing for valued parts of himself to emerge. He mentioned that r/pan gave him a sense of being able to explore his authentic identity which he could not experience in any other social situation: ‘I’m feeling free to totally be myself and say whatever I want uncensored as no one knows me and won’t judge me’.

Another benefit of r/pan was the ability to instantly receive positive attention and validation while streaming personal thoughts and opinions. Carrie, a middle-aged woman, said she streamed her self-talk for attention and to help others in the online community.

Her growing sense of identity was closely tied to replacing past negative attention with positive validation, and to not having to become a famous online celebrity or influencer while still wanting to make a positive difference to other people’s lives through her humble streaming appearances.

Identity discovery through r/pan was important for younger people who were coping with long periods of boredom throughout the lockdown and wanted to use the extended time to connect with what they enjoyed doing either as hobbies or a potential career. As Axel, a young man, put it: ‘I’m not anyone special, just a guy in a garage who found out I really enjoy making cosplay suits’. Axel was not so much concerned with influencing an audience but using the platform to broadcast talking out and enacting the learning process of discovering a special interest he could explore from his garage. This would help to manifest it from dream to reality, which he said he carried into his offline life.

Comedic and quirky monologues were also very common with younger livestreamers. However, unlike comedy that was edited, scripted, and performed on larger livestreaming services, r/pan allowed for impromptu open mic style appearances which laid bare the spectrum of human emotions that come from being socially awkward in front of a live audience of strangers. Eric, one of the more eccentric and spirited personal monologue streamers, enjoyed giving audiences a glimpse into his internal monologue: ‘who I really am, with no filters…’ He also wanted to promote the ideal of a creative, fun and humorous life without doing drugs and drinking: ‘People would like to know what goes through my brain, sober – I’m high on life, I’m high on me, I’m high on you!’.

Some streamers were discovering their identities through telling narratives that broke stereotypes and awareness of other unconscious biases. Streams like this were met with mixed comments in healthy debates, but people who thought differently to what was socially expected were encouraged on this platform. Evelyn, a young woman, talked about combining her strong self-awareness and public advocacy to promote more open discussions on topical social issues: ‘I livestream to share my story of who I am and why I’m here… my opinions and social commentary’.

In most cases, r/pan streamers were not concerned with digital identity or performing for an audience. Rather, they were oriented towards coming together and being with the mixed audiences through the platform to develop an identity in real life and perhaps inspire others to discover their true selves. In many cases, livestreaming on r/pan felt like the boundaries were blurred between streamers and audiences with both having shared equal status, and with visible streamers (i.e. non-celebrity status) being driven by the faceless audience’s chat room reactions. It was the enactment of broadcasting hidden reality narratives around the development and reasons behind their life choices that was an important part of aligning their real lives with their true identities.

r/pan provided a safe and enjoyable, low pressure motivating space to improve a skill and gain confidence (anything from public speaking, languages, music, art, writing, building, cooking ) where one does not have to be a polished persona. This signified the rise of the digital lofi amateur over polished pro. Many people discovered or rediscovered their passions during the COVID-19 lockdowns. As musician Abby put it: ‘This gives me a way to grow into a better version of myself’. Wax, a young man, was learning to play guitar and gain experience performing for people, who offered positive gentle feedback though the chat, by livestreaming his practice sessions from his bedroom. He said it was ‘a way for me to gain positive feedback to get better, while not feeling intimidated that I have to be professional or famous before I can show myself’. Not having a large following and being able to stream comfortably was a huge motivator. Nori, a young woman, had started painting as a hobby since the pandemic began:

Social livestreaming usually means turning broadcasts into a conversation. This is not always the case with some wishing to broadcast without conversations, revealing a need for self-talk to boost self-motivation, without the expectation that someone will react. A young woman artist, Sora was battling art block and practicing her skills, broadcasting her live sketching process with sporadic self-talk. While many were lurking in the chat room she did not interact with them, being selective with who she responded to in the chat. She mentioned she was ‘content to spend most of the stream time making art and drawing in positive energies just from the act of showing up here regularly’.

Some recognised r/pan as a way of coping to simulate normalcy, practicing a skill while socially isolated to prepare for life, or inspire healthy lifestyle changes when ‘returning to normal’ at the end of the pandemic. Others recognised livestreaming as a new skill set that could help them to adapt to the new norm. Tina, a middle- aged woman, used quarantine time ‘to practice my public speaking skills and to gain confidence in front of a camera for my remote working job’. Similarly, Danielle, a young woman, valued the opportunity as she could ‘directly interact with audiences to practice my social skills and small talk, which I don’t do much of offline due to being introverted and isolated’. Nikola, a middle- aged male video producer from a non-English speaking country: ‘While in lockdown I like to practice my English with you, I want to keep my English levels good when I work professionally with native English speakers’. Paula and Beck, two friends loving in an American city, streamed a quirky talk show to practice ‘the new way of socialising - the new norm… to be live with people right here, right now, feeling the love and encouragement from people giving us fun awards’.

r/pan was a space for both streamers and audiences sending and receiving random positive vibe and emotional states: informational energies for relaxation and beating boredom in isolation. The act of livestreaming highlighted the comforting non-verbal aspect of streaming anything from live Nintendo video gaming with old school nostalgic commentary to cute animals to music jams, live memes, and amusing mixes. Will, a young man, livestreamed for no reason other than: ‘Anyone can do it. This is not anything special so come chill… I’m not gorgeous or have exceptional talent but I feel appreciated by people who resonate with me anyway’. Sunny, a young woman, was having fun answering random questions saying she enjoys receiving an instant positive feedback loop. Kurt, a young man, was not trying to become a comedian but enjoyed making people laugh with random humour and collectively make everyone feel better. ‘We’re coming together, I’m doing something, you’re doing something and we’re both confused!’. Mick, a young man expressed the need to be randomly entertaining to decompress after a long hard day: ‘This is my way of relaxing and chilling with you guys, sharing conversations, politics, playing music, having random funny moments… just relaxing and debriefing after work’.

r/pan enabled vicarious live traveling around the globe and cultural learning for many who were unable to travel due to COVID-19 restrictions. Many travel streamers broadcasted the views on their walks around busy streets in Asian cities, or hikes around tropical islands in the Pacific or nature parks in the US. Additionally, during the pandemic travel streams had similar themes of showing what altered life looked like in different parts of the world. Kacey, a middle- aged woman livestreamed to share her experiences as an expat for the benefit of others: ‘I’m an American living abroad in Thailand livestreaming and documenting my walk through a busy city and making cross cultural comparison commentary, such as differences in cooperating with face mask wearing’. Pete, a young man who worked in tourism, livestreamed the empty ghost town tourist attractions like Sydney Harbour to capture lockdown life and its impact on tourism and economy. Matt, a truck driver, was livestreaming while driving across America to experiment, to stay awake and to be entertained while driving cross country: ‘I love to share this beautiful picturesque road that I drive down’.

r/pan was experienced as an everyday mental health booster; free counselling using self-talk; and telling stories while knowing people present are listening and not judging. Faith in humanity was restored with some transitioning to a more spiritual, non-materialistic life path. A young man, Tyler, livestreamed to ultimately turn his life around:

Ann, a middle-aged woman, said she wanted to share her struggle with mental health as ‘it’s never visible and we should break the stigma of talking about it. I live in a place where it’s never talked about and I want to connect outside of where I live’. Similarly, as a way of establishing a collectively shared empathy, Bonnie wanted to livestream ‘to vent emotions about experiencing a lesser known health condition for others who may be going through something similar’. Paola, a young woman with a clinically diagnosed mental health condition, livestreamed her typical day getting therapy and answering questions from the audience who were a mix of patients and people interested in mental health. Patients listening to the stream commented around the discussion that they ‘benefited from watching her typical day getting treatment and listening to her personal experiences trying various forms of treatment, with more awareness of their choices’. This personal knowledge that was generated from a livestream of her typical day, exposing people to her lifeworld, was empowering people to seek help while being informed in ways that circumvented traditional sources of medical information.

Others were livestreaming as a way of coping with increased feelings of anxiety and loneliness during the lockdowns. A young male porter, Thomas, who felt isolated in his job in a large American city, live streamed the moments of his typical day as a way of socialising and to calm him when he felt anxious. Sam, a middle- aged man, livestreamed his self-talk therapy from his home to deal with what he described as ‘common problems from Covid such as increased loneliness and anxiety. It helps clear my crazy thoughts’. Vince, a young man, was feeling bored and isolated in his bedroom and decided to livestream reading from his book collection as a way of dealing with insomnia: ‘It made me feel connected to everyone else who was going through this’. Bailey, a young woman, livestreamed her daily walk to get her ‘out of her head and connect with others’.

Streamers commonly mentioned that in any other era, r/pan would be seen as a social taboo and frivolous waste of time. This meant that participants perceived it as more socially acceptable to spend time distant socialising during the lockdown period, when it was described by participants as ‘a lifeline for many in isolation’ and ‘a great way to socialise and I like having company when I’m all by myself’. Many questions arose around this experience: Have our perceptions on distant socialising changed since the pandemic? Has it been normalised to be socially acceptable? Would this normalisation continue into the post-pandemic future? As one young man, Tyler put it:

Amelia, a young woman, livestreamed about the inclusive nature of distant socialising on r/pan:

Shyla, a young woman live streaming from a city in India, enjoyed distantly socialising with people not only from India but also from other countries and cultures: ‘Conversations get unexpectedly interesting and I never thought there would be much interest in the kind of things I am into, in a fairly mainstream kind of arena’.

All six forms of livestreaming therapeutic information experiences on r/pan share foundational elements that create their therapeutic quality. Each form emerges from r/pan's capacity to provide a safe, low-stakes environment that was described as ‘low-key, semi-anonymous’, ‘closely moderated’, or simply non-judgmental, reducing social risk and vulnerability. Unlike mainstream platforms that focused on polished content, all six forms emphasise authenticity over performance, with streamers consistently mentioning they don't need to be professional, famous, or polished. This therapeutic value stems from self-expression without entertainment or influencer expectations. Additionally, each form involves connection through vulnerability, whether it’s Blake's car-based therapy sessions or artists sharing creative struggles, where therapeutic benefits emerge from willingness to be seen in an unguarded state. All the forms also feature reciprocal information exchange, involving dynamic flows of validation, feedback, and connection that suggest therapeutic quality is inherently relational and interactive.

The six forms differ across several dimensions: temporal orientation ranges from process-oriented approaches focused on present-moment states (positive vibing, exploring self-identity) to outcome-oriented emphases on progression toward specific goals (self-improvement, mental health connections); focus varies from internally directed personal understanding to externally directed connection with others and the broader world; and information flow direction spans from self-revelatory sharing to skill demonstration, experience-sharing, and mutually interactive exchange. However, what unites all the forms is witnessed authenticity, the therapeutic value emerging from being genuinely seen and accepted while being true to oneself. This creates a unique informational environment where information becomes transformational rather than transactional, sharing simultaneously enables self-discovery and other-connection, and vulnerability becomes a source of strength. Even seemingly outcome-oriented forms derive therapeutic value from authentic sharing and connection processes, suggesting that the information experience itself serves as the therapeutic mechanism. This analysis reveals that r/pan's therapeutic quality emerged from creating conditions where information sharing could be simultaneously self-affirming and other-connecting, a rare combination in digital spaces typically designed for either performance or consumption.

This study also has significant implications for understanding livestreamers’ informational and mental health and wellbeing experiences, and the impacts of humane social livestreaming in the context of the global livestreaming ecosystem, social change, and regenerative post-pandemic futures. This study suggests that many people experienced their time in lockdown as a call to work on themselves and to ensure their daily lives were more in tune with their purpose. The therapeutic information experiences of exploring self-identity, self-improvement and making mental health connections represented ways in which people attempted to heal and develop resilience from adverse effects of the pandemic. The information experiences of positive vibing, vicarious wanderlust and inclusive distant socialising represented short-term coping mechanisms from the restrictions and isolation imposed by the pandemic restrictions impacting their normal lifestyles, while also contributing to overall resilience.

This study shows that the experience of livestreaming was an essential part of the self-discovery process. Previous research points to streamers crafting an image based on their understanding of self and social identities. However, this research shows that the acts of self-talk, particularly self-disclosure of information in the form of personal and experiential narratives such as epiphanies or monologues (Nabity-Grover et al., 2020), connecting with personal passions and authentic self-expression are essential to the discovery of self-identity as a journey unfolding, leading to a greater sense of wellbeing (Bailey et al., 2020). Enacting the learning and creating process in a blurred boundary (i.e., equal status) real time co-presence with an audience of kind strangers, whose chat comments and reactions sometimes shape streamers’ narratives, and whom streamers feel they might inspire, are also essential to the discovery of self-identity. This experience was helping streamers align their reality to their true self, allowing them to be the change they wish to see in the world. r/pan also gave people a live space to practice skills in front of a supportive audience who they could also connect with on a similar plane without fear of (perceived) failure (i.e. not being highly rated, no large followings) and boosting motivation by giving them an opportunity to show up, not primarily for the audience but for themselves, to help develop a skill to its full potential, both online and offline.

r/pan also enabled shared empathetic mental health connections where people shared information in the visual contexts of their place of therapy, showing how they experienced recovery and consequently, promoting greater awareness of patient needs and experiences beyond the traditional, breaking stigmas and empowering alternatives in the health experience. For some, the calming act of livestreaming in a low stress environment provided anxiety relief. Positive vibing was experienced as sharing feel good energies and emotions (including nostalgia) through non-verbal communication as a form of co-presence of being in the moment and relaxing with others, reminding people we are all in this together. Streamers provided viewers with vicarious wanderlust experiences involving a surrogate co-presence of cross-cultural learning and comparison, in an attempt to cope with pandemic related restrictions. This was effective for people to be informed about cultural differences in pandemic responses, and also to meet their travel bug adventuring needs and inspire future dreams to explore the world. As Li et al. (2022) found, information sharing and entertainment are identified as the most important motivations of travel livestreaming. The cross-cultural aspect of livestreaming co-presence, where one streamer could reach across worldwide audiences in one broadcast session, promotes inclusive distant socialising, resulting in deeper connections affecting people beyond their normal everyday life social sphere. This unique connection was often experienced as ‘a higher quality social experience than going to the local bar’.

In this study, digital boundary objects can be conceived positively as a form of human resilience building through digital wellbeing. Digital wellbeing may be defined as having the ability to engage in healthy and positive digital behaviour and to use technologies in ways that help us thrive. Categorising livestreaming videos as informational boundary objects reflects the notion that the experiences during the pandemic involved cross-boundary responses, and, in some cases, started to break down barriers between people such as race, social status or geographic location. Boundary objects facilitate bringing people together so that moments of collective transcendence, human spirit, and consciousness are heightened (Vandenberg et al., 2020). During the time spent observing the r/pan livestreaming cultures, the researcher witnessed almost utopian moments where public live videos could draw in an inclusive range of people from across different backgrounds, to listen, comment, question, and generate a peaceful, compassionate discussion. In some cases, this was already happening on related subreddits but in a text-based discussion board format. The real time livestreamed format gave people a sense of immediacy and realism, especially during lockdowns when people had much less physical contact with others. Even after social distancing measures were eased, participants remarked that inclusive moments like this were hard to come by, since the pandemic has been linked to increases in social isolation (Pietrabissa & Simpson, 2020) and social inequalities (Ryan & Nanda, 2022).

This study positions the livestreaming platform itself, combined with active livestreams and experiences shared between livestreamers and audiences, as an informational boundary object that actively shapes and constitutes the information experience. The research expands the definition of information to include social learning through community participation, real-time co-creation of meaning through interactive chat, non-verbal emotional exchanges, and embodied experiences like vicarious travel, advancing the field toward a more comprehensive understanding of digital information engagement.

Significant theoretical innovations are introduced by identifying therapeutic qualities as a legitimate dimension of information experience, intertwining information science with health and wellbeing research through six therapeutic information experiences: exploring self-identity, self-improvement, positive vibing, vicarious wanderlust, mental health connections, and inclusive distant socialising. This study addresses the role of a real-time, interactive platform and introduces the concept of witnessed authenticity, where therapeutic value emerges from being genuinely seen and accepted while remaining authentic. The research employs digital ethnography as a methodological innovation, using livestreaming videos and chat rooms as units of analysis to capture the dynamic, processual nature of information experience.

This research demonstrates how information experiences involve simultaneous engagement with content, social norms, community dynamics, and technical affordances as an integrated phenomenon. The study reveals how the medium fundamentally shapes the message through real-time interaction affordances and participatory information creation where audiences actively contribute to the informational environment. These advances suggest underexplored intersections for future research, including greater attention to platform-specific affordances, investigation of therapeutic dimensions across different contexts, development of methodologies for studying dynamic information experiences, and exploration of how synchronous versus asynchronous orientations create different types of information experiences in increasingly complex digital environments.

The study has limitations including its focus on a single platform during a specific historical moment, and the cessation of the studied platform in 2022. Future research directions include investigating similar experiences across different platforms and cultural contexts, conducting longitudinal studies on lasting mental health impacts, and examining how specific design features contribute to therapeutic outcomes.