Digital co-waiting: humour, camaraderie and emotional flux during Fortnite’s Black Hole event

Purpose This paper aims to examine the emotional dynamics of digital co-waiting during the Fortnite Black Hole event, where players collectively endured 37 h of suspended gameplay. It reframes consumer waiting as a socially enriched and emotionally generative experience rather than a passive, individual frustration. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts a multimethod approach, integrating constructivist grounded theory with computational sentiment analysis of chat messages captured from YouTube livestreams. Data was analysed using open, axial and selective coding to identify emotional responses, while sentiment trajectory analysis was used to track affective fluctuations across time. Findings The analysis reveals that digital waiting is an oscillatory emotional process. Rather than a linear decline in satisfaction, it encompasses humour, speculation, impatience, distraction and community bonding. Emotions fluctuated over time, with humour and shared uncertainty acting as buffers, suggesting that waiting can be affectively generative when experienced in co-present digital spaces. Research limitations/implications The findings are based on an exceptional event, limiting their generalisability. Future studies should explore digital co-waiting in broader contexts to refine the framework. Practical implications The study highlights opportunities for designing digital waiting experiences that leverage social interaction and affective engagement, turning waiting into a value-creating experience. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is among the first to examine prolonged, synchronous consumer waiting in digitally mediated environments. By introducing the concept of digital co-waiting, it redefines waiting as a performative, affectively complex practice, challenging traditional models that emphasise duration and individual dissatisfaction.