Ask HN: Is making a living off YouTube/Twitch viable? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Is making a living off YouTube/Twitch viable?

#11

Post by sharemywin » Mon, May 10, 2021, 4:05 PM UTC

Something I didn't see mentioned. Are you any good a gaming and/or are you entertaining?

what would make you unique?

Re: Ask HN: Is making a living off YouTube/Twitch viable?

#12

Post by markus_zhang » Mon, May 10, 2021, 4:18 PM UTC

I think it's viable, but most people won't make it. Living off youtube is the same as living off indie gamedev or indie prop trading. The good ones grabbed millions and millions of cash while others (95%) can barely pay bills.

Re: Ask HN: Is making a living off YouTube/Twitch viable?

#13

Post by mattbrewsbytes » Mon, May 10, 2021, 4:35 PM UTC

I'll assume you mean streaming video game content. In that case, probably not - as in the probability of making a living level of income is not very probable. It is time-sensitive content, content that does better is timeless.

I would argue most video game content expires in a week to a couple months. The exception being content geared towards general strategies, building (e.g. minecraft) or complex content that requires sequences of activity, secrets, etc.

An example in the woodworking realm is the Shop Nation channel on YT. He detailed in one of his videos the income streams he has and I think he is in six figure territory for revenue. He has by-products of selling plans to build things, amazon links for tools, etc.

That is an example of timeless content. If you strike up the hobby and want to build shop cabinets, etc. you could find his videos 5 years from now and they would still be relevant.

Re: Ask HN: Is making a living off YouTube/Twitch viable?

#14

Post by kbelder » Mon, May 10, 2021, 6:03 PM UTC

I wonder if it's more or less likely than making a living as a professional athlete. Or movie star.

It happens, but you should probably have a pretty solid plan B.

Re: Ask HN: Is making a living off YouTube/Twitch viable?

#15

Post by dyeje » Mon, May 10, 2021, 6:54 PM UTC

It's the same as any other content based profession. The top X% make a good living, everybody else makes peanuts and are trying to claw their way to the top.

Re: Ask HN: Is making a living off YouTube/Twitch viable?

#16

Post by Trias11 » Tue, May 11, 2021, 6:51 AM UTC

Relying on any platform you don't control is a bad idea.

Using it temporarily for what it's good at is great.

Relying on it and hoping for it to support you on a long term is not a good idea.