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Twitch streamers who spend years broadcasting to no one

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Re: Twitch streamers who spend years broadcasting to no one

#51

Post by apeace »

I too have met kids who say they want to be a Youtuber or Twitch streamer when they grow up. It makes me sad.

I love watching Twitch, and watch 5-7 gamers regularly (almost every night). From what I can tell, most of them:

- Are in their mid-20's to early 30's.

- Live with their parents.

- Make just enough from Youtube/Twitch/Patreon/merch to fund their gaming rigs, buy new games, buy their own food, and maybe pay for an upgraded internet connection.

These are people who in some cases have hundreds of thousands of followers on Youtube and each Twitch stream attracts over two thousand viewers. It's not a good way to make a living.

I've asked several of them if they make a full-time living (via Twitch chat), and they've acknowledged the question, but didn't seem to want to really answer it.

A couple of them even make a joke out of it every time their sibling starts torrenting and it slows down their network connection.

If I ever have a kid, I'll support their dream of becoming one of these people. And I'll also tell them they're not living in my house past the age of 18. Figure out a way to make money while doing what you love.

Re: Twitch streamers who spend years broadcasting to no one

#52

Post by draw_down »

The streams I have watched so far are more like extemporaneous comedy shows, with the game as either background noise, or providing something for the hosts to riff on.

I’m sure that for many the game is the actual point, but for me if the hosts aren’t entertaining personalities in themselves I wouldn’t be interested in watching just for the game.

Re: Twitch streamers who spend years broadcasting to no one

#53

Post by [deleted] »

alexikes wrote: post #48
SaltyBackendGuy wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a Twitch consumer (married 'professional' in early 30's). I am a huge video game nerd at heart, so I watch streamers that run games that I am interested in however don't have time to play/master. Often it doesn't involve me sitting down for hours at night (although I am sure there's a huge demographic that does that as well). I usually watch when I am laying in bed before I go to sleep. Same time my wife is usuall…

Isn't there something else you could be doing with your wife?

[deleted]

Re: Twitch streamers who spend years broadcasting to no one

#54

Post by eropple »

satsuma wrote: post #10

every year i participate in the extra life streamathon fundraiser. i usually get a few viewers here and there but for the most part it's just me the whole time. the concept of streaming for nobody is a little disheartening, especially if you're narrating to yourself, but when people come in and i interact for a few minutes it's a lot of fun. i'm looking forward to it next year for sure.

I run a decent-sized Extra Life event (not just me, but friends and usually on-location--one of my sidelines is live video production). It helps to do it with other people. Grab friends, find a couch. If you're having fun live, you'll retain the people who do bounce by.

Our first year we raised $3500, our second $6500. We didn't really try that hard--just a little, and I mean a little, marketing (and some Boston-local guests, but those were fairly small bumps in viewership). Last time around we had a minimum of five viewers who were not us/our program feed/etc. even at like 4AM because we kept turning the crank with Twitter, Facebook, etc.

Re: Twitch streamers who spend years broadcasting to no one

#55

Post by izzydata »

The way people use Twitch makes little sense to me. It might have to do with some age gap, but it doesn't seem like 10-15 years should really make this big of a disconnect. When I think of gaming it is strictly about playing for fun and engaging with friends in a kind of hanging out in a living room together way.

Maybe that is how all twitch channels start off, but once you hit some threshold where the streamer can no longer engage with the audience in any personable way and it becomes more of a job it is no longer appealing to me. It is even as far as off-putting to where I'd avoid it and those kinds of communities.

I occasionally stream to 0-3 people for the fun of it and to talk to people as if we were in a room together as that is more what gaming is to me. It seems that I'm in the very small minority these days though.

Re: Twitch streamers who spend years broadcasting to no one

#56

Post by nostrademons »

Tade0 wrote: post #27
wheelie_boy wrote: post #7

In the far future when food, shelter, and other necessities are basically free, attention will be the last valuable commodity. There will always be a scarcity of attention.

Makes one imagine a very different Star Trek universe.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Callister

Re: Twitch streamers who spend years broadcasting to no one

#57

Post by TheAceOfHearts »

metalliqaz wrote: post #14

What I don't understand about Twitch is how anyone has time to consume this content. When it comes to sitting on your butt and watching something, the traditional TV show is moving to an on-demand model. Twitch is a step in the other direction, where if you faithfully consume content from any Twitch channel, you have to sit down and watch for hours every night when the streamer is online. Who does that? I imagine it'…

I play Heroes of the Storm, so I sometimes open their esports tournament stream and keep it playing on the side. If a match looks interesting I'll pay attention or note the teams that are playing so I can revisit the VOD later.

For big StarCraft tournaments I sometimes tune in to major events as well. You can always watch the VODs later, but it's fun to chat with people during the games, or posting your thoughts while things are ongoing on the appropriate subreddit.

So it's similar to keeping ESPN running on your TV, or tuning in to the Superbowl or World Cup finals.

People sometimes even go out and meet up at venues to watch these tournaments. For example, in the bay area there are a few gaming lounges / bars that show major game tournaments. That can be a good chance to socialize with people who share a common interest with you.

Re: Twitch streamers who spend years broadcasting to no one

#58

Post by com2kid »

apeace wrote: post #51

I too have met kids who say they want to be a Youtuber or Twitch streamer when they grow up. It makes me sad. I love watching Twitch, and watch 5-7 gamers regularly (almost every night). From what I can tell, most of them: - Are in their mid-20's to early 30's. - Live with their parents. - Make just enough from Youtube/Twitch/Patreon/merch to fund their gaming rigs, buy new games, buy their own food, and maybe pay fo…

> and each Twitch stream attracts over two thousand viewers. It's not a good way to make a living.

To contrast with that, I know twitch streamers whose channel averages out at around 300 viewers a time, and who make a very comfortable living. Having a properly run channel that encourages donations, cash and bits, is a huge part of it.

I've seen streamers who pull an easy $200 a day in donations. Add in 500 or so subs, and it isn't too hard to break 6k a month. Not enough to live in the Bay Area, but a really nice salary in most of the country.

Re: Twitch streamers who spend years broadcasting to no one

#59

Post by drawnwren »

SurrealSoul wrote: post #36

I personally know Markipler (youtube, 23M+) as well as follow some other people here and there. There is a youtuber; BloominBanana I subbed around the same time I subbed to Markipler 2010ish, they both do (did?) the same horror gameplay except Bloomin' has about 12 subs on youtube. Mark as I knew him was the king of 'going out there' he was never afraid of marketing, publicity stunts and was honestly humble to his hu…

This applies to every form of attention driven media that I'm aware of. From your start-up to your new Instagram, if you want attention -- you need to hustle.

Re: Twitch streamers who spend years broadcasting to no one

#60

Post by metalliqaz »

TheAceOfHearts wrote: post #57
metalliqaz wrote: post #14

What I don't understand about Twitch is how anyone has time to consume this content. When it comes to sitting on your butt and watching something, the traditional TV show is moving to an on-demand model. Twitch is a step in the other direction, where if you faithfully consume content from any Twitch channel, you have to sit down and watch for hours every night when the streamer is online. Who does that? I imagine it'…

I play Heroes of the Storm, so I sometimes open their esports tournament stream and keep it playing on the side. If a match looks interesting I'll pay attention or note the teams that are playing so I can revisit the VOD later. For big StarCraft tournaments I sometimes tune in to major events as well. You can always watch the VODs later, but it's fun to chat with people during the games, or posting your thoughts whil…

Yeah tournaments I get. Like sports, it's a big event. I was referring mostly to the nightly gamers that were featured in the article.
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