A message to all streamers
Never forget where you came from and the people that put you there.
I once was a regular driver for Donna Summer. The first time I drove for her, of course I had to carry her luggage to the gate at the airport. I never said anything to her about this as it really didn’t bother me but I had a sense some other driver may have had an issue with it. But all the way from the car to the gate, she would stop and hug every person that said her name. She turned to me and said, “Chris, if it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be where I am today”
Good streamers recognize that the only value they have on their platform is the people that watch their streams. Imagine doing a stream and no one is watching, or maybe one person is watching. Imagine how you feel knowing that you are essentially wasting your time streaming to zero or one person.
Now imagine streaming to 100 people and not recognizing them. In essence, you have turned the tables and are now wasting their time.
Streaming is about inviting people into your home and those people need to be just as respectful as if they are standing in your house with the same gratitude and grace. But this is also a two way street. You too also need to be a gracious and giving host, otherwise your stream will fail.
When you include streamers in whatever you are doing, you are increasing the Camaraderie within the community. You, as a streamer, cannot survive long as a streamer without your viewers. You can be the best streamer in the world, but the second you forget where you started is the second you will lose viewers.
I’ve noticed when streamers get affiliate status, or actually just before that. When they need to hit that threshold to affiliate status. Their attitude is very different. Then, when they’ve obtained that goal, all the sudden they’ve changed. They go into a subversive viewer chokehold because they don’t have to beg for those last 15 follows or hit their sub goals. I don’t blame streamers entirely, a lot of the blame should go towards the platform they’re on. The platform is just as toxic as some streamers tend to be after they’ve hit an achievement.
The goal of a streamer is to be entertaining, inviting, warm and social. If you can’t be all 4, then you have no business streaming at all. Being a streamer is just something you’re born with and not something you think you can pull off because someone else has. The majority of twitch is infected with women in hot tubs talking about random shit and there’s 11,000 people watching, while someone that’s more creative and entertaining is barely able to muster a few views. I just find it fascinating that we as a species tend to go for the “dumbed down” version of humanity. Sure pretty girls are something to watch, but if it isn’t artistic, it’s just a buncha dudes watching a girl swim around in a tub. Think about that for a moment.
Let’s remove the streaming aspect of it and say the girl is on a physical stage, in a hot tub, and there’s 11,000 physical people watching her in the hot tub. Feels and seems kinda dumb don’t it? Yup. So let’s all keep this in perspective. I’m not blaming streamers entirely for this problem. It’s also the people that buy into this garbage that have the most to do with it. Seriously, if the viewership goes up, why should the streamer stop doing what they’re doing if this is what their viewership wants?
Seriously, consider your stream and also reach out to the community and support other streamers that can use the same grace and gratitude people have shown you. When you build others up, we all become stronger.
I follow a few streamers on Twitch and a few on youtube. There are some really good streamers out there that don’t get enough viewership when they should but who am I to say? However, when people are promoting
other low end streamers on higher end streamers, they seem to fall on deaf ears. There are some communities that i’m in and I notice this disconnect pattern all the time, so I just shut the stream off and move to the next.
I’m always looking for underdog streamers to help build their community up. I’m not one for pretentiousness. Actually, I don’t like it at all. I don’t like fake people. I like genuine people that have
genuine interests. If I get the feeling a streamer is being pretentious, I’ll shut it off. I enjoy genuine connections with people and when I notice a genuine disconnect, I’ll do the same.
Streamers, if you don’t use your “power” to help other people, what are you really in it for? Why are you willing to risk everything for more power, when the power you seek is in the people that watch you? Don’t be “that guy” and ignore your community once you’ve hit affiliate status. You’re just going to regress backwards for the sake of power. Don’t forget who put you where you are now. Don’t forget the little people that take their time to watch you and try to engage with your platform. If you are in this for the money, I got some bad news for ya. You are no different than those hot tub girls. Sure, money is nice, but establishing the best community or one of the best communities is something all streamers should strive for. When you forsake your community, you are only cutting your own throat. Never forget this.