5 Deadly Sins Of Streaming On Twitching

In the year that John Hopstad first descended into the virtual world of Dark Souls in 2013, his purpose was to save a decaying world. Streamingliveacademy is known by its violent and exacting gameplay, Dark Souls is a game that's popular to live stream: if you're likely to die hundreds of times, you may even end up with a digital corporation to brighten the mood. What Hopstad did not realize was that this was the beginning of a more difficult process to make connections with people. Hopstad has been streaming to virtually no one over the past 5 years and he's not the only one doing this.

Twitch is the world's most popular live streaming platform on which people play games, create crafts, and showcase their everyday lives, is home to over two million broadcasters every month. This number is growing every year due to the ease it is to live stream, and the platforms like Facebook, Instagram and YouTube are also urging people to share and watch live videos. By pushing the button on your gaming console or smartphone you can share what you're doing at the exact moment with your friends and strangers alike. The rise of popular (and profitable) influencers on platforms like YouTube and Twitch has made the notion of becoming an online influencer to be a dream. Parents have reported that their kids pretend to unbox toys for a largely untapped audience and teachers say that their students frequently say they want to pursue YouTubing as a profession. However, when everyone seems to want to take video or stream live who is actually watching the content?

When seemingly everyone wants to capture footage or record a streaming live, which one will end in watching the video?

Making a name for yourself on platforms like Twitch typically requires you to broadcast to absolutely no one. There is a challenge of finding people to join When you sign up to Twitch, the most visible streamers are those that already have a large following. While there are tools to find less well-known streamers however, the majority of streamers who start out with no audiences built-in from other platforms, or supportive friends and family are left gazing at a large, big zero on their viewership count. This lonely , live stream slumber can last anywhere from several days, weeks, months, sometimes even years, based on how luck plays out. According to those who have experienced it, not having an audience is one of the most demoralizing experiences that you will experience on the internet.

"It's kind of exhausting playing to an empty room all day long without any results," one Redditor wrote on a thread now deleted on the r/Twitch channel.

"It's extremely difficult to stay positive when doing this 5 every day when you feel like there's no one passing through," another Redditor wrote in a separate thread after having spent months streaming with no one. "I've come to a realization that streaming just isn't working for me."

"Been streaming intermittently for 4+ years and everytime I come back , I go through weeks during which the majority of the time, I'm streaming to just person," another Redditor wrote. "It's tough."

Sean Burke, a streamer who was broadcasting games of the day like Overwatchwithout any viewers He says it's easy to take things personally when no one shows up for your broadcast. "It was a bit depressing at times," says Burke, but he managed to keep live streaming through it all.

If live streaming is an option and the person who is behind the camera is the one who produces. While there are many things you can practice and improve the quality of your live streamer comes down to how many people love your style or find it fascinating. "I initially kept internalizing the viewership numbers to mean that I was the cause, that I wasn't funny enough, that I wasn't skilled enough in games." After a year of hard work, he estimates that he is now getting approximately 10 viewers at a time per stream.

The lack of an audience is one of the most demoralizing things you'll encounter online.

Veteran streamers often have an arsenal of talk points on-hand to help out newbies, one I've seen repeated over and over again across the social networks. It goes like this Be yourself. Enjoy yourself. Set a schedule and stick to it. Make sure you have a well-constructed technical set-up. Learn to practice your commentary and then speak your thoughts. Play games that aren't oversaturated by other streamers. Make your live stream more interesting with plug-ins and overlays that enhance the experience for viewers, such as mini-games in which viewers must keep a virtual pet in the game. Get on social media and let people know about your stream. Connect with other users' streams and becoming friends with them. But the toughest advice to follow is the idea that aspiring streamers need to be performing at all times, even if nobody is watching, just in case someone happens to show up.

"Think of it like you're filming a talk show and you're the host," Redditor Neon_Nazgul posted in a post offering tips to streamers who are frustrated. "Sometimes there's a studio audience or you're recording something the audience will watch later." Although this is true, it's also a part of what makes streaming without a large audience so difficult in the first place. It's an isolated practice where you have to pretend there's a person listening, but with no idea of how the time will be until someone is there, or if they ever will.

Broadcasters may follow all the conventional advice and still not build an audience, if they are lost in a sea of streamers who are also hopeful. Some turn to strategies that offer an appearance of success: You can pay bots to stream your stream, which will push your profile higher in the Twitch directory, or collaborate with other streamers who are struggling to increase each other's subscriber count in "follow4follow" groups. Streamers even create broadcasts where the sole goal will be to have hundreds viewers beg each other for a follow in their chat. More often than not it doesn't work out for anyone in the process, since no one has a chance to gain a true viewer , even though the statistics suggest otherwise.

"I tried the follow4follow technique... But no one ever did the next step and watched my channel," Twitch user Flummoxkid says. "Nothing but a bunch of hollow followers. Even the streamers who created the F4F channels I followed did a 180-degree turn and tried to get legitimate once they signed a partnership, but they don't even get any views. I was naive enough to believe that people would reciprocate the favor."

Despite the psychologically demanding nature of trying to be noticed on Twitch there are some who persist despite the harsh criticism by the twenty-nine. Their reasons are varied Some of the people I talked to believe that sharing games is so simple, they should play it while playing games. "It's more enjoyable than sitting in a dark space by myself in silence," wrote Twitch user jostlingjoe, in a Reddit discussion on how to deal with having no viewers.

Some, however, are looking for something more. The streamer I talked with who was without a viewership, MaverickRPDM, says that they kept live streaming games without a single viewer because they saw it as a form of self-improvement. "Streaming has made me more interesting and quick-witted as well as more social and outgoing," MaverickRPDM says. "It has made me feel more at ease being me and as a result has made me be more me, more often, in the absence within the confines of the streaming."

The most important reason of people who stream for extended periods of time without a viewers is the chance to meet like-minded people."The reason that I started streaming was because I was looking for connections with other people," said Richard Szelesy, a streamer who has been mostly broadcasting games with no viewers. Szelesy admits that he was a kid being lonely, and mainly sitting in front of the glow of a computer. "[I streamed ] to escape the loneliness and depression," he said. Although he's been streaming with no audience, from time to time an errant person will drop by and then stay. Even if the person comes back -- and they often do not -- the little spark can be enough to continue to keep Szelesy running.

"I was kind of looking for human connections."

"Weirdly as an adult I am more comfortable in making romantic connections than meeting new friends," Szelesy says. "I don't have a clue where to begin! How do I approach a random person and go "You like Dark Souls?'" Twitch also gives a way to eject himself from disgruntled people. "[It's] way easier to just call out or remove the kind of people who seem cool, but say racist/sexist/homophobic/transphobic/etc shit."

Hopstad who has been spending many years streaming to virtually nobody, claims that he's a socialist who believes in the minimum wage. Twitch gives him an outlet to express his opinions which he can't do in his real life. "I'm not one for socializing, so I don't seek out opportunities to engage in discussions such as message boards, especially stuff like politics, I'm comfortable being able to go through the day without having conversations or interfacing with anyone," Hopstad said. "Twitch certainly has helped me to break through my hermit character, but I'm beginning to think I'm getting more comfortable just being alone for the remainder of my life."

Although the bleakness of no viewers on Twitch may be depressing However, those who remain with it are glad they succeeded. Many streamers actually remember the exact moment their view counter was able to go all the way from zero.

"The first time I watched, it was almost like a dream," Szelesy said. "Twitch is set up to boost those who are already established which means that if someone comes across you, they've been looking and thought you might be the kind of person they would like to follow. Although these conversations or views don't always lead to even follows, let alone deeper relationships, it's usually awesome, because they found me in my secret area and decided to get together."

After months of having no audience, finally having an audience to watch your show can be a bit nerve-wracking as thrilling. You prepare for it, often for several hours ,and now it's time for the show. Someone is on the other side. They're here to help you. What are you doing?

" browse around here recall my very first time watching and how it went down," said Reddit user TheWhiteLatino69 A streamer who initially started streaming on Twitch to get through the rough times. At first, TheWhiteLatino broadcasted without an audience to help make it appear like the appearance of hanging out with other people. "I had been streaming Subnautica for zero viewers and then I glanced over at the chatroom to look for the occasional 'hey.' When I saw that it suddenly came to me, I was no longer alone and I was surrounded by eyes on me. I was becoming more anxious as the stream went on and I nervously chatted with the other viewers. It's one thing pretending you're talking to someone and it's a different thing to actually talk to a human being ... It really threw a wrench into me."

Based on my conversations with numerous streamers and streamers, taking that first step when you're not sure anyone will be watching could be like throwing a message in a bottle into the sea. It's possible that someone will come across the bottle. Perhaps the bottle is at the bottom of the sea. Everyone gambles in their individual ways when we reach out online, whether swipe right on Tinder or using hashtags to search for others with the same desires. Perhaps we feel more lonely than ever or perhaps we meet individuals who are able to make anything worth it.

Lolimdivine A Redditor who says they've have spent about eight months streaming to no one, is adamant about the community they've created after overcoming that initial bump.

"My regulars and I always discuss our lives, and we all know stuff about each other," lolimdivine said. "It's as if we've got our own little internet family, honestly. I see these people as my friends and not viewers. We welcome all who join us from all around the world, and we recall things about those who can only stop by every once in a month. It's truly amazing that Twitch can do for people's loneliness or friend groups." A lot of streamers I talked to stated that they first became interested in Twitch when they discovered a person who entertained them during a tough time for example, grieving the death of a beloved one.

Khryn_Tzu, an Twitch streamer who went for months without a single viewer, is coming up on their one-year anniversary on Twitch. It's an important date, because without Twitch Khryn_Tzu would not have had a chance to meet a specific audience.

"Lots of days, with zero viewers, I just doing my thing, and learned the best practices, and I am" Khryn_Tzu wrote. "Then it happened. There was one audience. And they were there for the entire time. They didn't say anything for a couple of streams and then they came back. Then one night I had the urge to get AFK so I put on Metallica. It was a good choice of music. I love Metallica. It was such an exhilarating sensation to have someone unknown to me with me for my content. It had been a hard to convince."

While many dream of having an audience of thousands, this one person ended up making all the difference in Khryn_Tzu's story. "We began talking, and then began chattering, and she was sure to start welcoming people and speaking to them whenever people showed up," says Khryn_Tzu. "Soon people began to stay... Then it became so much more than that too. Who are these viewers that show up? They are your friends. Sometimes, they become more. That first person you saw? We're now dating and I couldn't be happier."

The majority of people won't end in finding a romantic partner on Twitch, but for plenty of people, it's not the goal.