In the year that John Hopstad first descended into the virtual world of Dark Souls in 2013, his goal was to save a dying world. The game is renowned by its violent and demanding gameplay, Dark Souls is a popular game to stream live: if you're going to die hundreds of times, you may as well perish with some digital company to lighten the mood. What Hopstad did not know was that this was the beginning of an even more difficult journey to make connections with others. Hopstad has been streaming his content to almost no one in the past five years, and he's not the only one doing this.
Twitch, the leading live streaming platform where people play games, make crafts, and share their daily lives, draws more than two million streamers each month. The number of viewers increases every year due to the ease it has become to live stream, and also platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and YouTube are also urging users to share and share live stories. By pushing a button on your game console or smartphone, you can share whatever you're doing in that moment with strangers and friends alike. The rise of popular (and profitable) influencers on platforms such as YouTube and Twitch is also making the concept of being an influencer online aspirational. Parents have reported that their kids pretend to unbox toys to a nonexistent audience and teachers say that their students frequently say they'd like to explore YouTubing? as a profession. Yet, when it seems everyone wants to take video or stream live, who ends up watching the videos?
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In a world where everyone seems to take footage or to the live streaming, but who will end up watching the footage?
Making a name for yourself on platforms such as Twitch often means spending some time broadcasting to a small audience. There is a challenge of finding people to join: when you log into Twitch the most prominent streamers are those that already have a large following. While there are tools to find streams that aren't well-known However, those who start out with no audiences built-in from other platforms, or supportive friends and family are left staring at a big, fat zero on their viewership count. This lonely , live stream slumber could last for a few days, weeks, months, sometimes even years, based on the luck of the draw. According to people who have been through it, not having an audience is one of the most demoralizing experiences you'll encounter online.
"It's quite exhausting playing to an empty space all day long with no results," one Redditor wrote on a now-deleted thread on the r/Twitch channel.
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"It's fucking hard to stay optimistic when you're doing this 5 days a week , especially when it feels like nobody drops through," another Redditor wrote in a different thread, after spending months streaming with no one. "I've come to a realization that streaming doesn't work for me."
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"Been streaming on and off for 4years and every time I return, I have weeks where the majority of time, I'm streaming to just person," another Redditor wrote. "It's tough."
Sean Burke, a streamer who was broadcasting popular games like Overwatchwithout an audience It's easy to get carried away when nobody turns up to your show. "It was disheartening at times," says Burke, but he managed to keep live streaming throughout the entire process.
Live streaming, if it's a practice and the person who is behind the camera is what is being produced. Although there are things you can do to improve and practice, your popularity as a streamer is determined by whether or not people like you or find you interesting. "I initially kept internalizing the viewership numbers to mean that I was the cause and that I was not funny enough, or that I wasn't good enough at playing games." After a year of hard work He estimates that he is now getting about 10 viewers concurrently per stream.
Inability to reach an audience is among many of the demoralizing things you'll encounter online.
Experienced streamers typically have an arsenal of talk points to offer assistance to newbies, one I've seen repeated several times across various different social platforms. The way to do it is: be yourself. Have fun. Make a plan and stick to it. Be sure to have a good technical setup. Learn to practice your commentary and then speak your thoughts. Play games that aren't oversaturated by other streamers. You can trick your live stream by using overlays and plug-ins to enhance the experience for the viewer, such as mini-games where fans have to keep their virtual pets alive. Get on social media and tell people about your stream. Join other streams and becoming their friends. The most difficult advice to follow is that streamers who are aspiring need to be active continuously even when no one is watching, just in case someone should show up.
"Think about it like you're taping an interview show, as the host," Neon_Nazgul, a Redditor, wrote in a thread offering suggestions to frustrated streamers. "Sometimes there's a studio audience or you're recording something that viewers will see later." Although this is real, it's also one of the reasons that streaming without an audience so difficult in the first place. It's a solitary practice where you have to pretend there's a person listening, but with no idea of how long it might be before the person shows up or if they ever will.
Broadcasters are able to follow the advice given by experts and not gain much of their following, which is being lost among other hopeful streamers. Many end up using strategies that offer the appearance of success: You can pay bots to populate your stream, thus pushing you up the Twitch directory or join forces with other streamers who are struggling to boost each other's subscriber numbers in "follow4follow" communities. Streamers also create broadcasts in which the sole goal is to let hundreds of viewers beg each other to follow them in conversations. The majority of times, this method isn't working for everyone involved, as nobody is gaining a real viewers, even though the numbers suggest otherwise.
"I used the follow4follow strategy... however, no one ever took the next step and viewed my channel," Twitch user Flummoxkid says. "Nothing other than a few hollow follower. The streamers who cultivated the F4F channels I followed did a 180-degree turn and attempted to become legitimate after they signed a partnership, but they don't even get any views. I was foolish enough to believe that people would actually return the favor."
Despite the often stressful nature of trying to get noticed on Twitch Some users persevere despite the cold indictment of the zero. Their reasons are varied I've spoken to people who seem to believe that sharing games is so straightforward, that they could do it if they're already playing a game. "It's better than being in a dark, dark room with my headphones with no one else around," wrote Twitch user jostlingjoe, in a Reddit discussion about the best way to handle having no viewers.
Many, though, are searching for something different. The streamer I talked to who was without a viewership, MaverickRPDM, says that they streamed live games without a single viewer because they saw it as a form of self-improvement. "Streaming has made me more interesting and sharp-witted, more outgoing and extroverted," MaverickRPDM says. "It has made me feel more at ease being me, and by virtue of that has helped me become more authentic, and more often, and even outside from the streams."
The most important reason for people who stream for long durations without user is the chance to meet similar people."The reason I began streaming was because I was looking for connections with other people," said Richard Szelesy, a streamer who has spent the past few years mostly broadcasting hardcore games to no viewers. Szelesy admits that he was a kid feeling isolated, largely spending time in front of the glow of computers. "[I streamed to] escape the loneliness and depression," he said. Although he's been streaming without an audience, from time to time an unintentional person will pass by and stick around. Even if that person never returns -- and they usually do not -- the tiny spark of light is sufficient to help keep Szelesy moving forward.
"I was kind of trying to find human connections."
"Weirdly in my adulthood,, I have a much easier time connecting with romantic partners than meeting new acquaintances," Szelesy says. " https://coderwall.com/p/slfvhq/four-alternatives-to-streaming-on-twitching don't have a clue where to begin! Do I go up to someone and say "Yo, do you are a fan of 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 spent long hours streaming with no one, says he is a socialist who cares about the minimum wage, and Twitch allows him to discuss his views that he isn't able to do in his real life. "I'm not one for socializing, so I don't seek out opportunities to engage in discussions, like on message boards, specifically things such as politics. I'm fine going through a day without talking or interacting with anyone," Hopstad said. "Twitch definitely helped me try to break out of my introvert character, but I'm beginning to think I'm becoming more comfortable with just being alone for the rest the time."
Although the bleakness without any viewers Twitch may be depressing, some who stick with it are happy that they made it. Many streamers can recall exactly the moment when their view counter was able to go between zero and one.
"The first viewer was surreal," Szelesy said. "Twitch is set up to boost those who are already established, so if someone finds you, they've been looking and thought you might be someone they wanted to watch. While these conversations or views aren't always a source of followers, let alone more profound connections, it's still awesome, because they came across me in my hidden little area and decided to meet up."
After months of having no viewers, finally getting people to view you is nerve-wracking as thrilling. You prepare for it, often for hours ,and now it's time for the show. Someone's on the other side. They're here to help you. What are you doing?
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"I recall my very first viewer and when it happened," said Reddit user TheWhiteLatino69, a streamer who initially began stream on Twitch to help get through the rough times. At first, TheWhiteLatino? broadcasted without an audience to help create the illusion he was hanging out with other people. "I was streaming Subnautica with 0 viewers of course and I glanced at the chat to see a 'hey. It was then that it suddenly hit me, I was not alone anymore, I had some eyes watching me. I became increasingly nervous as the stream continued and I threw myself into conversations with the other viewers. It's one thing pretending that you're talking with someone but another to actually be talking to someone who is actually a human being ..."It did quite the number on me."
Based on conversations I've had with dozens of streamers taking that first plunge when you're not sure who will be watching can feel like throwing a message in bottles into the ocean. Maybe someone will find it. Perhaps the bottle is lost in the abyss. We all gamble in our individual ways when we go out on the internet, whether swiping right on Tinder or using hashtags to search for other people who share the same interests. Maybe we end up feeling more alienated than ever before, or maybe we find people who make everything worth it.
Lolimdivine A Redditor who estimates they had spent eight months streaming with no one, is adamant about the community they've built after overcoming that initial hump.
"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 internet family of sorts. I see these people as my family and not just as just viewers. We welcome people with open arms from all around the world, and remember things about the people who are only able to visit every once in a month. It's amazing that Twitch can bring people together and help them overcome lonely or friends groups." Many streamers I spoke to said that they initially began to become interested in Twitch after finding a personality that entertained them through difficult times for example, grieving the death of a beloved one.
Khryn_Tzu, one of the Twitch streamer who went for months without a single viewer, is coming up on their first anniversary of one year on Twitch. It's an important date, because without Twitch, Khryn_Tzu wouldn't have had a chance to meet a specific viewer.
"Lots of days with 0 viewers. I did my thing, discovered what works, and still am" Khryn_Tzu stated. "Then it took place. There was one audience. And they stayed. They didn't say anything for a couple of streams however they would come back. One night, I needed need to be 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 unfamiliar to me, to stay with me for my content. It was a difficult for me to push."
Although many dream of an audience of thousands, this one person made an impact on Khryn_Tzu's life. "We began to talk, then started talking, and she made sure to start welcoming people and even talking to them when people would show in," says Khryn_Tzu. "Soon people began to stay... And https://www.pearltrees.com/dragoncrush32/item479932540 was more than that. The viewers who come in? They become your friends. Sometimes more. The first time you watched? We're dating now, and I couldn't be happier."
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Most people don't end with a partner on Twitch However, for lots of people, it's not the intention.
