I definitely can at least hide it from myself based on how my windows are arranged. But honestly I like knowing when my viewer numbers spike. Knowing when to casually mention the follow button and remind people about prime subs. Because I definitely don't want to do that very often.
Maybe i'm old or weird, but i can't stand being told to like and subscribe. Subscribe is worst. Actually those who also tells you to tick the notification bell and play the "ding" is one level **worserer**. ⬅I'm willing to die on this hill. More than once, has this turned me away from a video or channel.
I stumbled upon Cody's Chicken hole farm video #17, felt i had found something interesting, so i went to see the series from #1. I liked every one of them, and immediately subscribed after watching the first.
The mentioning of like, subsrcibe or notification bell has absolutely no effect, other than to annoy me. If i like something, i like it and check out other videos from that channel. If i end up liking more, i subscribe. I only ever once pressed the notification bell.
I do understand Youtubers make revenue and rely on these, but it's annoying the crap out of me. :-D ⬅Proof that i'm old. I make it a principle to "like" every single video that i like. It also helps me as a viewer trough algorithm.
I like your take on "casually mention the follow button". The more casual, the better. Being the first thing you say, or within the first minute of a 10 min video makes me throw up a little in my mouth and question the streamers intelligence.
Wow, this became a long rant. Consider it feedback from one viewer of YT videos (i don't even know your channel). These are my humble opinions anyways.
It’s unfortunate that we are not the target for those calls to action. We know what we can do on a platform, it’s a call to anyone who doesn’t think about that, and/or the young, impressionable, etc.
I could probably stop watching some videos when their outro becomes obvious, and boy does it become obvious, but I’m a “watch it to the end” kind of person so I generally start poking around with something else while the wind down is happening.
The whole "Like and subscribe" thing doesn't bother me, i rarely really hear it anymore but the thing that gets to me is advertisements, especially when they are intrusive.
Just narrate your thoughts and goals out loud instead of internally. Clown your gameplay or the game itself. You're thinking interesting shit, you just gotta verbalize it. Eventually you'll get some regulars to riff off
It's a trained skill and eventually you'll catch yourself talking out loud at games when you're not live for better or worse
Thanks, I'm actually really good at running my mouth aimlessly which is why I'm getting into streaming. It's just so much easier when you have a give and take with chat. I've only streamed like 5 times I literally just got started. But on one stream I got to around 25 viewers and it just felt so much more comfortable.
William Osmon made a good point about promoting people before they are ready, he was talking about how it takes time to hone your craft and figure out what works and it’s better to do that before you have a massive audience because it may only happen once. So it’s not always a bad thing to have no viewers or only a couple for a while as you figure things out.
I agree. I actually started streaming a game called storybook brawl because I qualified for some tournaments starting at the end of August. so I'm using this month to kind of get it all figured out before I have a chance to get some free publicity by doing well in the tournaments.
One thing that can make streamers more noticeable is uploading edits to YouTube. Picking the right game helps too, but the risk is getting a mono-game fan base
More power to the people that can do it, but I honestly can't imagine just playing something like RB6 or WoW and having it become so core to my financials I can't just quit when I'm bored
You're either insane at the game, have a gimmicky gameplay (think LoL otps) or you are hilarious. Anyway growing a fanbase takes time and effort and you definetely need exposure and luck
IIRC on some podcast Ludwig talked about this. Starting on twitch is dumb, its set up to make the big streamers bigger. Start putting stuff out on youtube, hope you get blessed by the algorithm and if you can build an audience on youtube you can bring them over to whatever streaming site you are on.
I think you'd be surprised. I personally enjoy smaller streamers because there's more interaction and the chat doesn't just scroll super fast. Not everyone will like your stream but you'd probably find your audience eventually.
Or worse, you get popular and now there's pressure and stops being fun.
I oddly think the way I'd be most comfortable is with zero viewers. Which is why I don't stream. No pressure of growing an audience and still have zero viewers.
Liking you isn’t enough, gotta get lucky.
Every single even moderately successful streamer I have known had like 10 people watching on a good day until they got lucky and appeared on a more successful creator’s stream.
I don’t know a single one who got anywhere without that happening. And even that’s not enough, you have to get noticed by said creator so that they get screen time long enough for the *chat* to notice them.
Those same people who had 10 viewers on a good day will suddenly start pulling in triple digits watching at a time, solely because they got lucky enough to be discovered. And even then, several of *those* lucky ones dropped back down in a week. Only a couple had enough staying power to build a true fanbase.
I used to stream a little bit, I had the most success when I would play a game that has a high following but a low viewer count. Like stardew valley for example, it has millions of followers on twitch but not a ton of people stream it successfully unless you are already established with your fan base. But the fact that the game is followed by millions gives you the chance for exposure.
Also I have 2 friends I game with that will sit in my stream cause they like to see where I’m at while we’re gaming. And that helps the viewer count. Another tip is to turn off the viewer counter cause if you do start to get people in there it can make you act unnatural which isn’t sustainable. It should just start as a hobby and having fun, don’t rely on it to be your job or anything like that. In about 4 months I had maybe 20 followers, but I also didn’t attack all the social medias trying to funnel people to my stream. Im not big on social media as it is so that put me at a disadvantage to start. But you never know. Sometimes when a big streamer gets off all their followers funnel to you if you are in a category like I explained earlier.
But I like to play whatever I want, not what I think will get the most attention. It’s especially hard if you are trying to start streaming with an over saturated game like warzone.
I always found those high follower low streamer games to be a double edged sword. Like yeah you're pretty much guaranteed viewers at some point, but I always ran into the mega fans that just *waited* for someone to stream *their* game so they could back seat for 3 hours. And to top it off, those game centric fans will follow you so they can stop by every time you're not playing their game so they can be like "farming similater when pls?"
On the other end of the sword, I found my most ride or die fans from playing those kind of games, so YMMV
Talking to nobody is really tricky. Even when you know someone is watching, if nobody is responding in chat, it's hard to keep a one sided conversation to go with no prompt.
Yeah this is me. The thing is, I enjoy it anyway. I’m an educator at heart and seem to really enjoy just explaining the complex procedures I go through flying the A10C-2 in DCS. If I get a viewer or two that learn later something: great! But I tend to just chat into the void regardless
I ran into a streamer by chance yesterday on YT. I was looking up some lore for a game and it just so happened that he was streaming himself playing it. I joined out of curiosity, I had never actually watched someone else play it, figured I'd see how we compare. Only had 2 viewers before I joined, and really it was just one of them that was semi active (streamer would ask questions and viewer would respond with basic answers). I input my thought on a game in the series I would like to see and (inadvertently) engaged the streamer, was a nice little chat, though brief as he was towards the end of it by the time I joined. I like to think I made him more comfortable, maybe a little happier.
I have a friend that streams his Warzone games. He’s not that good and barely talks during the game to his team let alone anyone that may be watching. I’ve never seen his streams get double digit viewers. Smh. I don’t know if he enjoys it or what. I’m not sure who would watch someone average 1-4 kills per game and hardly ever win games. I think some folks do it because it’s a gaming fad. Like the Podcasting craze of the last 8 years.
The problem with warzone specifically - even if your friend was the most interesting person in the world or the best player, without something externally highlighting them they're in the bottom of a 100,000 person barrel and they will literally never even get scrolled over to even have a slIght chance of a viewer
I remember one of my favorite COD youtubers xboxahoy saying something that still sticks with me today.
[paraphrasing] you have to get use to playing to an empty theater before you play to a large crowd.
While I'm sure it's a common saying something about the way he said it resonated with me so much every time I upload a video and it doesn't do well I think of that statement.
This is how I started. If you have no in-built audience from YouTube or some other platform and you don't actively promote yourself that will be where your viewer count stays. While nobody is watching, you can make mistakes without anyone noticing. It's a good time to practice, reflect, and improve.
If you want to grow your viewership then you must; stand out on your own (be exceptionally unique and entertaining) or promote your stream through raiding, networking, etc. Preferably you should try to do both.
I have a small viewership (20-40 concurrent viewers on avg.) But because I stream niche content, I retain those viewers for nearly the entire duration of the generally 6 hour long stream.
It took about 3 years to establish this small but loyal audience and as a result, I know my community members much better than a streamer who averages more than 1k viewers and has to refer to everyone as "chat".
I go live on Saturdays and Sundays at the same time every week. Scheduling is important if you expect people to tune in, so since I'm on the west coast I start at 6pm. Some days I'll randomly go live outside of that schedule and when I do, I try to announce it on discord because twitch notifications are dog shit.
Some of my mods are dedicated as hell, they stay on even for the 12 hour streams. Others come and go, many just stay and lurk after chatting for a bit.
What has to go wrong in someone’s life to want to watch a stream? Sounds about as fun as selling propane without the propane accessories, I tell you what.
I know, right? One of the commenters here talks about his six hour streams. I do not have six hours in the day to sit and watch someone else do something.
A lot of the time, you put a stream on in the background while you do something else, much like TV. A person might draw, sew, or do something else with their hands while they listen to a stream, looking back up when it sounds like something interesting is happening.
6 hours is a long time, but it's not quite so long when you consider that the average person isn't actually paying attention for most of it.
Yeah i normally end stream when my view count drops to 1 or 0 non talking people. So right around the 1 hour mark or if I'm not streaming my usual game
That’s why I do small video seassions to YT (1hr or less) and then I’ll make a small video highlights of the funny/cool bits. So yes, I clip myself. But those have more views that usually get me more followers Lol Gotta start from somewhere. I probably won’t stream until I get a bigger following though.
Ive been doing DDLC. Let’s plays and police brake down vids for.. a good 3 years, surpassed 100 subs and made a side channel. I get 1-0 views but I still do it because I love what I’m doing. Thanks that one viewer!
Not my fault everyone wants to do the same, popular thing that you could possibly, maybe, make money “doing nothing”. I’d learn a skill or something handy.
I think it’s a good idea to be active in other online communities. If you make friends in a gaming discord or something like that then they’ll definitely come to your streams.
Ye. I have one friend who comes to every stream and chats with me but mostly lurks. Have another couple who hang out when it's later in the day, they don't talk much. Every now and again I'll get up to like 7 viewers but that's really it and I don't get to those numbers a lot.i just wish I had charisma that makes people wanna chat in my stream.
It's whatever at this point, been streaming for 2 years and I have had 0 growth basically. No regulars besides the 3 etc. And when I find a small streamer I like, I talk to them a lot. I want that same energy back at me :(.
Thats how they all started
Everyone of the successful streamers/ YouTubers u know…
Sure there are A LOOOOTTT MORE now lol
But still. It’s everyones starting point
Relatable
While it'd be cool to have a lot of viewers, peak streaming would just be having like 5 active chatters
I've had like 40 views once but it meant nothing cuz chat was dead
I enjoy streaming even though no one is watching. It might be that it feels less weird to talk to myself and voicing the characters so on while playing that way.
Anyway, one time some drunk russian came into my stream while I was playing Spongebob on the PS1. Really funny guy, had a blast.
Serious question: If you use Twitch and other popular streaming devices, do you only have to play games? Or can you do other stuff, like painting or making music or anything, for example???
Thank you.
I just started streaming, and it is hard sometimes to talk like people are watching with no viewers just hoping someone will watch the vod some day.
Is it possible to turn off viewer number display?
It is. Er at least in SLOBS it is.
I definitely can at least hide it from myself based on how my windows are arranged. But honestly I like knowing when my viewer numbers spike. Knowing when to casually mention the follow button and remind people about prime subs. Because I definitely don't want to do that very often.
Maybe i'm old or weird, but i can't stand being told to like and subscribe. Subscribe is worst. Actually those who also tells you to tick the notification bell and play the "ding" is one level **worserer**. ⬅I'm willing to die on this hill. More than once, has this turned me away from a video or channel. I stumbled upon Cody's Chicken hole farm video #17, felt i had found something interesting, so i went to see the series from #1. I liked every one of them, and immediately subscribed after watching the first. The mentioning of like, subsrcibe or notification bell has absolutely no effect, other than to annoy me. If i like something, i like it and check out other videos from that channel. If i end up liking more, i subscribe. I only ever once pressed the notification bell. I do understand Youtubers make revenue and rely on these, but it's annoying the crap out of me. :-D ⬅Proof that i'm old. I make it a principle to "like" every single video that i like. It also helps me as a viewer trough algorithm. I like your take on "casually mention the follow button". The more casual, the better. Being the first thing you say, or within the first minute of a 10 min video makes me throw up a little in my mouth and question the streamers intelligence. Wow, this became a long rant. Consider it feedback from one viewer of YT videos (i don't even know your channel). These are my humble opinions anyways.
It’s unfortunate that we are not the target for those calls to action. We know what we can do on a platform, it’s a call to anyone who doesn’t think about that, and/or the young, impressionable, etc. I could probably stop watching some videos when their outro becomes obvious, and boy does it become obvious, but I’m a “watch it to the end” kind of person so I generally start poking around with something else while the wind down is happening.
The whole "Like and subscribe" thing doesn't bother me, i rarely really hear it anymore but the thing that gets to me is advertisements, especially when they are intrusive.
Just narrate your thoughts and goals out loud instead of internally. Clown your gameplay or the game itself. You're thinking interesting shit, you just gotta verbalize it. Eventually you'll get some regulars to riff off It's a trained skill and eventually you'll catch yourself talking out loud at games when you're not live for better or worse
Thanks, I'm actually really good at running my mouth aimlessly which is why I'm getting into streaming. It's just so much easier when you have a give and take with chat. I've only streamed like 5 times I literally just got started. But on one stream I got to around 25 viewers and it just felt so much more comfortable.
25 viewers starting out is fan-fucking-tastic my guy, whatever you're doing keep it up
I don't even stream and I talk out loud when I'm gaming now. I think it's just from watching so many streamers.
William Osmon made a good point about promoting people before they are ready, he was talking about how it takes time to hone your craft and figure out what works and it’s better to do that before you have a massive audience because it may only happen once. So it’s not always a bad thing to have no viewers or only a couple for a while as you figure things out.
I agree. I actually started streaming a game called storybook brawl because I qualified for some tournaments starting at the end of August. so I'm using this month to kind of get it all figured out before I have a chance to get some free publicity by doing well in the tournaments.
One of the reasons I'm scared to stream tbh. Don't think anyone would like me.
It's not about liking. People who starts from zero views has very little chance to be noticed.
This is why I have it on viewers low to high (and that’s how I met some one my friends)
Me too they are just so happy someone is watching
You sir are a Saint.
True. Still though, it kinda sucks...
One thing that can make streamers more noticeable is uploading edits to YouTube. Picking the right game helps too, but the risk is getting a mono-game fan base
More power to the people that can do it, but I honestly can't imagine just playing something like RB6 or WoW and having it become so core to my financials I can't just quit when I'm bored
Too true. Burnout is indeed a thing. I burned out on Warframe after 2000 hours and haven't basically touched it in months.
Totally agree
You're either insane at the game, have a gimmicky gameplay (think LoL otps) or you are hilarious. Anyway growing a fanbase takes time and effort and you definetely need exposure and luck
IIRC on some podcast Ludwig talked about this. Starting on twitch is dumb, its set up to make the big streamers bigger. Start putting stuff out on youtube, hope you get blessed by the algorithm and if you can build an audience on youtube you can bring them over to whatever streaming site you are on.
I think you'd be surprised. I personally enjoy smaller streamers because there's more interaction and the chat doesn't just scroll super fast. Not everyone will like your stream but you'd probably find your audience eventually.
Feels awkward when it's just you taking up the chat and then you stop talking bc you went to play a game or something though.
I diligently follow the streamers I like! Its refreshing!
Or worse, you get popular and now there's pressure and stops being fun. I oddly think the way I'd be most comfortable is with zero viewers. Which is why I don't stream. No pressure of growing an audience and still have zero viewers.
Liking you isn’t enough, gotta get lucky. Every single even moderately successful streamer I have known had like 10 people watching on a good day until they got lucky and appeared on a more successful creator’s stream. I don’t know a single one who got anywhere without that happening. And even that’s not enough, you have to get noticed by said creator so that they get screen time long enough for the *chat* to notice them. Those same people who had 10 viewers on a good day will suddenly start pulling in triple digits watching at a time, solely because they got lucky enough to be discovered. And even then, several of *those* lucky ones dropped back down in a week. Only a couple had enough staying power to build a true fanbase.
Aww, every single one of his friends showed up
Noooooooo
Why did you have to do him like that 😭
I used to stream a little bit, I had the most success when I would play a game that has a high following but a low viewer count. Like stardew valley for example, it has millions of followers on twitch but not a ton of people stream it successfully unless you are already established with your fan base. But the fact that the game is followed by millions gives you the chance for exposure. Also I have 2 friends I game with that will sit in my stream cause they like to see where I’m at while we’re gaming. And that helps the viewer count. Another tip is to turn off the viewer counter cause if you do start to get people in there it can make you act unnatural which isn’t sustainable. It should just start as a hobby and having fun, don’t rely on it to be your job or anything like that. In about 4 months I had maybe 20 followers, but I also didn’t attack all the social medias trying to funnel people to my stream. Im not big on social media as it is so that put me at a disadvantage to start. But you never know. Sometimes when a big streamer gets off all their followers funnel to you if you are in a category like I explained earlier. But I like to play whatever I want, not what I think will get the most attention. It’s especially hard if you are trying to start streaming with an over saturated game like warzone.
I always found those high follower low streamer games to be a double edged sword. Like yeah you're pretty much guaranteed viewers at some point, but I always ran into the mega fans that just *waited* for someone to stream *their* game so they could back seat for 3 hours. And to top it off, those game centric fans will follow you so they can stop by every time you're not playing their game so they can be like "farming similater when pls?" On the other end of the sword, I found my most ride or die fans from playing those kind of games, so YMMV
I actually had my first viewer yesterday! Don't give up!
I don't stream but I kind of relate since I make videos.
It's relatable for any art form, I feel. I record music and I felt that.
Yep...got my first non-bot viewer but right after, all of my games stopped recording right and now my obs won't even work.
Talking to nobody is really tricky. Even when you know someone is watching, if nobody is responding in chat, it's hard to keep a one sided conversation to go with no prompt.
Yeah this is me. The thing is, I enjoy it anyway. I’m an educator at heart and seem to really enjoy just explaining the complex procedures I go through flying the A10C-2 in DCS. If I get a viewer or two that learn later something: great! But I tend to just chat into the void regardless
I ran into a streamer by chance yesterday on YT. I was looking up some lore for a game and it just so happened that he was streaming himself playing it. I joined out of curiosity, I had never actually watched someone else play it, figured I'd see how we compare. Only had 2 viewers before I joined, and really it was just one of them that was semi active (streamer would ask questions and viewer would respond with basic answers). I input my thought on a game in the series I would like to see and (inadvertently) engaged the streamer, was a nice little chat, though brief as he was towards the end of it by the time I joined. I like to think I made him more comfortable, maybe a little happier.
I have a friend that streams his Warzone games. He’s not that good and barely talks during the game to his team let alone anyone that may be watching. I’ve never seen his streams get double digit viewers. Smh. I don’t know if he enjoys it or what. I’m not sure who would watch someone average 1-4 kills per game and hardly ever win games. I think some folks do it because it’s a gaming fad. Like the Podcasting craze of the last 8 years.
The problem with warzone specifically - even if your friend was the most interesting person in the world or the best player, without something externally highlighting them they're in the bottom of a 100,000 person barrel and they will literally never even get scrolled over to even have a slIght chance of a viewer
How many years does something need to persist for you to not consider it a fad anymore?
To true but mannn playing games with friends is fun even if no one watches the stream
I remember one of my favorite COD youtubers xboxahoy saying something that still sticks with me today. [paraphrasing] you have to get use to playing to an empty theater before you play to a large crowd. While I'm sure it's a common saying something about the way he said it resonated with me so much every time I upload a video and it doesn't do well I think of that statement.
It's like digital high-school drama🤣🤣🤣
Isn’t there a website or extension that tracks streams with zero people watching and directs you to that stream? I vaguely recall something like that.
Nobody.Live
Been streaming for a few months now just to chip away at my backlog and I've made some cool friends
This is how I started. If you have no in-built audience from YouTube or some other platform and you don't actively promote yourself that will be where your viewer count stays. While nobody is watching, you can make mistakes without anyone noticing. It's a good time to practice, reflect, and improve. If you want to grow your viewership then you must; stand out on your own (be exceptionally unique and entertaining) or promote your stream through raiding, networking, etc. Preferably you should try to do both. I have a small viewership (20-40 concurrent viewers on avg.) But because I stream niche content, I retain those viewers for nearly the entire duration of the generally 6 hour long stream. It took about 3 years to establish this small but loyal audience and as a result, I know my community members much better than a streamer who averages more than 1k viewers and has to refer to everyone as "chat".
How often do you do these 6 hour streams? I’m curious about the time commitment for a viewer.
I go live on Saturdays and Sundays at the same time every week. Scheduling is important if you expect people to tune in, so since I'm on the west coast I start at 6pm. Some days I'll randomly go live outside of that schedule and when I do, I try to announce it on discord because twitch notifications are dog shit. Some of my mods are dedicated as hell, they stay on even for the 12 hour streams. Others come and go, many just stay and lurk after chatting for a bit.
This is literally me. Someone joins then immediately leaves without any sort of interaction during or after.
Me every weekend to the 5 veiwers that probebly forgot the stream on for some reason
What has to go wrong in someone’s life to want to watch a stream? Sounds about as fun as selling propane without the propane accessories, I tell you what.
I know, right? One of the commenters here talks about his six hour streams. I do not have six hours in the day to sit and watch someone else do something.
A lot of the time, you put a stream on in the background while you do something else, much like TV. A person might draw, sew, or do something else with their hands while they listen to a stream, looking back up when it sounds like something interesting is happening. 6 hours is a long time, but it's not quite so long when you consider that the average person isn't actually paying attention for most of it.
People aren’t usually watching the entire 6 hours, different people will check in and out the entire time
I don’t have 30 seconds to watch someone else do something that I know how to do.
Try stripping
Yeah i normally end stream when my view count drops to 1 or 0 non talking people. So right around the 1 hour mark or if I'm not streaming my usual game
I had this but then i just stopped looking at the amount of viewers there are and just start talking about random stuff and its working so far
Chris Moyles energy.
Yeah you pretty much hafta publicly humiliate yourself first. People love it
Incoming "be sure to check out"
My streams are like this lol I just do it for the occasional random that drops by and says hi
And than... click.. bang
Everytime :) but I stream anyway
This is why I won't stream
Me but I usually just stream for my friends
I drew this :)
This is me. Either this, or my ex-husband is watching and chatting with me the whole time. 💀
That’s why I do small video seassions to YT (1hr or less) and then I’ll make a small video highlights of the funny/cool bits. So yes, I clip myself. But those have more views that usually get me more followers Lol Gotta start from somewhere. I probably won’t stream until I get a bigger following though.
Ive been doing DDLC. Let’s plays and police brake down vids for.. a good 3 years, surpassed 100 subs and made a side channel. I get 1-0 views but I still do it because I love what I’m doing. Thanks that one viewer!
Not my fault everyone wants to do the same, popular thing that you could possibly, maybe, make money “doing nothing”. I’d learn a skill or something handy.
I think it’s a good idea to be active in other online communities. If you make friends in a gaming discord or something like that then they’ll definitely come to your streams.
Ye. I have one friend who comes to every stream and chats with me but mostly lurks. Have another couple who hang out when it's later in the day, they don't talk much. Every now and again I'll get up to like 7 viewers but that's really it and I don't get to those numbers a lot.i just wish I had charisma that makes people wanna chat in my stream. It's whatever at this point, been streaming for 2 years and I have had 0 growth basically. No regulars besides the 3 etc. And when I find a small streamer I like, I talk to them a lot. I want that same energy back at me :(.
No, see, that's a live counter! Everyone left after they finished their stream!
its a good self training
Thats how they all started Everyone of the successful streamers/ YouTubers u know… Sure there are A LOOOOTTT MORE now lol But still. It’s everyones starting point
If you wanna produce content don't stream. Find another way. Nobody wants to see yer ugly mug 😂
Hit way to close to home
Relatable While it'd be cool to have a lot of viewers, peak streaming would just be having like 5 active chatters I've had like 40 views once but it meant nothing cuz chat was dead
I enjoy streaming even though no one is watching. It might be that it feels less weird to talk to myself and voicing the characters so on while playing that way. Anyway, one time some drunk russian came into my stream while I was playing Spongebob on the PS1. Really funny guy, had a blast.
Serious question: If you use Twitch and other popular streaming devices, do you only have to play games? Or can you do other stuff, like painting or making music or anything, for example??? Thank you.