I found out one of my best friends was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. Before finding out, I was about to write a post about how to become "successful" with Twitch streaming, and what Twitch means by "success" is having as many viewers as possible.
I felt that particular post will be instructive and hopefully helpful to those who want to gain more viewers. I can't comment on Partnership since I haven't achieved it, but I have a sense of what anyone can do to increase viewership.
But, in reality, a legitimate metric of being successful on Twitch is if you're having fun and not being burned out, even if you have 0 viewers and 0 followers. If you have 1 or more viewers, and you're making that person happy, building a loving community, then you are a successful streamer.
I noticed being burned out maybe going into the 3rd month, but what kept me going is that I've been gaining viewers after each stream. It was an adrenaline rush to see the growing numbers, as well as very ego-boosting. I must admit that this ego-boosting was thrilling, but again, it gives you a false sense of pride, because in actuality, it really doesn't make anyone "better" just because you can get more viewers.
Your sense of pride really comes from being satisfied with life, such as having loving relationships, accomplishing real goals in your career, and in the example of streaming, enjoying your streams and, if you have at least 1 viewer, creating a loving community where people are kind to each other.
Indeed, it goes against every single spiritual and religious truth that you're a worse person than someone else because you have less concurrent viewers. Writing and reading this, if I don't see how ridiculous and laughable this is, then I haven't been living.
At any rate, having around 18 average concurrent viewers after a little less than 3 months of streaming may sound paltry, but in the world of Twitch, that's pretty good. My first broadcast was July 25, 2018.
So, even as I was burned out due to following a strict schedule of Sun, Mon, Wed, Fri from 1 to 5 PM, around the 2.5 month mark, I continued to stream because I didn't want the numbers to drop, and I just plugged through.
The other reason that I continued with this schedule is because of the mental effort and demands of streaming, I had to be healthy to perform adequately. I was exercising regularly after 3 years of being sedentary, getting up as soon as the alarm clock rings, and eating more fruits and vegetables and whole grain (mostly steel-cut oatmeal).
But after I heard about my friend, my wanting "success" in getting Partnership is so irrelevant. Of course, I knew that intellectually, but not emotionally. I fooled myself into thinking that I didn't care about this artificial success, though clearly I did. Only now, with my friend suffering, do I know deep down how absolutely absurd I was in taking streaming this seriously.
I was doing as much as possible to have a "successful" (i.e. more viewers) channel, such as having a regular schedule, networking by meeting other streamers and communities, keeping in touch with your viewers through Discord. Even then, what I was doing was only the tip of the iceberg. I haven't even used Twitter effectively, or getting to know the game developer's communities (usually Developers have Reddit communities), since doing these steps would make people know about you, curious about your channel and watch you.
When I do go back to streaming, it makes more sense to me to stream early in the mornings, being a morning person, rather than wait around until 1 PM, doing networking which is exhausting. I believe I chose 1 to 5 PM to target the UK/EU communities but again, the first rule is to stream when it's best for you.
In other words, morning times will force me to be efficient by getting out of bed as soon as the alarm clock rings, doing all my chores and exercises, and then jump right into streaming, instead of doing networking.
Cutting back to 1 to 3 times a week might be helpful, streaming fewer hours than 4 (maybe 2 hours at most) - again, it's best if you want Partnership to stream at least 3 times a week for at least 2 hours, but thankfully that's not my focus anymore.
Finally, I refuse to do any networking. It's just so refreshing to watch one stream at a time, and really enjoy the streamer's and the chat's company, rather than flipping through 8 streams at once!
Even though I only streamed less than 3 months, I do know what it takes to get more viewers, but it's very time-consuming and so exhausting. I will write a post about it, as there are so many people who want "success" in streaming in terms of growing viewership numbers, but as of now, it's not for me.
In conclusion, my friend's serious illness brought me to my senses that my relationships are more important than anything else.
The How of Happiness Review
I felt that particular post will be instructive and hopefully helpful to those who want to gain more viewers. I can't comment on Partnership since I haven't achieved it, but I have a sense of what anyone can do to increase viewership.
But, in reality, a legitimate metric of being successful on Twitch is if you're having fun and not being burned out, even if you have 0 viewers and 0 followers. If you have 1 or more viewers, and you're making that person happy, building a loving community, then you are a successful streamer.
I noticed being burned out maybe going into the 3rd month, but what kept me going is that I've been gaining viewers after each stream. It was an adrenaline rush to see the growing numbers, as well as very ego-boosting. I must admit that this ego-boosting was thrilling, but again, it gives you a false sense of pride, because in actuality, it really doesn't make anyone "better" just because you can get more viewers.
Your sense of pride really comes from being satisfied with life, such as having loving relationships, accomplishing real goals in your career, and in the example of streaming, enjoying your streams and, if you have at least 1 viewer, creating a loving community where people are kind to each other.
Indeed, it goes against every single spiritual and religious truth that you're a worse person than someone else because you have less concurrent viewers. Writing and reading this, if I don't see how ridiculous and laughable this is, then I haven't been living.
At any rate, having around 18 average concurrent viewers after a little less than 3 months of streaming may sound paltry, but in the world of Twitch, that's pretty good. My first broadcast was July 25, 2018.
The other reason that I continued with this schedule is because of the mental effort and demands of streaming, I had to be healthy to perform adequately. I was exercising regularly after 3 years of being sedentary, getting up as soon as the alarm clock rings, and eating more fruits and vegetables and whole grain (mostly steel-cut oatmeal).
But after I heard about my friend, my wanting "success" in getting Partnership is so irrelevant. Of course, I knew that intellectually, but not emotionally. I fooled myself into thinking that I didn't care about this artificial success, though clearly I did. Only now, with my friend suffering, do I know deep down how absolutely absurd I was in taking streaming this seriously.
I was doing as much as possible to have a "successful" (i.e. more viewers) channel, such as having a regular schedule, networking by meeting other streamers and communities, keeping in touch with your viewers through Discord. Even then, what I was doing was only the tip of the iceberg. I haven't even used Twitter effectively, or getting to know the game developer's communities (usually Developers have Reddit communities), since doing these steps would make people know about you, curious about your channel and watch you.
When I do go back to streaming, it makes more sense to me to stream early in the mornings, being a morning person, rather than wait around until 1 PM, doing networking which is exhausting. I believe I chose 1 to 5 PM to target the UK/EU communities but again, the first rule is to stream when it's best for you.
In other words, morning times will force me to be efficient by getting out of bed as soon as the alarm clock rings, doing all my chores and exercises, and then jump right into streaming, instead of doing networking.
Cutting back to 1 to 3 times a week might be helpful, streaming fewer hours than 4 (maybe 2 hours at most) - again, it's best if you want Partnership to stream at least 3 times a week for at least 2 hours, but thankfully that's not my focus anymore.
Finally, I refuse to do any networking. It's just so refreshing to watch one stream at a time, and really enjoy the streamer's and the chat's company, rather than flipping through 8 streams at once!
Even though I only streamed less than 3 months, I do know what it takes to get more viewers, but it's very time-consuming and so exhausting. I will write a post about it, as there are so many people who want "success" in streaming in terms of growing viewership numbers, but as of now, it's not for me.
In conclusion, my friend's serious illness brought me to my senses that my relationships are more important than anything else.
The How of Happiness Review
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