4 ms·

They don't pay to watch, they pay to support the streamer. Most streamers have subscriber/donation/cheer notifications appear on-screen in some way. Making par

by iherbig 10y ago

They don't pay to watch, they pay to support the streamer. Most streamers have subscriber/donation/cheer notifications appear on-screen in some way. Making partner on Twitch (which enables subscriptions) requires the streamer to have a consistent number of viewers each time they stream, and they must stream fairly often. It's not uncommon to see streamers with a fairly sizeable number of subscribers any given month.

Trisell 10y ago
There is one streamer I follow who has 6600 active subscribers right now. His subs pay $4.99 a sub. And regularly had 20k+ viewers everyday. https://www.twitch.tv/cohhcarnage https://www.twitch.tv/cohhcarnage
- Scfix 10y ago
  This guy is a good example of a club. He is more akin in building a group of followers that like the same games. He even has a site dedicated in building this community. his stream is basically what facilitates a common identity. The best way to think of it is paying to be a member of a private club to meet people to game with.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
tantalor 10y ago
Alright, I understand that. You suggest it's an ethical decision rather than economic; that streamers deserve the support. But why? I fund a few YouTubers on patreon, because they create content in the traditional sense, e.g., research, writing, filming, editing, etc. That's hard work. Streamers don't do any of that; they literally sit in their basement and play video games all day. Why do they need support? Sure, watching a stream is entertaining, but when I think "supporting a content creator", I have to imagine that my support enables their creativity in some way. Does a streamer with more support produce better content than a streamer with less support? The only thing I can think of is more support might allow a streamer to devote more of their time to streaming.
- Trisell 10y ago
  Full disclosure: I support one streamer. I support him because the streams and let's plays that he does are games that I would like to play. But have very little time to actually play due to work, family and life. My support, along with many others allows him to stream full time, and I am able to enjoy the games and his streams during work, so I get to see the game content that I otherwise wouldn't have time to play myself. And for the cost of a game per year. It's a pretty cheap way to enjoy games that I otherwise wouldn't.
- iherbig 10y ago
  >You suggest it's an ethical decision rather than economic; that streamers deserve the support. But why? I don't suggest any such thing. I think supporting a streamer or not is pretty amoral. It's all about whether or not you feel that you would like to contribute financially to a given streamer whose work you enjoy. As for why they need support? I don't think many people would say that streamers universally "need" anything. It's about whether or not you personally would like to give money to a person who brings you entertainment. You admit that there are a few YouTubers who you support on Patreon. Many Twitch streamers (most that I've seen) are also YouTubers and produce content there based on their streaming. At the end of the day, I think your misconception is that you think of "supporting the streamer" as a transaction in payment for content produced and that entertainment is not content (or in some other way not worth supporting in the same way that traditional "content" is). The question is simple: Is the content entertaining to me? Do I want to show my appreciation for the entertainment? That's all. Personally, I have not subscribed to any Twitch streamers and I don't intend to. I appreciate what they offer, but I do not feel compelled to subscribe. And I don't think there's any moral quandary there.
- detaro 10y ago
  Why people use patreon/twitch/... is an interesting question, and I don't think there is a good logical answer or a right/wrong, as with a lot of entertainment-related spending. Some questions one might ask to challenge your example (but I don't want to imply you are wrong, it's your money you are giving to people you don't have to pay, it's your personal decision what you do with it): Are your example YouTubers directly spending money on research/editing/filming, or are they also "just" investing time? Why is time spending research more deserving of money than time spend streaming if you enjoy the output of both? How does money enable their creativity in ways that are not "less time spend making money in other ways = more time for content tantalor enjoys"? With the creators I support on Patreon, I don't really think or know about how much time they spend on what they are doing (and some of them don't have a day job, so one might argue that they apparently already had enough money and my contribution doesn't enable anything more for me).

by iherbig 10y ago

Trisell 10y ago

There is one streamer I follow who has 6600 active subscribers right now. His subs pay $4.99 a sub. And regularly had 20k+ viewers everyday. https://www.twitch.tv/cohhcarnage https://www.twitch.tv/cohhcarnage

Scfix 10y ago
This guy is a good example of a club. He is more akin in building a group of followers that like the same games. He even has a site dedicated in building this community. his stream is basically what facilitates a common identity. The best way to think of it is paying to be a member of a private club to meet people to game with.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

tantalor 10y ago

Alright, I understand that. You suggest it's an ethical decision rather than economic; that streamers deserve the support. But why? I fund a few YouTubers on patreon, because they create content in the traditional sense, e.g., research, writing, filming, editing, etc. That's hard work. Streamers don't do any of that; they literally sit in their basement and play video games all day. Why do they need support? Sure, watching a stream is entertaining, but when I think "supporting a content creator", I have to imagine that my support enables their creativity in some way. Does a streamer with more support produce better content than a streamer with less support? The only thing I can think of is more support might allow a streamer to devote more of their time to streaming.

Trisell 10y ago
Full disclosure: I support one streamer. I support him because the streams and let's plays that he does are games that I would like to play. But have very little time to actually play due to work, family and life. My support, along with many others allows him to stream full time, and I am able to enjoy the games and his streams during work, so I get to see the game content that I otherwise wouldn't have time to play myself. And for the cost of a game per year. It's a pretty cheap way to enjoy games that I otherwise wouldn't.
iherbig 10y ago
>You suggest it's an ethical decision rather than economic; that streamers deserve the support. But why? I don't suggest any such thing. I think supporting a streamer or not is pretty amoral. It's all about whether or not you feel that you would like to contribute financially to a given streamer whose work you enjoy. As for why they need support? I don't think many people would say that streamers universally "need" anything. It's about whether or not you personally would like to give money to a person who brings you entertainment. You admit that there are a few YouTubers who you support on Patreon. Many Twitch streamers (most that I've seen) are also YouTubers and produce content there based on their streaming. At the end of the day, I think your misconception is that you think of "supporting the streamer" as a transaction in payment for content produced and that entertainment is not content (or in some other way not worth supporting in the same way that traditional "content" is). The question is simple: Is the content entertaining to me? Do I want to show my appreciation for the entertainment? That's all. Personally, I have not subscribed to any Twitch streamers and I don't intend to. I appreciate what they offer, but I do not feel compelled to subscribe. And I don't think there's any moral quandary there.
detaro 10y ago
Why people use patreon/twitch/... is an interesting question, and I don't think there is a good logical answer or a right/wrong, as with a lot of entertainment-related spending. Some questions one might ask to challenge your example (but I don't want to imply you are wrong, it's your money you are giving to people you don't have to pay, it's your personal decision what you do with it): Are your example YouTubers directly spending money on research/editing/filming, or are they also "just" investing time? Why is time spending research more deserving of money than time spend streaming if you enjoy the output of both? How does money enable their creativity in ways that are not "less time spend making money in other ways = more time for content tantalor enjoys"? With the creators I support on Patreon, I don't really think or know about how much time they spend on what they are doing (and some of them don't have a day job, so one might argue that they apparently already had enough money and my contribution doesn't enable anything more for me).