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If they feel burnout then they should just stop making videos for awhile or move on to doing something else.

wgerard 8y ago
> stop making videos for awhile It has a huge detrimental effect. Each day you take a break can set you back by several. From the article: >> “I left for less than 48 hours and lost 40,000 subscribers on Twitch. I’ll be back today… grinding again.” > move on to doing something else There's not a clear career path to anything else. Many of them have spent their formative adult years streaming, and transitioning to another career would be incredibly difficult and likely pay significantly less. Sure, there are the mega-streamers who have (hopefully) saved enough money that they could absorb that gigantic setback, or have enough celebrity that they can transition to something else, but I doubt the majority of them have earned enough to support a major life transition - like, say, going back to school full-time. This is also one of the problems former professional athletes face, and there are actually a lot of interesting parallels between the two groups. "Broke" is a really interesting watch if you haven't seen it already that is quite eye-opening: http://www.espn.com/30for30/film?page=broke http://www.espn.com/30for30/film?page=broke
- anonymous5133 8y ago
  Umm yeah, I still think they should move on. If you hate doing something then why continue doing it? Best to shift into an occupation you enjoy. I don't really think youtube or twitch were even meant to be full-time occupations to begin with.
  - wgerard 8y ago
    > If you hate doing something then why continue doing it? Best to shift into an occupation you enjoy This describes, likely, a large portion of the workforce in general and isn't specific to streamers. The answer, of course, is that it pays the bills and it's really hard to: 1) Figure out what it is that you'd actually enjoy 2) Figure out how to make money doing that
- JumpCrisscross 8y ago
  > There's not a clear career path to anything else If you’re making $6 million / year, you have the resources with which to take time off and reconsider your choices.
  - TimothyBJacobs 8y ago
    It's a shame that that is the quote they decided to use in the article. But you can ask any Twitch streamer, if you take a vacation expect to lose large amounts of your subscribers. On YouTube, if you stop posting videos for a while, YouTube will severely punish you in the algorithm. It'll take weeks before your videos start showing back up in user's subscription boxes.
    - JumpCrisscross 8y ago
      > if you take a vacation expect to lose large amounts of your subscribers And if a freelancer takes a vacation, they can expect to lose contract volumes. This is why people form teams, so one person can take a break while other people pick up the slack. If you're making a lot of money, you should be able to take the hit and re-organise in a more sustainable way.
  - wgerard 8y ago
    > If you’re making $6 million / year, you have the resources with which to take time off and reconsider your choices. > > Sure, there are the mega-streamers who have (hopefully) saved enough money that they could absorb that gigantic setback, or have enough celebrity that they can transition to something else, but I doubt the majority of them have earned enough to support a major life transition - like, say, going back to school full-time.

> stop making videos for awhile It has a huge detrimental effect. Each day you take a break can set you back by several. From the article: >> “I left for less than 48 hours and lost 40,000 subscribers on Twitch. I’ll be back today… grinding again.” > move on to doing something else There's not a clear career path to anything else. Many of them have spent their formative adult years streaming, and transitioning to another career would be incredibly difficult and likely pay significantly less. Sure, there are the mega-streamers who have (hopefully) saved enough money that they could absorb that gigantic setback, or have enough celebrity that they can transition to something else, but I doubt the majority of them have earned enough to support a major life transition - like, say, going back to school full-time. This is also one of the problems former professional athletes face, and there are actually a lot of interesting parallels between the two groups. "Broke" is a really interesting watch if you haven't seen it already that is quite eye-opening: http://www.espn.com/30for30/film?page=broke http://www.espn.com/30for30/film?page=broke

anonymous5133 8y ago
Umm yeah, I still think they should move on. If you hate doing something then why continue doing it? Best to shift into an occupation you enjoy. I don't really think youtube or twitch were even meant to be full-time occupations to begin with.
- wgerard 8y ago
  > If you hate doing something then why continue doing it? Best to shift into an occupation you enjoy This describes, likely, a large portion of the workforce in general and isn't specific to streamers. The answer, of course, is that it pays the bills and it's really hard to: 1) Figure out what it is that you'd actually enjoy 2) Figure out how to make money doing that
JumpCrisscross 8y ago
> There's not a clear career path to anything else If you’re making $6 million / year, you have the resources with which to take time off and reconsider your choices.
- TimothyBJacobs 8y ago
  It's a shame that that is the quote they decided to use in the article. But you can ask any Twitch streamer, if you take a vacation expect to lose large amounts of your subscribers. On YouTube, if you stop posting videos for a while, YouTube will severely punish you in the algorithm. It'll take weeks before your videos start showing back up in user's subscription boxes.
  - JumpCrisscross 8y ago
    > if you take a vacation expect to lose large amounts of your subscribers And if a freelancer takes a vacation, they can expect to lose contract volumes. This is why people form teams, so one person can take a break while other people pick up the slack. If you're making a lot of money, you should be able to take the hit and re-organise in a more sustainable way.
- wgerard 8y ago
  > If you’re making $6 million / year, you have the resources with which to take time off and reconsider your choices. > > Sure, there are the mega-streamers who have (hopefully) saved enough money that they could absorb that gigantic setback, or have enough celebrity that they can transition to something else, but I doubt the majority of them have earned enough to support a major life transition - like, say, going back to school full-time.