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Twitch millionaire: The loneliness and rage of the Internet’s new rock stars

10 points by totaldude87 5y ago

smoldesu 5y ago
Twitch is indeed a really interesting case-study for burnout and social interactions. I don't think it's fair to say that everyone is lonely or angry, but I've certainly seen streamers get that way. What's interesting is the dichotomy between people who have been streaming near-daily for a decade without issue, and the bandwagoners who break down after a couple months. I don't think there's any conclusive evidence as to why this happens, but I've got a few theories: - If you fight your chat, more people will try to bring you down. It's a feedback loop. - Conversely, if you refuse to engage with your chat, people may become bored and vicious to get your attention. - A lot of modern "content creators" are used to highly-moderated platforms like TikTok and Instagram. - Twitch is a free-for-all that rewards the most in-demand content, not what you want to do. When people fall victim to these concerns, they almost always start to spiral out, and not in the kind of way that can be reset when you turn on your stream tomorrow. People like tyler1, Amouranth and Dream who see massive amounts of abuse and goading messages are caught in this bear trap: they can't leave, they can't do what they want to on-stream, they're forced to engage with an audience that hates them and they have no good alternatives. It's frankly kind of sad. On the other side though, are streamers who have been at it for several years, and are relatively "well-adjusted". If you ever plan to stream yourself on Twitch, you should study them instead: people like Vinesauce, Jerma985, Limmy, Limesalicious, and other people who take their streams in stride. It's a fickle medium, but after a while you'll start to understand how harmony with your viewers can create not only wonderful and enjoyable content, but sustainable content.
- ablation 5y ago
  Didn't "Vinesauce" Vinny have a fairly public 'incident', legitimate mental health issues and stop live streaming as a result and switch to YouTube pre-records only?
  - smoldesu 5y ago
    There were some false accusations that forced him offline for a bit. I haven't followed it very closely since, but he's been live quite a bit recently. Even still, the fact that the dude streamed for 20-30 hours a week for more than 10 years is the stuff of legend.
PakistaniDenzel 5y ago
This guy makes $2.4m a year, he can just save up for a year then pivot to a persona/game that's less demanding.
- mabub24 5y ago
  The thing with Tyler1, and anyone who is aware of him and his persona on Twitch also knows this, is that when the guy plays or does anything other than League of Legends it is incredibly entertaining and fun. The man has excellent comedic timing and is a genuine performer who knows how to interact with the viewers in brilliant ways. He really doesn't need to play solely this game. Most people would love to watch him to play different stuff, and he would still rake in a lot of money. He's just addicted to the game.
ng12 5y ago
Tyler1 was always a little bit of a nutcase. The only difference is now he's a rich one.

10 points by totaldude87 5y ago

Twitch is indeed a really interesting case-study for burnout and social interactions. I don't think it's fair to say that everyone is lonely or angry, but I've certainly seen streamers get that way. What's interesting is the dichotomy between people who have been streaming near-daily for a decade without issue, and the bandwagoners who break down after a couple months. I don't think there's any conclusive evidence as to why this happens, but I've got a few theories: - If you fight your chat, more people will try to bring you down. It's a feedback loop. - Conversely, if you refuse to engage with your chat, people may become bored and vicious to get your attention. - A lot of modern "content creators" are used to highly-moderated platforms like TikTok and Instagram. - Twitch is a free-for-all that rewards the most in-demand content, not what you want to do. When people fall victim to these concerns, they almost always start to spiral out, and not in the kind of way that can be reset when you turn on your stream tomorrow. People like tyler1, Amouranth and Dream who see massive amounts of abuse and goading messages are caught in this bear trap: they can't leave, they can't do what they want to on-stream, they're forced to engage with an audience that hates them and they have no good alternatives. It's frankly kind of sad. On the other side though, are streamers who have been at it for several years, and are relatively "well-adjusted". If you ever plan to stream yourself on Twitch, you should study them instead: people like Vinesauce, Jerma985, Limmy, Limesalicious, and other people who take their streams in stride. It's a fickle medium, but after a while you'll start to understand how harmony with your viewers can create not only wonderful and enjoyable content, but sustainable content.

ablation 5y ago
Didn't "Vinesauce" Vinny have a fairly public 'incident', legitimate mental health issues and stop live streaming as a result and switch to YouTube pre-records only?
- smoldesu 5y ago
  There were some false accusations that forced him offline for a bit. I haven't followed it very closely since, but he's been live quite a bit recently. Even still, the fact that the dude streamed for 20-30 hours a week for more than 10 years is the stuff of legend.

PakistaniDenzel 5y ago

This guy makes $2.4m a year, he can just save up for a year then pivot to a persona/game that's less demanding.

mabub24 5y ago
The thing with Tyler1, and anyone who is aware of him and his persona on Twitch also knows this, is that when the guy plays or does anything other than League of Legends it is incredibly entertaining and fun. The man has excellent comedic timing and is a genuine performer who knows how to interact with the viewers in brilliant ways. He really doesn't need to play solely this game. Most people would love to watch him to play different stuff, and he would still rake in a lot of money. He's just addicted to the game.

ng12 5y ago

Tyler1 was always a little bit of a nutcase. The only difference is now he's a rich one.