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This sounds like a bad way to live, and I'm sure it is. But, I wonder if a similarly anxious narrative could be written about the average PM at a startup, or Am

This sounds like a bad way to live, and I'm sure it is. But, I wonder if a similarly anxious narrative could be written about the average PM at a startup, or Amazon delivery person, or Uber driver, or really anyone with a demanding job that consumes as much of your time as it can. It seems like being swatted and harassed online are the more unique perils of being a content creator, but the 10-hour stressful days are not, and many people would probably trade their 10-hour stressful days at $40k-$160k a year for 10-hour stressful days at $2 million a year if they could.

fizx 5y ago
It's probably more stressful having a camera on you for with thousands of fans offering critical feedback every second. Maybe something like an engineering management role where all you do is share performance reviews?
hogFeast 5y ago
T1 is a very extreme example. He seems to have no life, he plays the same game for 10-12 hours/day, he is pretty toxic, he seems to have few other interests and no social life...that is fine, he is an astute businessman but most other streamers aren't doing this. They play variety, they do IRL, they have social lives, they take breaks. Even xQc, another streamer who is notorious for 20+ hour streams every week, plays variety and goes outside...sometimes (he recently did an IRL stream at Universal). So I think it is like a lot of entertainment: the job can be intense, there is often little separation between personal and private but the pay is generally pretty good. Even on Twitch which really struggles with promoting smaller streamers, there are people far down the chain earning $50k/year with relatively small communities. Is that better than a startup? No. But not everyone can move to SF or go to college either. I don't think being swatted or harassed is that common either. If you are a big streamer and you leak where you live, then maybe...but it doesn't happen as much as it used to (xQc got swatted repeatedly this year, and someone broke into his house...it does still happen). Also, Twitch chat is toxic but most of the negative comments are not serious. I understand why normies wouldn't understand that but part of the fun for (some) streamers is battling with chat. It isn't a very serious place.
ericmcer 5y ago
I keep reading these exposé’s about how difficult and damaging some career is. I rock climb and everyone is obsessed with shining light on eating disorders and how thin athletes need to be. No one is writing about plumbers having bad backs and knees, or construction workers having lung problems. It’s just oh “Kim Kardashian is stressed because people say mean things on Instagram.” It’s dumb, yes life is hard and will grind you down. If your lucky you make enough money to step away while your still healthy and relatively young.

fizx 5y ago

It's probably more stressful having a camera on you for with thousands of fans offering critical feedback every second. Maybe something like an engineering management role where all you do is share performance reviews?

hogFeast 5y ago

T1 is a very extreme example. He seems to have no life, he plays the same game for 10-12 hours/day, he is pretty toxic, he seems to have few other interests and no social life...that is fine, he is an astute businessman but most other streamers aren't doing this. They play variety, they do IRL, they have social lives, they take breaks. Even xQc, another streamer who is notorious for 20+ hour streams every week, plays variety and goes outside...sometimes (he recently did an IRL stream at Universal). So I think it is like a lot of entertainment: the job can be intense, there is often little separation between personal and private but the pay is generally pretty good. Even on Twitch which really struggles with promoting smaller streamers, there are people far down the chain earning $50k/year with relatively small communities. Is that better than a startup? No. But not everyone can move to SF or go to college either. I don't think being swatted or harassed is that common either. If you are a big streamer and you leak where you live, then maybe...but it doesn't happen as much as it used to (xQc got swatted repeatedly this year, and someone broke into his house...it does still happen). Also, Twitch chat is toxic but most of the negative comments are not serious. I understand why normies wouldn't understand that but part of the fun for (some) streamers is battling with chat. It isn't a very serious place.

ericmcer 5y ago

I keep reading these exposé’s about how difficult and damaging some career is. I rock climb and everyone is obsessed with shining light on eating disorders and how thin athletes need to be. No one is writing about plumbers having bad backs and knees, or construction workers having lung problems. It’s just oh “Kim Kardashian is stressed because people say mean things on Instagram.” It’s dumb, yes life is hard and will grind you down. If your lucky you make enough money to step away while your still healthy and relatively young.