https://canvas.instructure.com/eportfolios/704899/Home/How_to_Win_Mates_And_Affect_Folks_with_Minecraft that John Hopstad first descended into the virtual world of Dark Souls in 2013, his goal was to save the deteriorating world. Famed for its brutal and exacting gameplay, Dark Souls is a game that's popular to live stream: if you're likely to die hundreds of times, you could even end up with a digital company to lighten the mood. What Hopstad did not know was that this would be the beginning of an even more difficult process to make connections with others. Hopstad is streaming to virtually no one over the past five years, and isn't the only one doing this. Twitch is the world's most popular live streaming platform that lets users play games, create art, and show off their daily lives, draws more than two million streamers each month. The number grows every year due in part to how easy it is now to live stream, and the platforms like Facebook, Instagram and YouTube also increasingly encourage users to share and share live streams. By pressing a button on your game console or smartphone you can share what you're doing at the exact moment with strangers and friends alike. The rise of popular (and lucrative) influencers who are on platforms like YouTube and Twitch is also making the concept of being an influencer on the internet an aspirational. Some parents have noticed that their kids pretend to open boxes of toys in front of a nonexistent crowd, and teachers report that their students frequently say they'd like to pursue YouTubing as a profession. But when seemingly everyone wants to record footage or live stream the content, who actually watches the content? Everybody seems to want to capture footage or record a streaming live, which one will end in watching the video? A career in the world of platforms like Twitch typically involves broadcasting to absolutely no one. Discoverability is an issue that when you log in to Twitch, the most visible users are those who already have a significant following. Although there are tools available to locate lesser-known streamers, most people starting out with no audiences built-in from other platforms or supportive friends and family are left gazing at a large, fat zero on their counter of viewership. The lonely stream hell could last from just a few days to weeks, months, sometimes even years, based on your luck. According to people who have gone through it, being without an audience is among the most demoralizing experiences that you will experience on the internet. It's kind of exhausting playing to an empty space all day long with no result, one Redditor wrote on a now-deleted thread on the r/Twitch channel. It's fucking hard to stay positive when doing this 5 days a week when it seems like no one drops in the next few minutes, another Redditor wrote in a separate thread, after spending months streaming with no one. I've come to the conclusion that streaming isn't working for me. Been streaming on and off for 4+ years and everytime I return, I have weeks where the majority of time I'm streaming to no anyone, another Redditor wrote. It's tough. Sean Burke, a streamer who spent a full month broadcasting popular games like Overwatchwithout an audience It's easy to take things personally when nobody turns up to your live stream. It was sometimes depressing, says Burke, but he managed to keep live streaming through it all. If live streaming is an option, the person behind the camera is what is being produced. While there are things you can do to improve and practice your stream's popularity, the success of a streamer is determined by whether or not people like them or find you fascinating. I was initially unable to comprehend the numbers of viewers to indicate that I was the cause, that I wasn't funny enough, that I wasn't good enough at games. After an entire year of dedication, he estimates that he is now getting approximately 10 viewers at a time per stream. The lack of an audience is one that of the worst experiences you can experience online. Veteran streamers often have an arsenal of talk points available to assist novices. I've seen this advice repeated many times across different social platforms. The way to do it is: be yourself. Have some fun with it. Make a plan and stick to it. Make sure you have a proper technical setup. Practice your commentary, and vocalize your thinking. Make sure you play games that aren't saturated with other streamers already. You can trick your live stream with plug-ins and overlays that can make it more enjoyable for the viewers, such as mini-games where fans have to keep a virtual pet in the game. Get on social media and tell people about your stream. Connect with other users' streams and becoming their friends. However, the most difficult thing to follow is that an aspiring streamer needs to be on the move at all times, even if nobody is watching, just in case someone does show up. Think of it like you're filming an interview show, and you're the host, Redditor Neon_Nazgul wrote in a thread offering suggestions to frustrated streamers. Sometimes there's a studio audience or you're recording something that the audience can watch later. Although this is certainly true, that's also the reason why streaming without an audience difficult in the first place. It's an isolated practice where you're required to make it appear like you're listening to someone, but have no idea how long it might be before the person is there, or if they ever will. Broadcasters are able to follow the advice given by experts and struggle to build an audience, if they are being lost among other streamers hoping to make it. Many end up using methods that appear to give the appearance of success you can pay for bots to stream your stream, thus pushing your profile higher in the Twitch directory, or collaborate with other streamers who are struggling to boost each other's subscriber numbers through follow4follow groupings. Streamers can even make broadcasts where the only purpose is to allow hundreds other people beg each other to follow them in their chat. The majority of times this approach isn't working for everyone involved, as nobody is gaining a real viewer even if the numbers suggest otherwise. I used the follow4follow method... But nobody ever took the next step and viewed my channel, Twitch user Flummoxkid says. Nothing but a bunch of hollow followers. Even the streamers who created the F4F channels I watched pulled a 180 and tried to get legitimate once they made partner and they barely get any viewers. I was naive enough to believe that people would return the favor. Despite the often stressful aspect of trying to get noticed on Twitch Some users keep going despite the harsh condemnation of the zero. There are a variety of reasons why they do this Some of the people I talked to believe that sharing games is so simple, they might as well play it while playing games. It's better than being in a dark, dark room alone in silence, wrote Twitch user jostlingjoe on an Reddit discussion about the best way to handle not having any viewers. A lot of people are seeking something more. One streamer I spoke with who spent three months without a viewership, MaverickRPDM, says that they continued to stream live games without a single viewer because they believed it was a method of self-improvement. Streaming has helped me become more engaging and sharp-witted and more outgoing and extrovert, MaverickRPDM says. It has helped make me feel more comfortable being me and by virtue of that it has allowed me to be more me, more often, and even out of the stream. Perhaps the biggest motivator for people who stream for extended durations without viewer is the possibility of meeting similar people.The reason I began streaming was because I was looking for human connections, said Richard Szelesy, a streamer who has spent the last few years mostly broadcasting hardcore games to the minuscule amount of viewers. Szelesy claims that he grew up being lonely, and mainly sitting in front of the glow of computers. [I streamed to] escape the loneliness and depression, he said. While he has mostly been streaming without an audience, from time to time an errant person will drop by and then stay. Even if that person never comes back -- and they often don't -- the small spark can be enough to keep Szelesy running. I was kind of trying to find human connections. Weirdly as an adult, I have a much easier time connecting with romantic partners than meeting new friends, Szelesy says. I would not even have a clue where to begin! How do I approach a random person and go 'Yo, you are a fan of Dark Souls?' Twitch also gives a way to eject himself from disagreeable people. [It's] way easier to just call out or remove the kind of people who seem cool, but say racist/sexist/homophobic/transphobic/etc shit. Hopstad, who has spent many years streaming to virtually nobody, claims that he's a social democrat who cares about the minimum wage. Twitch provides him with a platform to discuss his views that he doesn't have in real life. I'm not a social person so I don't search for opportunities to talk about things such as message boards, particularly things like politics, I'm comfortable going through a day without speaking or engaging or interacting with anybody, Hopstad said. Twitch certainly helped me attempt to break through my hermit personality, but I'm thinking I'm becoming more comfortable with being completely alone for the remainder of my days. While the barrenness of no viewers on Twitch isn't pleasant, some who stick with it are happy that they succeeded. Many streamers actually recall exactly the moment when their view counter changed all the way from zero. The first viewer was surreal, Szelesy said. Twitch is set up to boost those that are established which means that if someone comes across you, they're considering whether you could be someone they would like to follow. Even though these interactions or views aren't always a source of followers, let alone more profound connections, it's still awesome, because they found me in my secluded place here and decided to meet up. After months of having no viewers, finally getting an audience to watch your show can be nerve-wracking as well being exciting. You prepare for it, sometimes for hours ,and now it's time to show. Someone's on the other side. They're waiting for you. What can you do? I recall my very first viewer and when it happened, said Reddit user TheWhiteLatino69 A streamer who initially started broadcasting on Twitch to help get through the rough times. At the beginning, TheWhiteLatino broadcasted without an audience, which helped make it appear like the appearance of hanging out with people. I had been streaming Subnautica for zero viewers and then I looked over at the chatroom to look for a 'hey.' When I saw that it all the sudden came to me, I was not alone anymore and I was surrounded by people watching me. I began to feel more nervous as the stream continued and I threw myself into conversations with the other viewers. It's one thing pretending you're talking to someone and another to actually be talking to someone who is actually a human being ... [It] was quite a shock to me. Based on my conversations with dozens of streamers, taking that initial plunge in the event that you're not certain who will be watching could be like throwing a message in a bottle into the sea. It's possible that someone will come across the bottle. Perhaps the bottle is lost in the abyss. We all play the game in our individual ways when we go out online, whether we're swipe right on Tinder or using hashtags to search for people with similar desires. We might end up feeling more isolated than ever, or maybe we find people who make everything worth it. Lolimdivine, a Redditor who estimates they had spent eight months streaming to no one, but they're thrilled with the community they've created after getting over that initial hurdle. My regulars and I constantly discuss our lives, and we know a lot about each other, lolimdivine said. It's like we're our own online family honestly. I view these people as my family, not as mere users. We greet all who join us from all around the world, and keep in mind things about people who only visit every month. It's really an incredible thing that Twitch can help people overcome lonely or friends groups. Many streamers I talked to stated that they first became interested in Twitch after finding a personality that entertained them through a tough time for example, grieving the death of a loved one. Khryn_Tzu, an Twitch streamer who spent weeks with no viewers, is coming up on their first anniversary of one year on Twitch. This is a significant date because without Twitch Khryn_Tzu would not have met a particular viewers. Lots of days with 0 viewers. I doing my thing, and discovered what works, and still am Khryn_Tzu wrote. Then it took place. There was one audience. And they continued to watch. They didn't even say anything for a couple of streams however they would come back. Then one night I had to go AFK and I put on Metallica. Then out comes a song that says 'Good choice in music. I love Metallica.' It was an exhilarating sensation to have someone unknown to me to stick around for MY content. It was a tough for me to push. While many dream of having an audience of thousands, that one person was the one who made an impact on Khryn_Tzu's story. We began to talk, then started chattering, and she was sure that she was welcoming everyone and speaking to them whenever they showed in, says Khryn_Tzu. Soon people started staying... and it became so much more than that too. These viewers that come in? They are your friends. Sometimes more. That first person you saw? We're now dating and I couldn't be happier. Most people don't end in finding a romantic partner on Twitch however for a lot of people, it's not the intention.
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