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Comment by belval | Hacker News Reader

I am not saying this is a real job prospect. If a kid told me he wanted to be a Twitch streamer I'd say he can't be one, same as professional singer or musician in general.

What I am saying that what Tyler has very much is a real job and successful business. You wouldn't say Taylor Swift is jobless because very few people make it in the pop music world.

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If my kid told me they wanted to be a twitch streamer I would advise them against investing a significant amount of time and effort building a business with a single gatekeeper.

If they wanted to be a famous personality, I would insist they start building a profile on every platform.

I'd advise them to dominate a new platform as an early adopter and then spread out from there. Or put out content very consistently on 2-3 platforms. But even spreading yourself between two accounts let alone multiple platforms is time consuming.

This isn't well known, but to monetize on Twitch (i.e. be able to receive subscriptions and bits), you have to sign an affiliate agreement[1], which includes a clause prohibiting you from multi-streaming, or putting your VODs up anywhere else for a full day after their conclusion. This severely limits your ability to cross platforms.

[1]: https://www.twitch.tv/p/en/legal/affiliate-agreement/

Which kind of demonstrates exactly my point. I would never build a business that needs somebodies permission to exist.

Every single business needs permission to exist, not only because you need approval from the government to open one.

You can't be comparing Twitch to the government. Those are not even remotely the same thing

One is taken for granted, but I think it is a valid point. I share your opinion (bad to depend on platforms), but that never might have triggered the comment.

For some people never means usually not, and for some never means never :)

The USA built a system of "checks and balances" so that there would not be a "single gatekeeper" to government permissions.

excel girl[1] did that right. i have a tremendous amount of admiration for her.

[1] https://www.theverge.com/22807858/tiktok-influencer-microsof...

>If a kid told me he wanted to be a Twitch streamer I'd say he can't be one

You'd be lying though, and your kid would probably grow up to resent it. There are ways to educate kids about the relative risks of careers in good faith.

I believe OP was being hyperbolic.

It was a volunteer oversimplification to explain my reasoning, not parenting advice.

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