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Comment by flowgrammer | Hacker News Reader

Great idea. One of my saddest projects was making a site to help Twitch streamers get sponsorship for playing games. You automatically got picked if your view count was high enough. I saw thousands of people streaming on Twitch by themselves for weeks with no viewers whatsoever. Surely many of them had families and partners, but I'm also sure many did not.

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Maybe I'm naive, but my sense is not everyone streaming on Twitch is trying to make a career out of it. Even for those that are -- everyone starts somewhere. Hopefully those that aren't successful on first brush notice and realize that it takes more than simply starting a stream to build a sticky audience.

Also, there are many people out there who lead fulfilling lives without families and partners. Either way, I don't think you should pity people so readily. At best it's somewhat condescending and missing much of the complexity and nuance of what it is to be a human person

why would you stream on Twitch then? just because it‘s „fun“? come on

You think everyone on instagram/tiktok with a public profiles tries to become an influencer?

I think that way more of them than would ever admit to it - even to themselves - want that, yes.

But aside from that, nearly everyone on Instagram has followers, at least their families and friends.

Your comment (along with mmarvin's) really just shows you are making grand assumptions about Twitch and streaming on Twitch that are not based on any level of real information. That you would equate viewers to followser is silly at best. (And don't pretend you did, either, as there is NO reason to bring up IG follower counts otherwise)

> I think that way more of them than would ever admit to it - even to themselves - want that, yes.

For many reasons, they aren't what many would consider to be influencers. The ignorant might sugget that streamers are influencers, but that's, well, ignorance. Secondly, most people do it for fun. Not as a full time job. This is a hobby. And it's a fun one.

It's okay to just not comment on things you are ignorant about. It's okay.

Tbf to them, most people equate streamers with individuals having thousands of viewers.. From that perspective, their statements kinda make sense.

While I personally wouldn't be able to perform under such a setting, I'd be lying if the idea isn't kinda charming - it's like wanting to be a rock star, a small part thinks it'd be cool, even if most don't actually want to live the life of a rockstar.

Though the wealth it comes with would be neat to have (I mean most streamers with thousands of non-botted viewers are millionaires at this point, right?)

> It's okay to just not comment on things you are ignorant about. It's okay.

It's ok not to be a condescending twat as well, and yet here we both are.

I used to live code on Twitch regularly with zero viewers and it didn't really bother me. It forced me to actively talk through my decision making processes just by streaming which slowed me down but was often useful. I'm not sure what the family/partners part is about, I certainly had both while streaming.

Actively doing this. It indeed forces me to think things through, organize thoughts and speak them out. I open paint/miro to draw. It's good practice.

Yeah, the snark by some commenters is unwarranted.

There is this programmer and he is just chilling, programming and listening to music. Just 2-3 viewers. On occasion I say hi, make a chitchat. It’s harmless and a bit of fun/socializing.

I think most streamers know what they are doing.

I’ve thought about doing this at work. Schedule an hour of programming once a day or once a week where others are free to join and watch, and comment or otherwise engage, or not.

Does knowing that someone could be watching change your performance? I wonder if the "Live" status acts as a mental catalyst that you can't get by just talking to yourself offline.

I wouldn't watch a live coder so recording for myself wouldn't do it. With Twitch you will often have viewers pop into chat even when the viewer number is zero so you have to always great it as if you are being watched because you might be.

Last year I would larp as a Spanish-speaking gaming streamer on Youtube to practice Spanish, talking out loud while trying some new game to force myself to speak it.

If I were trying to do that in private, I would stop after two minutes.

But the mere threat of someone watching me forced me to take it seriously even though I knew nobody would.

It was so effective that I would default to Spanish for the rest of the day, or I'd listen to Spanish and then realize how I could have communicated certain things better instead of just passively ingest it.

Though the same reason it was so effective also created a mental toll that I started avoiding by not doing it at all. Need to start it back up.

That said, I reckon the vast majority of streamers are gamers who do want viewership and aren't using it as some productivity hack.

What does having a family have to do with anything? I see many people with different hobbies that aren't "successful", do you also think if they have families or not?

I don't even get the implications, presumably it'd be worse to stream all day if you have a family you're neglecting, but even that is making wild assumptions.

>What does having a family have to do with anything?

Presumably that at least one of their family members would be pity watching.

If you have a family, why would you be screaming into the void while playing video games? Go spend time with your family, where there's endless company and good to be done.

One needn’t spend every single waking hour with their family. Everyone needs some time to themselves.

So why live stream your alone time?

Ask them, not me.

It can also be a way yo practise or find like minded

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