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Happy Tuesday everyone! In this article, I want to highlight the differences between creating a clique (by this definition: a small group of people, with shared interests or other features in common) and drawing a crowd (a large number of people gathered together, typically in a disorganized or unruly way). Just about every streamer wishes to see their stream grow in popularity. We’ve all been there before; giving hours upon hours of content, game play and design just to notice that nobody was watching. Then, as you end your stream, you look at others broadcasting the same game with hundreds of viewers. What’s the deal? Why does everyone go to watch that person play the game, but not me?
Cliques
The chances are pretty likely that that other viewer has built a clique, or a following of people who enjoy the content that they produce. In most (but not all) circumstances, that other streamer has invested a lot of time and thought into building his/her stream. Congrats to them for breaking that wall and getting a following! But enough about them, how does one go about forming their own crew of loyal viewers? Well, the truth is there is no sure-fire way to make it happen. Often times it’s a mix of playing enjoyable to watch games, playing them at a high caliber level, providing an interactive environment for the viewer and (not to be understated) LUCK. We can’t do anything about the luck issue, but there is some action we can take to help us out with the rest.
“But Todd, why wouldn’t I want a crowd in my stream?” Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves here, crowds have their purpose. Here, I’m referring to crowds as groups of people that show up to your stream (often times due to a raid or similar circumstance). It’s always a good feeling to have a burst of chatters show up at once in your channel, and give you an opportunity to build new followers! Don’t get caught up in trying to use excessive giveaways and the like to draw a crowd because many people will show up for the giveaway, and leave/unfollow right afterwards. Just remember, treat your stream the same whether it has 1 viewer or 1,000 viewers. Let yourself shine through and you’ll retain many more followers than if you change your persona every time new people show up. It’s better to build a consistent 35 viewer following, than to get 200 viewers sent to your channel, retain none, and be back to 2 viewers the next day.
Summary
To summarize everything, take your time when building your stream, it’s a marathon, not a sprint to the finish. It helps to treat broadcasting as an opportunity to cultivate relationships, not an endeavor to slingshot towards internet super-stardom. You are doing yourself no favors by not realizing that (almost) every popular streamer out there has paid their dues by pushing through the “building phase” of streaming.
Thanks for reading, and happy streaming!
Happy Tuesday everyone! In this article, I want to highlight the differences between creating a clique (by this definition: a small group of people, with shared interests or other features in common) and drawing a crowd (a large number of people gathered together, typically in a disorganized or unruly way). Just about every streamer wishes to see their stream grow in popularity. We’ve all been there before; giving hours upon hours of content, game play and design just to notice that nobody was watching. Then, as you end your stream, you look at others broadcasting the same game with hundreds of viewers. What’s the deal? Why does everyone go to watch that person play the game, but not me?
Cliques
The chances are pretty likely that that other viewer has built a clique, or a following of people who enjoy the content that they produce. In most (but not all) circumstances, that other streamer has invested a lot of time and thought into building his/her stream. Congrats to them for breaking that wall and getting a following! But enough about them, how does one go about forming their own crew of loyal viewers? Well, the truth is there is no sure-fire way to make it happen. Often times it’s a mix of playing enjoyable to watch games, playing them at a high caliber level, providing an interactive environment for the viewer and (not to be understated) LUCK. We can’t do anything about the luck issue, but there is some action we can take to help us out with the rest.
- Content (sounding familiar yet?)- Above all else in your streaming endeavors, content is what has the highest probability of making/breaking you. Make sure you provide an entertaining environment! That’s what it’s all about. Would you watch a TV station with shows that you don’t find entertaining? What about going to see a stand-up comic perform if you don’t find any of their material funny? The same applies to you. For all intents and purposes, you are a “TV station” providing programming for your viewership. Analyze yourself, don’t be embarrassed to re-watch some of your previous streams to see where your content may be lacking. Identify your weaknesses so you can consciously improve upon them. You’re only hindering yourself if you don’t!
- Practice- I’m referring to two different types of practice here. 1) Practice your gaming. Whatever game you are playing, it can only help to be proficient at it. I’ve never heard of someone losing popularity because of being too good at said game (maybe if you’re constantly resetting then people turn away, but that’s an outlier circumstance.) and 2) practice your interaction. Talk to yourself in the mirror, go out in public and strike up conversation with random people (just be careful because there are crazies out there!) or watch other streamers and talk with them through chat. Take notes on how they interact, what you like and don’t like.
- Squelch controversy- It’s your stream of course, and you choose what rules to put in place, and how to enforce them. But in terms of creating a group of loyal, repeat viewers, I would advise against allowing controversial chat (IE. Politics and religion). These topics tend to be high energy, and have the ability to quickly turn people off and make others angry. Steer your chat away from them if you can, and (worst case scenario) don’t be afraid to timeout offenders that constantly push the boundaries. The quality of your chat conversations is a reflection of the quality of your stream.
“But Todd, why wouldn’t I want a crowd in my stream?” Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves here, crowds have their purpose. Here, I’m referring to crowds as groups of people that show up to your stream (often times due to a raid or similar circumstance). It’s always a good feeling to have a burst of chatters show up at once in your channel, and give you an opportunity to build new followers! Don’t get caught up in trying to use excessive giveaways and the like to draw a crowd because many people will show up for the giveaway, and leave/unfollow right afterwards. Just remember, treat your stream the same whether it has 1 viewer or 1,000 viewers. Let yourself shine through and you’ll retain many more followers than if you change your persona every time new people show up. It’s better to build a consistent 35 viewer following, than to get 200 viewers sent to your channel, retain none, and be back to 2 viewers the next day.
Summary
To summarize everything, take your time when building your stream, it’s a marathon, not a sprint to the finish. It helps to treat broadcasting as an opportunity to cultivate relationships, not an endeavor to slingshot towards internet super-stardom. You are doing yourself no favors by not realizing that (almost) every popular streamer out there has paid their dues by pushing through the “building phase” of streaming.
Thanks for reading, and happy streaming!
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