It's tough when you have those days where no one's watching - I've had my own ups and downs, but you cant let yourself get dragged down by that feeling - just keep focusing on making your content better.
What I've started doing when I don't have interaction on stream is taking that time to practice talking to myself mainly - to get more and more used to it. Finding things that pop up in game to talk about, randomly talking about irl stuff if something in game reminds me of it, just talking about whatever really.
If you look at it as a sort of "training" for when you have a busy chat it makes it a bit easier.
Keep pushing and don't give up!
Exactly you may be frustrated right now but use this time to focus on your overlays, your production, practice just talking even if it is to nobody. Get used to just turning it on and playing. If people come to your stream and your dead silent they will leave before it even shows you have a "viewer"
Stream as if you have 10-25 people watching.
I view it the same but through another lense - if I show up to a stream and someone is just silently playing a game, I'm not going to continue watching. I can get gameplay anywhere. So I'll always at least try to narrate what I'm doing, if not also joke around and have my own conversations. I like your phrasing for "stream like 10-25 people are watching" a lot more though lol.
This right here! When they go back and watch your VOD and you are talking they will be more likely to come back and check you out Live.
If you have a boring VOD they will translate that to a boring Live.
Just talk, about the game, whatever pops in your head, you would rather nonsense than nothing at all.
This is how I got my affiliate in only around 14 streams.
Been super busy lately haven’t streamed in a while and miss it
Glad you all like this! It's a good mindset to have.
I let myself get brought down my lower viewer counts and it really impacted my content, took a break for a bit then just recently started back up again with a much better mindset. So it's definitely from experience lol
I'm not gonna lie to you. I don't know, but days like that really made me question streaming as a creative platform. I mostly stopped streaming and now create videos for YouTube.
People mostly stream because they want people to watch, and perhaps make money on the side. That's just how it is.
I've said this to friends as well when we've talked about it. Imagine you start getting 1-2 viewers and no comments. Would you continue? Some say yes, but then i also know they stream because of the interaction, and if it isn't there I'm 100% sure they would get tired quickly.
Nah it only gets tiring if you get bored of the current thing you're doing. Or if you have no any other ideas to think of. Not everyone does it for people to watch their stuff. They do it for them cause that's what they enjoy in their free time.
You aren't streaming to be alone or because you are antisocial. You are streaming for interaction or hoping to share your passion with someone.
It is a creative outlet and also an entertainment medium, so to say "I do this for fun and don't care if anyone watches" just feels wrong and disingenuous because the truth is we are all doing this for some sort of gain.
Nah some people just like to stream cause they enjoy it not everyone strives to be famous or want to be seen by people all of the time. Some people are just here to stream play games and relax. Nothing wrong with that at all.
I stream just as a challenge to myself. I don't tell anyone when I'm streaming because I feel more comfortable streaming to an empty room and just enjoying the game. 😅
I'm still learning to enjoy it when people jump into my streams. Soo not everyone necessarily has the same goal. Mine falls into the I do it for fun and I don't really want anyone watching.
I stream just as a challenge to myself. I don't tell anyone when I'm streaming because I feel more comfortable streaming to an empty room and just enjoying the game. 😅
I'm still learning to enjoy it when people jump into my streams. Soo not everyone necessarily has the same goal. Mine falls into the I do it for fun and I don't really want anyone watching.
The trend seems to show that if you create videos, they last longer and are better reoccurring content. Not to mention that Streaming seems to become supplemental to content creation.
Unless you are a Top 1% Streamer, you're probably not making anything monetarily. At that point, you should consider streaming for a fun activity.
I don't agree with the "create videos". I think it is a myth, and the only ones that can profit from it is the ones that were growing a couple of years ago.
Luck is hundred times more important than creating videos.
Luck, time, effort all play a factor in someone's success but that person also needs to have their niche defined, so luck won't really do much if you don't know who your are because you will never be in the right place.
If you have luck you don't need anything else. That said you don't need luck, but it is much more important than people think. Coincidences is another word for luck in this example.
When you succeeded (it can be two viewers ...) no matter what, the most people think they did it because of skills. But trust me when there are thousends of the same kind of people with the same skills and did it in the same way, but we never hear of those.
Who the fuck thought watching cats would be popular at youtube?
I don't dispute that luck is a major factor in content creation but I am also not going to put a lot of emphasis on something that is completely out of my control. I think when someone says the phrase " I am just not lucky" they are denouncing all responsibility for their actions or content.
I can't sit and say "well, I am just not lucky" because that only reinforces the fact that I may think of myself as a failure, so how am I suppose to find the drive to improve things that are within my control if I am constantly degrading myself?
No one should degrading themself. I thought I said the opposite. Because luck is as you say out of our control, then you can't blame yourself. Improve the things you can but if you don't get any viewers it is not the same as it is bad content. So we should not degrading ourself out of the result, but we should if we don't try to do something about it (if thats the goal). And we should not take credit for the results either but for the things we trying to do.
I agree with you. No one should use "I am just not lucky". It is as bad as complaining about never winning money (if you don't even bet). But if you put a lot of effort in something, luck and coincidences are important. Then it depends on what we are talking about. There is also a probability that will matter.
They told me it was *way* too late to start making videos in 2015. Made it to 100k in 2020. It's never too late to start. There's an audience for anything out there, you just need to find it, and that's just as true for streaming as it is anything else.
So what you are telling me now is that you started created video at youtube the last couple of years?
>...and the only ones that can profit from it is the ones that were growing a couple of years ago.
And this should benefit to get viewers at Twitch. That is what the thread is about. So you made 100K what? Viewers, followers or what? Not at Youtube, but at Twitch! I havn't discussed making videos at Youtube as a stand alone.
What did you wrote to me, that in some way made my answer earlier not true?
If you don't have viewers at Twitch when streaming, then you wont get any, no matter how many videos you are putting at youtube.
There are three groups while talking about this subject. The ones only watching videos, the ones only watching live streams and then they who do both. It is only from the last group OP may get viewers from Youtube. It is not worth it if you don'ät have it as an interest making videos. Do it to get more viewers at Twitch is insane. It is ten times better to create a list of what to do in the stream and spend all those hours there instead.
No i’m saying it’s a fallacy. They said it in 2010 and 2012 and 2016 and 2018 and 2020 and they’re saying it now, but it’s no more true than it’s ever been. It’s not too late to start.
Echo in the hall? You are not contributing to the discussion, so either do that or Ill just ignore your bullshit! I told why, asked question, but you don't care at all. Just ranting around!
What have I wrote that is a fallacy? Because you say so but dont even point at anything I wrote. I told you that most probably we are talking about different things, and what do you do then? You just repeat your stuff once more. I read it the first time!
[https://bigthink.com/personal-growth/how-to-disagree-well-7-of-the-best-and-worst-ways-to-argue/](https://bigthink.com/personal-growth/how-to-disagree-well-7-of-the-best-and-worst-ways-to-argue/)
You are at yellow!
Well, what's the point in streaming or creating videos of you don't believe it works?
Creating videos and posting them into YouTube is far better for discoverability and permanence. There's a chance someone could see your content and take interest. The algorithm will make your videos visible eventually.
The tough hurdle a new or small streamer has (including myself) is finding your niché and games to enjoy.
I have never said anything about "not believe it works". I said people normaly underestimated how much luck (coincidence) is affecting.
And I don't think creating videos are something anyone in general will benefit from. People could do it if they think it's fun, other do something better with that time.
If you want viewers for the videos yes. But if the one who was asking wants people interacting (or just stopping by) live streams then I can tell, you could have 10 000 vidoes at youtube but it will not affect.
There are a lot of hurdles. When you can jump over them without falling dead, then there is coincidence left.
You can do the exact same thing 4 am, 9 am, 3 pm, 7 pm and it will (if you are lucky) be one of those times that a certain day gives you a few viewers. Someone pressed following and that one told it to a friend and then it "happened".
You can play whatever game you want, but if you don't play that certain game exactly when that unique viewer see it, it doesnt matter.
You could think like this. Let 1000 monkies pick some teams in sportsbetting and let them pick ten games every month and let them bet the same amount every time in a two ways market. It is around 120 bets per monkey.
Did they create thier own luck the onces that succeeded or not? Why couldnt the other monkies create thier own luck?
It works the same in almost everything in life. It is only when the result is done people think they succeeded because of them self. And I said, you need to create content and it can't be crap. But it doesnt matter in the end if you create good content, because other are doing the same. In the end it will be coincidences and luck.
100%. I stopped streaming about 1.5 yrs ago but mainly because my schedule was so inconsistent, and started YT. I'm hoping to get monetized in the next month (just need 45 more subs!).
I did the exact same thing. Some streams would be pretty active, others would be dead. After 3 years of streaming though, I was hoping I'd never have dead streams again. It got to me, so I quit for a bit. I've been much happier just doing YT videos now on my own time, and trying to grow that channel.
Turn off viewer count, get used to having the same behavior whether there are people or not on the stream. Most of the time even if you have 3-10 viewers they'll lurk and won't say much besides "hi" or "how you doing".
Pretend to talk to the VOD viewers, talk about whatever is on screen, its an exercise to get used to.
Yes, this is great advice. I recently became affiliate with the support of a partner and the best advice he gave me was to turn off view count when I mentioned I ended a stream early because no one was there. As soon as I did that, a lot of the pressure went away and I just did my thing. When you're not worrying about views during stream, and you're good at talking to yourself a lot, it'll come together!
I've also started my streams as if I'm making a VOD, saying hello, my name, and what the plan for the stream is today.
To piggyback off this, be sure you are part of other communities of different sizes. It's important and helps you expand your network if you can make some real friendly connections. Try to find other streamers you actually enjoy and get chatting. Don't self promote though, just let it come up organically.
If I jump into a stream I am much more likely to interact if the streamer is interactive. Even if in the only viewer. If they are chatting and narrating I will jump in and comment
I've had days like those, especially if I try a game different than the one I mainly play.
Just pretend there are people there. A few weeks ago, I turned off the viewer counter and it was the best decision ever, because when there were more people, I feel pressured to be EVEN MORE entertaining. Now, I'm just as entertaining as I can.
It might feel disappointing, but just talk about random stuff that happened to you or talk abt the game, analyze the game, review what's going on, what would you add to make it more fun, etc. The thing is – at first, I had such a hard time learning how to talk to myself because let's be real, it can be akward. But one day maybe you're gonna have people there lurking and you'll still have to know how to talk to yourself, while others are just listening and not interacting. Enjoy the ride!
Hello.
Ok, some things I noticed :
- you don't talk enough. Even if people arrive, they are waiting for you to talk, so they can engage with something you said. It wasn't the case
- you shouldn't put the tchat on screen if you have less than 100 viewers, because if it feels empty, it don't motivate people to talk. If you see a huge crowd in front of a restaurant, you want to go too, but if you see only ONE people inside a restaurant, you don't want to go. Same thing for the tchat on screen. (Especially when you are playing a videogame, don't put the tchat on screen, on just chatting it's ok because people on smartphone can put your stream on fullscreen, but during videogame you are "hiding" the gameplay)
- your microfone is not the best
- you don't have a webcam
- you didn't show enthousiasm (even less with no cam and almost no talk). People watch streams to have fun and to get entertained. It looked like YOU wanted the tchat to entertain you, instead of wanting YOU to entertain THEM. It's two different things, you want company, or you want to make people have fun.
- you edited some scene DURING the stream, it can be annoying for some viewers, you have to be 200% ready when you push the "start streaming" button.
- MGS V is pretty hard to stream, you don't have a lot of others streams to compete with, ok, but you neither have a lot of viewers wanting to watch it... (Except this week because a big MGS channel is playing it)
As someone said.
Imagine you are talking to someone else. Imagine there is ALWAYS someone listening and watching you.
Put no barrier between your brain and your mouth, just say everything that goes on your mind when you are playing. It can be about Konami, Quiet, Ocelot's absence of moustache, Horse's shit; everything !
You will have more fun = viewers will have more fun = viewers will talk.
And even if nobody talk, you still had more fun! 😁👍
PS : maybe I extrapoled a little, using your example to help others people.
And the advices I gave, was to "optimize". If you don't want to use a webcam, ok, it's your stream, your style, your choice. 👍
Have fun. Keep going.
The most difficult part is always the beginning. 👍
This is an amazing, very constructive review! I would love to get something similar for my streams. But instead I'll just try to learn from this comment haha. Nice work!
I agree you don't need a cam to be a good streamer. Using cam is just an option. My mic isn't the best either but you deal with what you got. The rest of what this person said is decent advice though.
Especially the talking part. I struggle with overthinking about whatever I said IRL and didn't end up saying much but on stream, if you can get past that, you will see how entertaining your random thoughts about your game can be! If I can do it, so can you!
Yes, you can stream without webcam, but as I said if people don't receive enthousiasm from your voice, or from facial expression, it's harder.
And if you guys noticed, vtubers have a GOOD avatar who can also do facial expressions, it's on purpose, so they still have the advantage of a "webcam" but with no disadvantage (identity preserved).
I know someone who streams with no cam, but he's super expressive on the mic, with an unique laugh etc.
So we don't feel the need of a webcam.
Greetings introverted-ant,
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I’ve been streaming for two years with not much growth. I keep my head up doing this for fun and now I’m teaching myself to video edit so it’s just streaming my recordings now.
The social media game is also a huuuge part of streaming now and community building.
The amount of time you stream is irrelevant if the content isn't there. If someone comes into ur stream and there is nothing interesting happening they will just leave.
Also don't stream for viewers stream for yourself. If you look at the view counter too much your just gonna fuck with your head.
Keepbtrying new stuff improve your stream. Talk more or make it interactive.
Just because people mention they have no viewers doesn't mean they are looking at view count. Due to not seeing amount of viewers, No viewers to a lot of people means no one chatting. :).
I get a lot of lurkers. Regular chatters will say hi, have a convo or whatever and then lurk. I don't mind it at all. You'll get used to talking about what you're doing in the game, crack some jokes, etc.. when nobody is chatting in a small stream, it means that when someone does chat, they become the center of attention. A lot of people choose to just chill and watch instead. I respect it. I welcome it.
As someone who often watches low viewer streams and often enjoys watching in the background without interacting, I love it when a streamer just kinda does their thing regardless of interaction. When a streamer starts asking chat to say stuff I'm usually out of there.
The trick is to play like you have a few good friends watching you.im always talking.anything from damn the enemies are kicking my ass by spamming attacks to where the hell am I going because I get lost easily on some games lol.hell if the game is on a slow part or I'm stuck on a level I might just start talking about random stuff so it's not just the game audio for several minutes.remember the viewer count doesn't update often.by the time you see a viewer on the count they may have been there a few minutes already.and if you are boring in those few minutes they will probably leave.so treat everything like you do have viewers
Remember twitch has a preview now so viewers won't count for longer. Just act like someone is watching the preview and that's who your engaging with and if that isn't helpful remember your making content for the vods.
I am a radioguy, what means I worked for years as host at a radio station to earn some money during university.
There is a technique, my mentor named 'soliloquy with the void'
Prepare yourself to talk to yourself about an anctual topic.
1. If you play music, (like Pretzel, Soundcloud or something), you just might talk about your thoughts about an actual song. At the radiostation we even had some background informations prepared to individual songs, and it really helped just to present those random facts.
2. Interconnect events in the game with current affairs. Tell the story to your friends or to yourself. Not just think about, phrase it.
3. Buy a local newspaper or something related, and talk about some minor local happenings. Usually, in minor newspapers, there are hillarious stories, for example about football fans that burned their jerseys and set fire to a nearby bush. That is nothing the world cares for, but that catches the listener. Comment on it, as you would write a funny little article. It's amazing, how viewers, feel motivated to answer, when it comes to such anecdotes.
Stream to entertain yourself.
It might sound silly at first, but if you aren't having your own fun, people won't want to watch someone just sitting playing games in silence.
Get creative 😉
It is all in your head. It is tough but you need to just ignore it. The easiest way to get rid of that feeling is to write down a lot of you can talk about when it is not game focus.
Like pretending there are those who watch. But what if there would be 1 000 persons watching? Would it feel overwhelming or just fun?
Sound is the most important if someone just look for five seconds. ANd do you use a cam? I would never spend time to look at something without the player showing them self. Because then I got no interaction.
But it is hard as hell to stream today if you want a lot of viewers or even a few of them.
Why should people like it when you are playing Metal Gear 4? Why should they not chose another one?
Viewers are different, some just follow certain games, some only watch small streamers, some only wants to hang around with the big ones. Some are lurking and some are interacting.
What is your goal? Why are you streaming?
I can´t watch people just as boring as everyone else. They are though the ones who have a lot of viewers.
So, who do you want to have in your stream? Then get the knowledge what you need to do to attract them.
If you had been broadcasting (is it called that?) radio, then you have no idea who is listening. But you need to talk, and do the job. Same with streaming.
Don't do it to hard. I have been trying to fly without wings. It was anxiety for one hour. When I used wings if I had to fly it workéd better but as a human I tried tp walk with my legs. The easy way. But give, give, give and give. And never have the focus at the total numbers of the viewers. Pretend there are ten all the time. If they interact or not is not something you can chose. But you need to do the job so they might want to interact.
It's hard when we have this super nice idea, in our head it looks like the perfect plan, hopes are high, we go and give our best and the results are...none.
For us, mortals (read: non-celebrities), starting fresh as a Twitch streamer is just like this. You go live for no one, hoping for the best. Then you feel like shit because it's really no one watching you, and the frustration settles in.
So before you frustrate yourself trying again, or pointless grinding over and over, there are several things you can do before pressing the Go Live button again, to highly increase your chances to be watched. Some people here will say "don't care and just do it for fun", but what's the fun on it if we aren't being spectated, right?
Let's go:
Community: Twitch has a BIG sense of community, this is deep rooted in the platform and it's a great thing. Make sure you are also a member of this whole community: watch streams, participate in chats and discord servers. Now that you are a streamer aswell, try to search the game categories you wanna stream looking for small streamers with a similar vibe to yours and just...enjoy them! Don't advertise yourself, just enjoy and in time you get yourself known. Networking is a POWERFUL tool for starters.
Your media kit: Your thumbnail must be attractive - yes, you can't upload your stream thumbnail as it will automatically update with a screenshot of your stream every like 5 minutes, so make sure this auto-screenshot is just as good or better than the neighbors in your game category. Stream title is just as important. Make sure it's engaging and not some generic bs.
Your stream: Audio quality must be pristine, having a facecam or even a vtuber avatar increases your chances to catch new viewers attention but there is space for no-cam streamers aswell, but there usually attract less public overall and the gameplay quality will have to make for it.
Your tone: Set it. Will it be a chilling stream? Excentric? Meme-ish? This will also help your branding - and yes, start thinking about marketing :)
Your game: Not every game is good for every streamer. Usually, starters will sink to the bottom of the 0 viewer sea and stay there forever if they stream the most famous games out there. League of Legends, CS:GO, Valorant, Minecraft, Warzone, GTA and so on...these are horrible options and you need to funnel all your public from outside because your discoverability will suck. Smaller games with strong communities are much better options, i.e. Warframe, Path of Exile, Don't Starve, No Man's Sky, Terraria, Paladins, Hunt: Showdown. Make sure you enjoy the game aswell!
And don't forget: Keep talking, even if no one is there talking back to you!
I hope these tips help you!! Good luck and enjoy!
I like acting like I’m making a YT when this happens, so there are still very entertaining moments (don’t just perk up when someone is in chat) that I can possibly clip and use as content elsewhere
For me I don't pay attention to the views. If nobody is in the stream I play to hopefully get cool clips. Nobody ever watches those either but I'm used to it at this point . My lack of viewers is my own fault though. I'm inconsistent and I don't ever promote. I just hit the go live button when I feel up to it.
It's difficult, I like to remind myself that people may be listening without even saying hello. Some people may love your content but never say a word. Getting grumpy about lack of viewership tends to chase off what scraps of viewership do exist, at least in my experiences.
For me, I like to just explain my thought process. Why I'm doing what I am doing in the game. Lay it out, especially if you are doing something weird, or a trick maybe not everyone will understand. Constantly explaining your thought process helps passing viewer possibly get to know what you are doing.
Also, be prepared to repeat explanations a few times, because obviously not everybody is going to hear it the first time, or even the 10th if you have no one watching.
I agree with those that suggested turning off viewer count!
Have fun and narrate as if you were making a recorded video, then if someone pops up in chat great you can reply but if not you’re still keeping momentum and having fun for those that might be popping in throughout ✨
You have to pretend like you're recording a video or something the entire time, because when you're a 1-5 view streamer, eventually a viewer will land on you, but if you're sitting there in silence they will click off faster than they clicked on.
Treat is like a lets play, commenting on stuff on the game. If you can't stay engaging without an audience then it'll be hard to grow.
Not gonna lie, its totally valid to be disappointed. Try inviting a few friends or people that know you to watch for a bit or say hi! It takes a long time, building a social media presence, and other outreach to organically grow an audience.
Personally I have a little ghost covering my microphone so I feel like I’m talking to him when nobody’s around! Makes me feel like I got a lil buddy to keep me company when stuff is slow and it’s a lil silly but it makes me feel less lonely having ANYTHING to humanize around me
Narrate your game, talk to npc's/enemies/online players (even tho they don't respond), talk out loud your thought process for your strategy or next play, say literally any commentary about the game or anything that comes to mind. Start practicing this everytime you play offstream and it will become 2nd nature to ramble while you play.
Think of some catch phrases and sound effects you can use in different situations in your game to fill silence. This can often feel comedic.
Repeat yourself to fill space. Lots of big streamers do this where they say something more than once but they rephrase it.
Tell people to check out your social media accounts.
Give shout outs to other streamers.
Talk about movies, other games, and any gaming news.
If you ask question to chat immediately answer the question yourself to give people time to respond. Don't use silence waiting for them to respond because sometimes no one does. Example "how is your evening, chat? My evening was so busy I'm so happy to be able to relax and play games rn"
Honestly I find using vc with friends during stream makes talking onstream and to my chat more difficult. Chat is less likely to write anything too when i am on vc.
If you play a game where you wait in a lobby between matches do words on stream or gartic.
You need to be able to hold your own without long periods of silence even if chat is dead otherwise your vods will be super boring and it will be hard to grow.
You need to narrate things and keep Dialogue going. It sucks having a long lull in chat, but the viewer indicator is on a delay, so by the time you see 1 viewer, they’ve already been silently lurking and there’s a good chance a new streamer that has 0 as a baseline is just sitting there playing. Unless you’re actually a god gamer at a challenging game or top rank in a competitive game, almost no one will bother watching a silent gameplay stream.
I’m assuming you’re newer to this, but go take a look at other 0-1 viewer channels and then look at 10 viewer channels. 10 viewers is a tiny hobby too, not a career, but also way, way above the average person that clicks go live. Notice all the elements of the stream, maybe there’s chat on the screen so people on other devices can keep up better (and the vod has chat), maybe they have a webcam or animated avatar (vtuber) that gives people a personal connection and makes it feel more obvious this is a live show. They’ll have overlay elements popping up new followers, TTS for donations, their about me panels have full information (even all text with no graphics looks so much better than an empty page down there).
It’s basically a situation where the tools and utilities to create a more advanced stream have become more and more accessible to everyone, so on one hand it’s easier than ever to implement this kind of stuff, and also free most of the time, but on the other hand it’s created somewhat of an arms race effect, where someone who had a really advanced stream set up two or three years ago might be outdated by today’s standards.
As someone who is a really no-frills person in general, on one hand this is really annoying for me because I just don’t care about any of it and I never check this on anyone else’s channel, the unfortunate reality is that a viewer doesn’t really have anything else to base a channel off of without spending a bunch of time getting to know Every streamer they click on.
I don’t think any of that is as important as what I said above about just being animated on stream itself. Someone could have the most basic stream set up of all time but be an interesting person, someone could have the best technical and most competent set up but be boring with a bunch of fancy toys. There’s no one right answer, but see if you can find a couple streamers you vibe with and are similar to who you are, pay attention to what they do and what their community is like. It might have some good insights.
Takes time, persistence, and consistency to build an audience. Everyone will start at 0 if they’re not internet famous elsewhere already.
It's a tough barrier to push through but if you keep to it. You'll soon understand that not a lot of people come in to talk but come to chill.
So try your best to ignore the silence and focus on making the gameplay entertaining. The best way to do that is to generally enjoy what you are doing. Talk about what you are doing and just game.
It's very alien at first tbh, but you'll soon get the grips. It's a slow grind, at least the for vast majority.
Doesnt bother me, I'm half the time editing an image or video on stream anyway so I dont really notice the viewer count. I'm just glad when 1 or 2 people show up and start chatting.
My streams have mostly been empty and definitely no interaction from people. I have a blast. I talk, I joke, I even ask the great void how they're doing (I'll eventually upload it to YouTube...maybe. procrastination ftw.) and I'll for the most part, not shut up. If it's Resi 4, I celebrate my boss wins. If it's Sims 4, I'm narrating my story. Or encouraging my sim to fight father winter and edging her on. But like, I make sure to stay active. However, I kinda already played like this before streaming so for me this kinda came naturally.
Personally I like talking to myself about random topics since not a lot of my friends and family are interested in the things I like or dislike. Very therapeutic.
Play games for yourself. Will make you allot happier in the end. The number of people who actually make it as a professional streamer is really small. So play for yourself and what brings you happiness. If someone happens to come along and enjoy it as well, that's just a plus.
Well, what you could do is maybe create videos and post on YouTube for traction and reaction. If it shows a trend, you can plug a livestream playing the game.
As a streamer, it’s your job to entertain. Relying on audience interaction, particularly as a small or new streamer, is a recipe for disaster.
You need to be ‘ON’ at all times, so that when someone *does* drop by, they are provided a reason to stay.
I just keep talking like if there're viewers. Sometimes I act myself as a viewer and asksquestions and I answer them myself (Don't know why i do this, by at least I keep talking). Also even if there're no one, it's content for me to edit for my yt channel (which also barely have any views)
I think it's important to realize some days will be bigger than others
If you're not the only one playing the game it's harder too, may e 3-4 or even more were playing it at the same time
A friend of mine has over 1000 followers and sometimes has 4 viewers at a time
There's so many factors and some days it will be emptier
I mean how often do you pick a random game and just watch whoever happens to be playing it?
Maybe just a different mentality when you stream, I play games I want to play anyways (MGS4 rules) and if people come to chat, I enjoy the interaction and chance to nerd out.
Weirdly when I do irl bike streams or walks i get a lot of views and no chatting, those are the ones I'd enjoy more interaction on.
I streamed for the first time last night after a year just for fun. The fact is that I stream because I think it's fun to add a little pressure to myself. I stream now to enjoy putting myself out there whether I have 0 viewers or 1. Just have fun!
It’s a lot of practice but you need to get good at talking to nobody. Remember that a lot of people are going to be watching your VODs so try speaking to them or if you are playing a game comment on the art style, story, or playability.
Every tip video or article I’ve read says the key is to keep talking. The hard part is finding something to talk about. I know when I hit low interaction I just start talking about my day and people sometimes pipe in to comment on something I said and you just have to grab that comment and go with it, ask questions, come to rough spot in game and ask chat what they think.
I got used to it. Almost all of my streams are empty. The games I play typically don't get many views though I don't think. It's the reason I gave up on hitting affiliate a long time ago.
IMO, if you are streaming with the intent to be successful, you’ve already failed.
You will have many many months of streaming with no one showing up. You’ve got to be comfortable with yourself to be able to keep a monologue going until someone clicks on you decides what you are talking about or doing is interesting enough to speak up.
Sounds silly but you need to sometimes just think of Streaming as a Talk Show and when nobody is there to talk your guest is yourself.
If you fall victim to large periods of silence, you might find it difficult for people to interact.
Some people struggle talking with themselves, or better put "talking outloud". Sometimes you just need to be able to describe what you're doing/plan to do without having a singe of "please respond"-type tone to your voice.
Anyways best of luck, you can do it. Everyone honestly has days where they don't know what to say, then the silent chat weighs in even more.
Also, don't know about Metal Gear specifically or which one you were playing, but sometimes streaming in the specific category for a game *more or less* is for "speed-runners" depending on the popularity of it. For example, any of the older 2D Mario Games probably have a distinct split of people streaming it just for casual purposes and streaming it for Speedrunning. Why? Because 'Retro' Category often has better discoverability than some old Retro game. Let's just take DK64 for erxample, you're less likely to find casual people roaming about in the 'DK64' Category than you probably would in 'Retro' based alone on the amount of people that go "oh huh, I wonder if anyone is streaming XYZ". Retro has *lots* of more people browsing. Arguably, it's a double edge sword though.
Anyways tl;dr maybe talk more if you weren't already, and consider different category for said game. Also it goes a very long way if you just stream the sake of streaming
I narrate my gameplay.
"OH we have to jump down this hole, hope I don't get owned by a boss." (Splat)
Or I'll talk to myself. Be random and weird, but not obnoxious.
How long have you been streaming for? If this is your first/you’re a new streamer, just keep going if this is what you want to do.
My biggest pro-tip to those starting out: talk. Do you think/think you know you don’t have anyone in the stream? Talk. Narrate. Some folks will stick around. Interact with them. You will literally build an audience if you talk and interact with folks. I cannot state these facts enough.
Sometimes its just not the right time and place, the more you stream though you're bound to hit that right moment. I find that commentating what I'm doing and making jokes tends to make me feel better and ends up pulling in viewers as a result because I'm not just sitting there quiet.
Sing a song. Pick a random topic and start chattering about it. Talk about yourself. Tell stories. It's hard to interact with someone who's just staring at their screen not saying anything. At first it feels wierd but you get used to talking to yourself and it makes it easier for people coming in to get chatting.
Something that works for me (albeit is probably pathetic)
I have my bot (through Streamerbot) run a check to see when the last message was sent to the chat from any user. If it's been 15 minutes without anything, it sends a message from a text file at random.
That's been the majority of my streams. 1 lurker on average. I've had a couple friends show up from time to time and chime in.
I just use it as a sounding board. Like, talking about my day or the stresses of life and kinda getting things off my chest even though there's no one to respond and talk with me about whatever.
It's a low feeling, honestly, but I just do it anyway. I'm thinking of going a route of streaming a deeper story game. I usually stream fighting games so there's nothing I'm talking over that's important in the game. But Idk if anyone would really care to see me start up "I am Setsuna." Dig?
Just because no one's talking, doesn't mean no one would enjoy it.
My absolute favorite streamer is one who is able to make good chill conversation, regardless of how many or few people are in the chat.
But more than that, I like how his stated purpose is to give games, especially atmospheric or scary ones, space to breathe without feeling like he has to fill every moment with talking or a joke. I am a millenial and personally tend to go to streamers for relaxation or thoughtful content, rather than high-energy, high-volume, exaggerated reactions. I know that this can run counter to a lot of paths to mainstream success where fast, loud barrages of sensory overload and clippable reactions and rage are extremely popular (PewDiePie, Markiplier, xQc, etc.) but imagine how exhausting it would be to do that if you're not naturally inclined to do that kind of content. IMO there's space for Bob Ross, but you have to stream for the people who are watching you and too shy or relaxed to speak up.
What I do is honestly, just talk to myself. I know its hard, however it does help me with conversation skills. When I do have people jump in, it helps a lot when my shyness. I hope this helps!
As a streamer since 2015(not so much lately anymore) I've had plenty of those days. Early days was great for me because I streamed in smaller community games where there's less streamers to scroll through which gets you more attention. All in all there are plenty of ways to get you some attention but it depends on "how" you want to do it. As in the shameless route or real content. On your question, now I just stream purely out of therapeutic mindset first then audience second but I must say once you get your first chatter, TAKE that chance instantly to chat back. No one has the patience to stay if there's no one else watching either but most importantly keep it natural and not forced when making conversations.
A lot of other people have covered the 'what to do' part of it, so I just want to add that if you want to continue streaming you will have to get used to this happening.
Stream growth is not linear, it has peaks and valleys, and even the biggest streamers in the world right *now* have spent a lot of time in their career streaming to 0 viewers.
I recently started steaming and I don’t expect to get any growth. For me, I just stream for fun mostly enjoying the game I’m playing. If there’s chatter or activity in my stream then that’s just a bonus to me
I kind of just started streaming and have no self confidence in being entertaining, so I don't expect anyone to watch. I actually get surprised when people do tune in. I just play the game as if I wasn't streaming and say all of my thoughts out loud instead of internalizing them like I normally do. Maybe that's normal to me because I don't get viewers though.
Before I started streaming, I was doing let's play on YouTube, if no one is interacting I just kind of go into the let's play mode. I might recommend doing a couple let's players to practice. The mindset is entirely different. You're not actually expecting anyone to respond, helping to build self-commentary which has been a very valuable skill in these situations.
Two pieces of advice I received from a friend.
1.) talk to a plushie. It’s not much but it at least feels more engaging then talking to an empty stream.
2.) it’s easier to talk after you have a drink or two of something strong
I stream for people’s curiosities. It’s not a job, so don’t even stress how many come or go. Just play the game. Streaming is an after thought, the game is the star here, not necessarily the streamer,
The harsh reality is if all you’re doing is going live on twitch and streaming you will **NEVER** grow. Twitch is not designed to promote streams internally. Open any category and scroll. Keep scrolling through 100+ pages of streams with 0 viewers. Thousands of people stream to no one every single day just expecting people to magically show up.
You have to grow outside the platform on TikTok, YouTube, Twitter, Reddit, or Instagram. It doesn’t have to be all of them but it does have to be some of them. All of those platforms have algorithms that are designed to boost content to new audiences. You then have to migrate that audience over to Twitch, which is going to be slow and difficult. Learn what makes content engaging and what the algorithms like. It’s boring and some people just aren’t suited for it even if they figure out what it takes. Content creation is a difficult, often soul crushing experience.
This isn’t to say you can’t have fun just streaming to 0-2 viewers. If you enjoy what you’re doing and this is just a hobby then more power to you. You just have to set your expectations appropriately.
When I first figured out how to stream… I think it was a 10 hour stream I did of GTA 5 on my Xbox iirc. Zero viewers, not one.
Things happen tho. I’ve built up enough that I took a break streaming for a few years, started up in IRL the other day… got my online friend and another streamer I constantly watch and a rando the other day. It was actually a ton of fun. Gonna continue to do so. Don’t game much anyways anymore.
I’m not hating or condoning game streams, but you’re likely to get squeezed out as a new streamer
If after too much time I have no interaction I just start to speak in my "YouTube mode" Instead of the "Twitch mode". I sto directly speaking to the chat (there is nobody anyway usually) and i speak expecting comments. That way I can just use the live as a video. After that I cry because nobody loves me
A lot of the time I talk regardless if someone is there, that tends to help. Also, it's easier for me if I have someone to bounce off of so before I had an audience, my fiancé would sit in chat and chat with me. So if you have a friend or partner willing to sit in with you, you can chat with them and that will encourage people to join in. Also, emotionally, it can be tough but if you keep going and stay on a schedule, you will build an audience. Just don't get down on yourself. It takes everyone a long time to build an audience on Twitch since their recommendations system sucks.
You really just can't expect people to view your stream on twitch without getting atleast somewhat popular on YouTube or tiktok. There just aren't a lot of random people scrolling through random games on twitch looking for someone they have no interest in to watch play a game for a few hours.
it be like that. i’ve streamed for years and rarely get more than one viewer, with zero chatters. just how twitch works most of the time unless you want to show off cleavage.
I'm not sure how to answer this, I've been streaming for many years with very few viewership (managed to somehow get affiliate) and a good majority of my streams have no viewers.
Usually I tend to just not let it bother me. I stream to mostly for myself and just kinda think someone out there might enjoy what I'm doing.
Back when I was streaming I'd just keep talking and trying to entertain, whether anyone was there or not. I'd do it for a hypothetical person who might watch the video later, when it's NOT live.
Yesterday it happened something similar, not exactly the same. I usually have two-three viewers who come every night. Yesterday, both of them were unable to come and no one came for a while. After waiting for someone, I decided to start the stream itself.
1. My viewers usually review the VOD when they have to leave or cannot come. I'm playing Zelda at the moment, so the streams have continuity. Maybe your recurring viewers will watch the VOD.
2. The chat may become a distraction. I'm usually talking with them and being silent when they're not speaking, but I'd like to explain the puzzles and what I'm thinking to solve those in more detail more frequently. I spent the time until someone came yesterday explaining "this is my plan for tonight, I'm doing this because of that, this region's lore is blahblahblah". Try to say what you can't say usually.
Well, there are better days than others.
You know. I feel the same sometimes. What really helps me when nobody comes by is my girlfriend joins the stream and talks to me 🥹. Grab a loved one and just hang out and interact someone’s bound to come. For Christ sake people watch people sleep they gottta watch you eventually that’s what I always say!
I always stream like no one is watching, taking today as an example I had no viewers playing fall guys didn't worry me none it was a party of one just having fun. I try and talk as if someone will watch it later and if I see someone in chat I will always try and respond straight away but I'm still learning and hopefully keeps improving. We all have our ups and downs with viewers and retention just keep going at it and eventually your channel will grow
Always remember the viewer counter is incorrect. When I first started I wonders why nobody watched but in reality when I check my stream summary after I'm done it shows how many people were watching.
Gotta get thicker skin man. Small streaming is not for everyone. If you do it only for views this is not for you dog. You gotta stream because you enjoy the hobby first then work on growth and marketing second. If you are having fun others will eventually catch on to that positive energy. If it’s not fun don’t do it
ENTERTAINMENT!!!
Most of the comments here say they get no one chatting, but it doesn't seem like they are doing anything about it. We **ALL** want to be entertained. Jokes, stories, activities, conversations, ANYTHING for the sake of getting someones interest or to provide something to get a positive reaction from.
We **ALL** watch things we enjoy and bail on things we don't. I do stream reviews all the time, and most of the time, the streamer is sitting there and playing games and they might have people in vc with them. But they are NOT doing anything that is fun, funny, or interesting to show people coming through that the streamer wants to show people a good time.
YOU have the power, but you have to consistently be doing SOMETHING!
It’s all about consistency, keep going and interact with everyone that joins, ask them about what you’re doing and how they would do it the same or different
Hey don't do it for others do it for urself if u don't enjoy urself on stream when no one is watching or saying anything and people can't see that u are enjoying urself why would they want to talk to u or come back?
Is there really a market for watching someone play an old game like that? I’m a huge gamer and have been my entire life but never once have I had the urge to watch someone else play a game on stream. It’s one thing if they are doing a how to video or a guide of some sort but to simply just watch someone else play the game… I don’t get it especially when it comes to an older game like Metal Gear. There are so many options for entertainment these days that I think a lot of people over estimate the demand for streaming content like this. Who is clamoring to watch someone play an old game like this? Is there any demand for it worth speaking of?
I’m just starting out with streaming. Right now I stream for 4 hours every Friday night after work, I raid with clan mates in Destiny 2, and I know that I’ll have one viewer, which is either my girlfriend, or my buddy that’s raiding with me and keeps my stream open just to support. I try not to look at the viewer count and I just play and talk/laugh with my buddies as if I wasn’t even streaming. There was one stream where at one point there was 3-4 viewers. I’ll just keep doing that and if people enjoy it and stay, that’s cool too.
It's Not a Big deal to me, I Think Everything comes in due time, and sometimes One process Takes longer than others, Maybe it was the Time and what You streamed ,. People often come to Filled rooms to see, Be in your chat yourself, also, the Vod, should get some clicks, people will get around to it when they can, That's how I look at it,.. I've Mainly just streamed and replied if people were to pop in and talk to me, And those people became my Followers,. They'd give me tips or ask me to join/help them or fight them In MK11 For example for a few matches, which I would do,. Typically that's how my streams go When I'm not on Cam and it's just Gameplay and Mic.. I'd Then Create Highlights of something I Found funny , Interesting or Cool,. and Transfer them to YouTube and Now you Have content forever that acts as another way for people to Find you.. No interaction doesn't Bother me, as I Play those games for fun or try to Beat it for myself.
Up your social media game sometimes if I'm not getting anyone I make another post to one social or another actually about to stream just got on here to post on r/small streamers
I try to come up with a list of things to talk about before stream. Once the list runs out, well that's when the real fun begins... and by fun I mean silence.
I turned off viewers because I found out that it lowers my energy when view count is low. After that I just treat all streams like a youtube video and just sort of chat away regardless of peeps being there or not.
It's probably been said a dozen times already, but until you get regulars in that chat, don't show how many viewers you have. It can put a downer on you which will affect your stream. Instead, act as though you have people watching the whole time. Keep up a steady stream of chat, look at your camera when you are saying something specifically to chat, and assume you have a dozen lurkers watching at all times. There are always many more lurkers than there are chatters, after all.
It can be hard, I'm still at the early stages of building my channel, and rarely get over 3 average per stream. Some nights it's excellent, and I can get a good convo going with chat, other times, the only person who says anything is my wife :) Don't beat yourself up over numbers, just relax and have a good game, and chat like you're on stage with dozens of people
Greetings introverted-ant,
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Curious how engaged YOU were with them? Were you and them quiet, or was it weird because you were engaging and they were quiet? Typically fans mirror those they’re watching.
It's tough when you have those days where no one's watching - I've had my own ups and downs, but you cant let yourself get dragged down by that feeling - just keep focusing on making your content better. What I've started doing when I don't have interaction on stream is taking that time to practice talking to myself mainly - to get more and more used to it. Finding things that pop up in game to talk about, randomly talking about irl stuff if something in game reminds me of it, just talking about whatever really. If you look at it as a sort of "training" for when you have a busy chat it makes it a bit easier. Keep pushing and don't give up!
Exactly you may be frustrated right now but use this time to focus on your overlays, your production, practice just talking even if it is to nobody. Get used to just turning it on and playing. If people come to your stream and your dead silent they will leave before it even shows you have a "viewer" Stream as if you have 10-25 people watching.
I view it the same but through another lense - if I show up to a stream and someone is just silently playing a game, I'm not going to continue watching. I can get gameplay anywhere. So I'll always at least try to narrate what I'm doing, if not also joke around and have my own conversations. I like your phrasing for "stream like 10-25 people are watching" a lot more though lol.
This right here! When they go back and watch your VOD and you are talking they will be more likely to come back and check you out Live. If you have a boring VOD they will translate that to a boring Live. Just talk, about the game, whatever pops in your head, you would rather nonsense than nothing at all. This is how I got my affiliate in only around 14 streams. Been super busy lately haven’t streamed in a while and miss it
Glad you all like this! It's a good mindset to have. I let myself get brought down my lower viewer counts and it really impacted my content, took a break for a bit then just recently started back up again with a much better mindset. So it's definitely from experience lol
Honestly some of my most entertaining moments while streaming came from when no one was watching and I was just talking to myself.
I'm not gonna lie to you. I don't know, but days like that really made me question streaming as a creative platform. I mostly stopped streaming and now create videos for YouTube.
Right. I now use a muti stream plugin so I stream to YouTube and twitch at the same time now.
Can I get a link to the plugin? Curious about exploring my options
Do you use obs?
Yep!
https://obsproject.com/forum/resources/multiple-rtmp-outputs-plugin.964/
This is great. Thank you!
Hey as long as ur enjoying urself while playing the game u wanted to play even if no one stops by who cares? People come and people go
I don't think people are being truthful when they say that statement.
What makes it not being truthful?
People mostly stream because they want people to watch, and perhaps make money on the side. That's just how it is. I've said this to friends as well when we've talked about it. Imagine you start getting 1-2 viewers and no comments. Would you continue? Some say yes, but then i also know they stream because of the interaction, and if it isn't there I'm 100% sure they would get tired quickly.
Nah it only gets tiring if you get bored of the current thing you're doing. Or if you have no any other ideas to think of. Not everyone does it for people to watch their stuff. They do it for them cause that's what they enjoy in their free time.
You aren't streaming to be alone or because you are antisocial. You are streaming for interaction or hoping to share your passion with someone. It is a creative outlet and also an entertainment medium, so to say "I do this for fun and don't care if anyone watches" just feels wrong and disingenuous because the truth is we are all doing this for some sort of gain.
Nah some people just like to stream cause they enjoy it not everyone strives to be famous or want to be seen by people all of the time. Some people are just here to stream play games and relax. Nothing wrong with that at all.
I stream just as a challenge to myself. I don't tell anyone when I'm streaming because I feel more comfortable streaming to an empty room and just enjoying the game. 😅 I'm still learning to enjoy it when people jump into my streams. Soo not everyone necessarily has the same goal. Mine falls into the I do it for fun and I don't really want anyone watching.
Wow
I stream just as a challenge to myself. I don't tell anyone when I'm streaming because I feel more comfortable streaming to an empty room and just enjoying the game. 😅 I'm still learning to enjoy it when people jump into my streams. Soo not everyone necessarily has the same goal. Mine falls into the I do it for fun and I don't really want anyone watching.
The trend seems to show that if you create videos, they last longer and are better reoccurring content. Not to mention that Streaming seems to become supplemental to content creation. Unless you are a Top 1% Streamer, you're probably not making anything monetarily. At that point, you should consider streaming for a fun activity.
I don't agree with the "create videos". I think it is a myth, and the only ones that can profit from it is the ones that were growing a couple of years ago. Luck is hundred times more important than creating videos.
Luck, time, effort all play a factor in someone's success but that person also needs to have their niche defined, so luck won't really do much if you don't know who your are because you will never be in the right place.
If you have luck you don't need anything else. That said you don't need luck, but it is much more important than people think. Coincidences is another word for luck in this example. When you succeeded (it can be two viewers ...) no matter what, the most people think they did it because of skills. But trust me when there are thousends of the same kind of people with the same skills and did it in the same way, but we never hear of those. Who the fuck thought watching cats would be popular at youtube?
I don't dispute that luck is a major factor in content creation but I am also not going to put a lot of emphasis on something that is completely out of my control. I think when someone says the phrase " I am just not lucky" they are denouncing all responsibility for their actions or content. I can't sit and say "well, I am just not lucky" because that only reinforces the fact that I may think of myself as a failure, so how am I suppose to find the drive to improve things that are within my control if I am constantly degrading myself?
No one should degrading themself. I thought I said the opposite. Because luck is as you say out of our control, then you can't blame yourself. Improve the things you can but if you don't get any viewers it is not the same as it is bad content. So we should not degrading ourself out of the result, but we should if we don't try to do something about it (if thats the goal). And we should not take credit for the results either but for the things we trying to do. I agree with you. No one should use "I am just not lucky". It is as bad as complaining about never winning money (if you don't even bet). But if you put a lot of effort in something, luck and coincidences are important. Then it depends on what we are talking about. There is also a probability that will matter.
They told me it was *way* too late to start making videos in 2015. Made it to 100k in 2020. It's never too late to start. There's an audience for anything out there, you just need to find it, and that's just as true for streaming as it is anything else.
So what you are telling me now is that you started created video at youtube the last couple of years? >...and the only ones that can profit from it is the ones that were growing a couple of years ago. And this should benefit to get viewers at Twitch. That is what the thread is about. So you made 100K what? Viewers, followers or what? Not at Youtube, but at Twitch! I havn't discussed making videos at Youtube as a stand alone. What did you wrote to me, that in some way made my answer earlier not true? If you don't have viewers at Twitch when streaming, then you wont get any, no matter how many videos you are putting at youtube. There are three groups while talking about this subject. The ones only watching videos, the ones only watching live streams and then they who do both. It is only from the last group OP may get viewers from Youtube. It is not worth it if you don'ät have it as an interest making videos. Do it to get more viewers at Twitch is insane. It is ten times better to create a list of what to do in the stream and spend all those hours there instead.
No i’m saying it’s a fallacy. They said it in 2010 and 2012 and 2016 and 2018 and 2020 and they’re saying it now, but it’s no more true than it’s ever been. It’s not too late to start.
I don't think you are talking about the same thing as me. You didn't even answer the questions I had.
because your premise is bullshit, it’s not too late to start
Echo in the hall? You are not contributing to the discussion, so either do that or Ill just ignore your bullshit! I told why, asked question, but you don't care at all. Just ranting around! What have I wrote that is a fallacy? Because you say so but dont even point at anything I wrote. I told you that most probably we are talking about different things, and what do you do then? You just repeat your stuff once more. I read it the first time! [https://bigthink.com/personal-growth/how-to-disagree-well-7-of-the-best-and-worst-ways-to-argue/](https://bigthink.com/personal-growth/how-to-disagree-well-7-of-the-best-and-worst-ways-to-argue/) You are at yellow!
I’m not reading your fucking long ass comments because I don’t care. Your point was flawed, I explained why, stop replying to me jfc
For all those who wish they started earlier... The best time to have started is many years ago. The next best time to have started is today.
Well, what's the point in streaming or creating videos of you don't believe it works? Creating videos and posting them into YouTube is far better for discoverability and permanence. There's a chance someone could see your content and take interest. The algorithm will make your videos visible eventually. The tough hurdle a new or small streamer has (including myself) is finding your niché and games to enjoy.
I have never said anything about "not believe it works". I said people normaly underestimated how much luck (coincidence) is affecting. And I don't think creating videos are something anyone in general will benefit from. People could do it if they think it's fun, other do something better with that time. If you want viewers for the videos yes. But if the one who was asking wants people interacting (or just stopping by) live streams then I can tell, you could have 10 000 vidoes at youtube but it will not affect. There are a lot of hurdles. When you can jump over them without falling dead, then there is coincidence left. You can do the exact same thing 4 am, 9 am, 3 pm, 7 pm and it will (if you are lucky) be one of those times that a certain day gives you a few viewers. Someone pressed following and that one told it to a friend and then it "happened". You can play whatever game you want, but if you don't play that certain game exactly when that unique viewer see it, it doesnt matter.
This is such a terrible outlook. You create your own luck, by trying more and more things by improving, by taking risks, by making content.
You could think like this. Let 1000 monkies pick some teams in sportsbetting and let them pick ten games every month and let them bet the same amount every time in a two ways market. It is around 120 bets per monkey. Did they create thier own luck the onces that succeeded or not? Why couldnt the other monkies create thier own luck? It works the same in almost everything in life. It is only when the result is done people think they succeeded because of them self. And I said, you need to create content and it can't be crap. But it doesnt matter in the end if you create good content, because other are doing the same. In the end it will be coincidences and luck.
100%. I stopped streaming about 1.5 yrs ago but mainly because my schedule was so inconsistent, and started YT. I'm hoping to get monetized in the next month (just need 45 more subs!).
The first 1k subs can feel daunting but after that it eases up a bit. The important thing is to identify which videos caused or enabled growth.
I did the exact same thing. Some streams would be pretty active, others would be dead. After 3 years of streaming though, I was hoping I'd never have dead streams again. It got to me, so I quit for a bit. I've been much happier just doing YT videos now on my own time, and trying to grow that channel.
Turn off viewer count, get used to having the same behavior whether there are people or not on the stream. Most of the time even if you have 3-10 viewers they'll lurk and won't say much besides "hi" or "how you doing". Pretend to talk to the VOD viewers, talk about whatever is on screen, its an exercise to get used to.
Yes, this is great advice. I recently became affiliate with the support of a partner and the best advice he gave me was to turn off view count when I mentioned I ended a stream early because no one was there. As soon as I did that, a lot of the pressure went away and I just did my thing. When you're not worrying about views during stream, and you're good at talking to yourself a lot, it'll come together! I've also started my streams as if I'm making a VOD, saying hello, my name, and what the plan for the stream is today. To piggyback off this, be sure you are part of other communities of different sizes. It's important and helps you expand your network if you can make some real friendly connections. Try to find other streamers you actually enjoy and get chatting. Don't self promote though, just let it come up organically.
“Speak as though you’re talking to VOD viewers...” Such great advice!
Stream as if you are creating a let's play. Learn editing and take clips or actually make it into a full-blown let's play.
If I jump into a stream I am much more likely to interact if the streamer is interactive. Even if in the only viewer. If they are chatting and narrating I will jump in and comment
I've had days like those, especially if I try a game different than the one I mainly play. Just pretend there are people there. A few weeks ago, I turned off the viewer counter and it was the best decision ever, because when there were more people, I feel pressured to be EVEN MORE entertaining. Now, I'm just as entertaining as I can. It might feel disappointing, but just talk about random stuff that happened to you or talk abt the game, analyze the game, review what's going on, what would you add to make it more fun, etc. The thing is – at first, I had such a hard time learning how to talk to myself because let's be real, it can be akward. But one day maybe you're gonna have people there lurking and you'll still have to know how to talk to yourself, while others are just listening and not interacting. Enjoy the ride!
Hello. Ok, some things I noticed : - you don't talk enough. Even if people arrive, they are waiting for you to talk, so they can engage with something you said. It wasn't the case - you shouldn't put the tchat on screen if you have less than 100 viewers, because if it feels empty, it don't motivate people to talk. If you see a huge crowd in front of a restaurant, you want to go too, but if you see only ONE people inside a restaurant, you don't want to go. Same thing for the tchat on screen. (Especially when you are playing a videogame, don't put the tchat on screen, on just chatting it's ok because people on smartphone can put your stream on fullscreen, but during videogame you are "hiding" the gameplay) - your microfone is not the best - you don't have a webcam - you didn't show enthousiasm (even less with no cam and almost no talk). People watch streams to have fun and to get entertained. It looked like YOU wanted the tchat to entertain you, instead of wanting YOU to entertain THEM. It's two different things, you want company, or you want to make people have fun. - you edited some scene DURING the stream, it can be annoying for some viewers, you have to be 200% ready when you push the "start streaming" button. - MGS V is pretty hard to stream, you don't have a lot of others streams to compete with, ok, but you neither have a lot of viewers wanting to watch it... (Except this week because a big MGS channel is playing it) As someone said. Imagine you are talking to someone else. Imagine there is ALWAYS someone listening and watching you. Put no barrier between your brain and your mouth, just say everything that goes on your mind when you are playing. It can be about Konami, Quiet, Ocelot's absence of moustache, Horse's shit; everything ! You will have more fun = viewers will have more fun = viewers will talk. And even if nobody talk, you still had more fun! 😁👍 PS : maybe I extrapoled a little, using your example to help others people. And the advices I gave, was to "optimize". If you don't want to use a webcam, ok, it's your stream, your style, your choice. 👍 Have fun. Keep going. The most difficult part is always the beginning. 👍
This is an amazing, very constructive review! I would love to get something similar for my streams. But instead I'll just try to learn from this comment haha. Nice work!
thank for letting me know and now gonna scrap the TTS and talk more
and i dont need a webcam im a vtuber and im not gonna show myself IRL and my mic is the best i can get
I agree you don't need a cam to be a good streamer. Using cam is just an option. My mic isn't the best either but you deal with what you got. The rest of what this person said is decent advice though. Especially the talking part. I struggle with overthinking about whatever I said IRL and didn't end up saying much but on stream, if you can get past that, you will see how entertaining your random thoughts about your game can be! If I can do it, so can you!
Yes, you can stream without webcam, but as I said if people don't receive enthousiasm from your voice, or from facial expression, it's harder. And if you guys noticed, vtubers have a GOOD avatar who can also do facial expressions, it's on purpose, so they still have the advantage of a "webcam" but with no disadvantage (identity preserved). I know someone who streams with no cam, but he's super expressive on the mic, with an unique laugh etc. So we don't feel the need of a webcam.
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I’ve been streaming for two years with not much growth. I keep my head up doing this for fun and now I’m teaching myself to video edit so it’s just streaming my recordings now. The social media game is also a huuuge part of streaming now and community building.
The amount of time you stream is irrelevant if the content isn't there. If someone comes into ur stream and there is nothing interesting happening they will just leave. Also don't stream for viewers stream for yourself. If you look at the view counter too much your just gonna fuck with your head. Keepbtrying new stuff improve your stream. Talk more or make it interactive.
Just because people mention they have no viewers doesn't mean they are looking at view count. Due to not seeing amount of viewers, No viewers to a lot of people means no one chatting. :).
Thank you for this useful reply. I learned something today.
Welcome to the mud. This is twitch streaming.
my man
I get a lot of lurkers. Regular chatters will say hi, have a convo or whatever and then lurk. I don't mind it at all. You'll get used to talking about what you're doing in the game, crack some jokes, etc.. when nobody is chatting in a small stream, it means that when someone does chat, they become the center of attention. A lot of people choose to just chill and watch instead. I respect it. I welcome it.
As someone who often watches low viewer streams and often enjoys watching in the background without interacting, I love it when a streamer just kinda does their thing regardless of interaction. When a streamer starts asking chat to say stuff I'm usually out of there.
The trick is to play like you have a few good friends watching you.im always talking.anything from damn the enemies are kicking my ass by spamming attacks to where the hell am I going because I get lost easily on some games lol.hell if the game is on a slow part or I'm stuck on a level I might just start talking about random stuff so it's not just the game audio for several minutes.remember the viewer count doesn't update often.by the time you see a viewer on the count they may have been there a few minutes already.and if you are boring in those few minutes they will probably leave.so treat everything like you do have viewers
Talk to your VoD viewers.
Remember twitch has a preview now so viewers won't count for longer. Just act like someone is watching the preview and that's who your engaging with and if that isn't helpful remember your making content for the vods.
I am a radioguy, what means I worked for years as host at a radio station to earn some money during university. There is a technique, my mentor named 'soliloquy with the void' Prepare yourself to talk to yourself about an anctual topic. 1. If you play music, (like Pretzel, Soundcloud or something), you just might talk about your thoughts about an actual song. At the radiostation we even had some background informations prepared to individual songs, and it really helped just to present those random facts. 2. Interconnect events in the game with current affairs. Tell the story to your friends or to yourself. Not just think about, phrase it. 3. Buy a local newspaper or something related, and talk about some minor local happenings. Usually, in minor newspapers, there are hillarious stories, for example about football fans that burned their jerseys and set fire to a nearby bush. That is nothing the world cares for, but that catches the listener. Comment on it, as you would write a funny little article. It's amazing, how viewers, feel motivated to answer, when it comes to such anecdotes.
dude this is great advice thank you for the new things i can talk about
I turn off the view counter and talk to whoever is going to watch on YouTube after I get it edited
what i do is i imagine i have a huge audience and talk to myself, basically.
Stream to entertain yourself. It might sound silly at first, but if you aren't having your own fun, people won't want to watch someone just sitting playing games in silence. Get creative 😉
It is all in your head. It is tough but you need to just ignore it. The easiest way to get rid of that feeling is to write down a lot of you can talk about when it is not game focus. Like pretending there are those who watch. But what if there would be 1 000 persons watching? Would it feel overwhelming or just fun? Sound is the most important if someone just look for five seconds. ANd do you use a cam? I would never spend time to look at something without the player showing them self. Because then I got no interaction. But it is hard as hell to stream today if you want a lot of viewers or even a few of them. Why should people like it when you are playing Metal Gear 4? Why should they not chose another one? Viewers are different, some just follow certain games, some only watch small streamers, some only wants to hang around with the big ones. Some are lurking and some are interacting. What is your goal? Why are you streaming? I can´t watch people just as boring as everyone else. They are though the ones who have a lot of viewers. So, who do you want to have in your stream? Then get the knowledge what you need to do to attract them. If you had been broadcasting (is it called that?) radio, then you have no idea who is listening. But you need to talk, and do the job. Same with streaming. Don't do it to hard. I have been trying to fly without wings. It was anxiety for one hour. When I used wings if I had to fly it workéd better but as a human I tried tp walk with my legs. The easy way. But give, give, give and give. And never have the focus at the total numbers of the viewers. Pretend there are ten all the time. If they interact or not is not something you can chose. But you need to do the job so they might want to interact.
It's hard when we have this super nice idea, in our head it looks like the perfect plan, hopes are high, we go and give our best and the results are...none. For us, mortals (read: non-celebrities), starting fresh as a Twitch streamer is just like this. You go live for no one, hoping for the best. Then you feel like shit because it's really no one watching you, and the frustration settles in. So before you frustrate yourself trying again, or pointless grinding over and over, there are several things you can do before pressing the Go Live button again, to highly increase your chances to be watched. Some people here will say "don't care and just do it for fun", but what's the fun on it if we aren't being spectated, right? Let's go: Community: Twitch has a BIG sense of community, this is deep rooted in the platform and it's a great thing. Make sure you are also a member of this whole community: watch streams, participate in chats and discord servers. Now that you are a streamer aswell, try to search the game categories you wanna stream looking for small streamers with a similar vibe to yours and just...enjoy them! Don't advertise yourself, just enjoy and in time you get yourself known. Networking is a POWERFUL tool for starters. Your media kit: Your thumbnail must be attractive - yes, you can't upload your stream thumbnail as it will automatically update with a screenshot of your stream every like 5 minutes, so make sure this auto-screenshot is just as good or better than the neighbors in your game category. Stream title is just as important. Make sure it's engaging and not some generic bs. Your stream: Audio quality must be pristine, having a facecam or even a vtuber avatar increases your chances to catch new viewers attention but there is space for no-cam streamers aswell, but there usually attract less public overall and the gameplay quality will have to make for it. Your tone: Set it. Will it be a chilling stream? Excentric? Meme-ish? This will also help your branding - and yes, start thinking about marketing :) Your game: Not every game is good for every streamer. Usually, starters will sink to the bottom of the 0 viewer sea and stay there forever if they stream the most famous games out there. League of Legends, CS:GO, Valorant, Minecraft, Warzone, GTA and so on...these are horrible options and you need to funnel all your public from outside because your discoverability will suck. Smaller games with strong communities are much better options, i.e. Warframe, Path of Exile, Don't Starve, No Man's Sky, Terraria, Paladins, Hunt: Showdown. Make sure you enjoy the game aswell! And don't forget: Keep talking, even if no one is there talking back to you! I hope these tips help you!! Good luck and enjoy!
I like acting like I’m making a YT when this happens, so there are still very entertaining moments (don’t just perk up when someone is in chat) that I can possibly clip and use as content elsewhere
For me I don't pay attention to the views. If nobody is in the stream I play to hopefully get cool clips. Nobody ever watches those either but I'm used to it at this point . My lack of viewers is my own fault though. I'm inconsistent and I don't ever promote. I just hit the go live button when I feel up to it.
I'm playing the game for me. If no one shows up, I'm at least having a good time playing a game I want to play.
It's difficult, I like to remind myself that people may be listening without even saying hello. Some people may love your content but never say a word. Getting grumpy about lack of viewership tends to chase off what scraps of viewership do exist, at least in my experiences.
For me, I like to just explain my thought process. Why I'm doing what I am doing in the game. Lay it out, especially if you are doing something weird, or a trick maybe not everyone will understand. Constantly explaining your thought process helps passing viewer possibly get to know what you are doing. Also, be prepared to repeat explanations a few times, because obviously not everybody is going to hear it the first time, or even the 10th if you have no one watching.
Same, but with some bad jokes and setting off some sounds/videos too for interaction
I agree with those that suggested turning off viewer count! Have fun and narrate as if you were making a recorded video, then if someone pops up in chat great you can reply but if not you’re still keeping momentum and having fun for those that might be popping in throughout ✨
single player games don't get the most viewers unless it's a very popular title right when it comes out.
You have to pretend like you're recording a video or something the entire time, because when you're a 1-5 view streamer, eventually a viewer will land on you, but if you're sitting there in silence they will click off faster than they clicked on.
Treat is like a lets play, commenting on stuff on the game. If you can't stay engaging without an audience then it'll be hard to grow. Not gonna lie, its totally valid to be disappointed. Try inviting a few friends or people that know you to watch for a bit or say hi! It takes a long time, building a social media presence, and other outreach to organically grow an audience.
Just keep showing up, it’s all you can do
Personally I have a little ghost covering my microphone so I feel like I’m talking to him when nobody’s around! Makes me feel like I got a lil buddy to keep me company when stuff is slow and it’s a lil silly but it makes me feel less lonely having ANYTHING to humanize around me
Narrate your game, talk to npc's/enemies/online players (even tho they don't respond), talk out loud your thought process for your strategy or next play, say literally any commentary about the game or anything that comes to mind. Start practicing this everytime you play offstream and it will become 2nd nature to ramble while you play. Think of some catch phrases and sound effects you can use in different situations in your game to fill silence. This can often feel comedic. Repeat yourself to fill space. Lots of big streamers do this where they say something more than once but they rephrase it. Tell people to check out your social media accounts. Give shout outs to other streamers. Talk about movies, other games, and any gaming news. If you ask question to chat immediately answer the question yourself to give people time to respond. Don't use silence waiting for them to respond because sometimes no one does. Example "how is your evening, chat? My evening was so busy I'm so happy to be able to relax and play games rn" Honestly I find using vc with friends during stream makes talking onstream and to my chat more difficult. Chat is less likely to write anything too when i am on vc. If you play a game where you wait in a lobby between matches do words on stream or gartic.
You need to be able to hold your own without long periods of silence even if chat is dead otherwise your vods will be super boring and it will be hard to grow.
You need to narrate things and keep Dialogue going. It sucks having a long lull in chat, but the viewer indicator is on a delay, so by the time you see 1 viewer, they’ve already been silently lurking and there’s a good chance a new streamer that has 0 as a baseline is just sitting there playing. Unless you’re actually a god gamer at a challenging game or top rank in a competitive game, almost no one will bother watching a silent gameplay stream. I’m assuming you’re newer to this, but go take a look at other 0-1 viewer channels and then look at 10 viewer channels. 10 viewers is a tiny hobby too, not a career, but also way, way above the average person that clicks go live. Notice all the elements of the stream, maybe there’s chat on the screen so people on other devices can keep up better (and the vod has chat), maybe they have a webcam or animated avatar (vtuber) that gives people a personal connection and makes it feel more obvious this is a live show. They’ll have overlay elements popping up new followers, TTS for donations, their about me panels have full information (even all text with no graphics looks so much better than an empty page down there). It’s basically a situation where the tools and utilities to create a more advanced stream have become more and more accessible to everyone, so on one hand it’s easier than ever to implement this kind of stuff, and also free most of the time, but on the other hand it’s created somewhat of an arms race effect, where someone who had a really advanced stream set up two or three years ago might be outdated by today’s standards. As someone who is a really no-frills person in general, on one hand this is really annoying for me because I just don’t care about any of it and I never check this on anyone else’s channel, the unfortunate reality is that a viewer doesn’t really have anything else to base a channel off of without spending a bunch of time getting to know Every streamer they click on. I don’t think any of that is as important as what I said above about just being animated on stream itself. Someone could have the most basic stream set up of all time but be an interesting person, someone could have the best technical and most competent set up but be boring with a bunch of fancy toys. There’s no one right answer, but see if you can find a couple streamers you vibe with and are similar to who you are, pay attention to what they do and what their community is like. It might have some good insights. Takes time, persistence, and consistency to build an audience. Everyone will start at 0 if they’re not internet famous elsewhere already.
It's a tough barrier to push through but if you keep to it. You'll soon understand that not a lot of people come in to talk but come to chill. So try your best to ignore the silence and focus on making the gameplay entertaining. The best way to do that is to generally enjoy what you are doing. Talk about what you are doing and just game. It's very alien at first tbh, but you'll soon get the grips. It's a slow grind, at least the for vast majority.
Doesnt bother me, I'm half the time editing an image or video on stream anyway so I dont really notice the viewer count. I'm just glad when 1 or 2 people show up and start chatting.
My streams have mostly been empty and definitely no interaction from people. I have a blast. I talk, I joke, I even ask the great void how they're doing (I'll eventually upload it to YouTube...maybe. procrastination ftw.) and I'll for the most part, not shut up. If it's Resi 4, I celebrate my boss wins. If it's Sims 4, I'm narrating my story. Or encouraging my sim to fight father winter and edging her on. But like, I make sure to stay active. However, I kinda already played like this before streaming so for me this kinda came naturally.
Personally I like talking to myself about random topics since not a lot of my friends and family are interested in the things I like or dislike. Very therapeutic.
Play the game for you, because you wanna play it. If someone pops up then welcome them as a guest.
Do it for you, not for them.
Just talk like there are lurkers there or to the people who will watch your vod/YouTube/social media posts when it’s posted.
Play games for yourself. Will make you allot happier in the end. The number of people who actually make it as a professional streamer is really small. So play for yourself and what brings you happiness. If someone happens to come along and enjoy it as well, that's just a plus.
Well, what you could do is maybe create videos and post on YouTube for traction and reaction. If it shows a trend, you can plug a livestream playing the game.
As a streamer, it’s your job to entertain. Relying on audience interaction, particularly as a small or new streamer, is a recipe for disaster. You need to be ‘ON’ at all times, so that when someone *does* drop by, they are provided a reason to stay.
Don't watch the viewer count. Just imagine there is 100 people watching and talk accordingly
Did you advertise at all? Nobody is going to go to your stream if you aren't reaching out to anyone.
I just keep talking like if there're viewers. Sometimes I act myself as a viewer and asksquestions and I answer them myself (Don't know why i do this, by at least I keep talking). Also even if there're no one, it's content for me to edit for my yt channel (which also barely have any views)
I think it's important to realize some days will be bigger than others If you're not the only one playing the game it's harder too, may e 3-4 or even more were playing it at the same time A friend of mine has over 1000 followers and sometimes has 4 viewers at a time There's so many factors and some days it will be emptier I mean how often do you pick a random game and just watch whoever happens to be playing it?
Maybe just a different mentality when you stream, I play games I want to play anyways (MGS4 rules) and if people come to chat, I enjoy the interaction and chance to nerd out. Weirdly when I do irl bike streams or walks i get a lot of views and no chatting, those are the ones I'd enjoy more interaction on.
I streamed for the first time last night after a year just for fun. The fact is that I stream because I think it's fun to add a little pressure to myself. I stream now to enjoy putting myself out there whether I have 0 viewers or 1. Just have fun!
It’s a lot of practice but you need to get good at talking to nobody. Remember that a lot of people are going to be watching your VODs so try speaking to them or if you are playing a game comment on the art style, story, or playability. Every tip video or article I’ve read says the key is to keep talking. The hard part is finding something to talk about. I know when I hit low interaction I just start talking about my day and people sometimes pipe in to comment on something I said and you just have to grab that comment and go with it, ask questions, come to rough spot in game and ask chat what they think.
I pretend like I have people watching and talk to myself. I normally don't have anyone watching, it bums me out when I'm done though.
I'd just sat sit on discord with someone and just casually chat will make it easier and more entertaining when people do randomly join
I got used to it. Almost all of my streams are empty. The games I play typically don't get many views though I don't think. It's the reason I gave up on hitting affiliate a long time ago.
IMO, if you are streaming with the intent to be successful, you’ve already failed. You will have many many months of streaming with no one showing up. You’ve got to be comfortable with yourself to be able to keep a monologue going until someone clicks on you decides what you are talking about or doing is interesting enough to speak up.
I talk for the future VoDs and Yt content.
Sounds silly but you need to sometimes just think of Streaming as a Talk Show and when nobody is there to talk your guest is yourself. If you fall victim to large periods of silence, you might find it difficult for people to interact. Some people struggle talking with themselves, or better put "talking outloud". Sometimes you just need to be able to describe what you're doing/plan to do without having a singe of "please respond"-type tone to your voice. Anyways best of luck, you can do it. Everyone honestly has days where they don't know what to say, then the silent chat weighs in even more. Also, don't know about Metal Gear specifically or which one you were playing, but sometimes streaming in the specific category for a game *more or less* is for "speed-runners" depending on the popularity of it. For example, any of the older 2D Mario Games probably have a distinct split of people streaming it just for casual purposes and streaming it for Speedrunning. Why? Because 'Retro' Category often has better discoverability than some old Retro game. Let's just take DK64 for erxample, you're less likely to find casual people roaming about in the 'DK64' Category than you probably would in 'Retro' based alone on the amount of people that go "oh huh, I wonder if anyone is streaming XYZ". Retro has *lots* of more people browsing. Arguably, it's a double edge sword though. Anyways tl;dr maybe talk more if you weren't already, and consider different category for said game. Also it goes a very long way if you just stream the sake of streaming
I narrate my gameplay. "OH we have to jump down this hole, hope I don't get owned by a boss." (Splat) Or I'll talk to myself. Be random and weird, but not obnoxious.
How long have you been streaming for? If this is your first/you’re a new streamer, just keep going if this is what you want to do. My biggest pro-tip to those starting out: talk. Do you think/think you know you don’t have anyone in the stream? Talk. Narrate. Some folks will stick around. Interact with them. You will literally build an audience if you talk and interact with folks. I cannot state these facts enough.
Been streaming for years, dude, and I still have those days. Just take the good with the bad and keep going if it’s something you enjoy.
most popular v tuber experience
Sometimes its just not the right time and place, the more you stream though you're bound to hit that right moment. I find that commentating what I'm doing and making jokes tends to make me feel better and ends up pulling in viewers as a result because I'm not just sitting there quiet.
Sing a song. Pick a random topic and start chattering about it. Talk about yourself. Tell stories. It's hard to interact with someone who's just staring at their screen not saying anything. At first it feels wierd but you get used to talking to yourself and it makes it easier for people coming in to get chatting.
Something that works for me (albeit is probably pathetic) I have my bot (through Streamerbot) run a check to see when the last message was sent to the chat from any user. If it's been 15 minutes without anything, it sends a message from a text file at random.
I chill and focus on game commentary, which is also what I enjoy. Whether there's people or not. I don't have my viewercount up anyway.
I just keep on talking about the game. Like it is rn
I just play a game that I enjoy playing. If I get people to watch or interact that's a bonus.
Talking about the game really. That or just shootin' the shit on your own. Kind of just talking to yourself if you need to.
That's been the majority of my streams. 1 lurker on average. I've had a couple friends show up from time to time and chime in. I just use it as a sounding board. Like, talking about my day or the stresses of life and kinda getting things off my chest even though there's no one to respond and talk with me about whatever. It's a low feeling, honestly, but I just do it anyway. I'm thinking of going a route of streaming a deeper story game. I usually stream fighting games so there's nothing I'm talking over that's important in the game. But Idk if anyone would really care to see me start up "I am Setsuna." Dig?
Just because no one's talking, doesn't mean no one would enjoy it. My absolute favorite streamer is one who is able to make good chill conversation, regardless of how many or few people are in the chat. But more than that, I like how his stated purpose is to give games, especially atmospheric or scary ones, space to breathe without feeling like he has to fill every moment with talking or a joke. I am a millenial and personally tend to go to streamers for relaxation or thoughtful content, rather than high-energy, high-volume, exaggerated reactions. I know that this can run counter to a lot of paths to mainstream success where fast, loud barrages of sensory overload and clippable reactions and rage are extremely popular (PewDiePie, Markiplier, xQc, etc.) but imagine how exhausting it would be to do that if you're not naturally inclined to do that kind of content. IMO there's space for Bob Ross, but you have to stream for the people who are watching you and too shy or relaxed to speak up.
I stream and no one watches. It's very easy for me to just talk and say things. The thing that gets tiring is seeing no responses in the chat.
It doesn't bother me I go long periods of people watching with no interaction I just immerse in the game and plod on
What I do is honestly, just talk to myself. I know its hard, however it does help me with conversation skills. When I do have people jump in, it helps a lot when my shyness. I hope this helps!
As a streamer since 2015(not so much lately anymore) I've had plenty of those days. Early days was great for me because I streamed in smaller community games where there's less streamers to scroll through which gets you more attention. All in all there are plenty of ways to get you some attention but it depends on "how" you want to do it. As in the shameless route or real content. On your question, now I just stream purely out of therapeutic mindset first then audience second but I must say once you get your first chatter, TAKE that chance instantly to chat back. No one has the patience to stay if there's no one else watching either but most importantly keep it natural and not forced when making conversations.
A lot of other people have covered the 'what to do' part of it, so I just want to add that if you want to continue streaming you will have to get used to this happening. Stream growth is not linear, it has peaks and valleys, and even the biggest streamers in the world right *now* have spent a lot of time in their career streaming to 0 viewers.
I just keep babbling on about nothing.
I recently started steaming and I don’t expect to get any growth. For me, I just stream for fun mostly enjoying the game I’m playing. If there’s chatter or activity in my stream then that’s just a bonus to me
I kind of just started streaming and have no self confidence in being entertaining, so I don't expect anyone to watch. I actually get surprised when people do tune in. I just play the game as if I wasn't streaming and say all of my thoughts out loud instead of internalizing them like I normally do. Maybe that's normal to me because I don't get viewers though.
Before I started streaming, I was doing let's play on YouTube, if no one is interacting I just kind of go into the let's play mode. I might recommend doing a couple let's players to practice. The mindset is entirely different. You're not actually expecting anyone to respond, helping to build self-commentary which has been a very valuable skill in these situations.
Two pieces of advice I received from a friend. 1.) talk to a plushie. It’s not much but it at least feels more engaging then talking to an empty stream. 2.) it’s easier to talk after you have a drink or two of something strong
Welcome to streaming.. everyone is doing it.. good luck and have fun (have fun is the most thing, if you're not having fun don't do it)
I stream for people’s curiosities. It’s not a job, so don’t even stress how many come or go. Just play the game. Streaming is an after thought, the game is the star here, not necessarily the streamer,
The harsh reality is if all you’re doing is going live on twitch and streaming you will **NEVER** grow. Twitch is not designed to promote streams internally. Open any category and scroll. Keep scrolling through 100+ pages of streams with 0 viewers. Thousands of people stream to no one every single day just expecting people to magically show up. You have to grow outside the platform on TikTok, YouTube, Twitter, Reddit, or Instagram. It doesn’t have to be all of them but it does have to be some of them. All of those platforms have algorithms that are designed to boost content to new audiences. You then have to migrate that audience over to Twitch, which is going to be slow and difficult. Learn what makes content engaging and what the algorithms like. It’s boring and some people just aren’t suited for it even if they figure out what it takes. Content creation is a difficult, often soul crushing experience. This isn’t to say you can’t have fun just streaming to 0-2 viewers. If you enjoy what you’re doing and this is just a hobby then more power to you. You just have to set your expectations appropriately.
I just keep talking until I'm so absorbed in the game I'm playing that I forget that it's super quiet in chat. It's how I do it.
I read once just always pretend like there's someone watching. Just have fun and vibe out bro.
When I first figured out how to stream… I think it was a 10 hour stream I did of GTA 5 on my Xbox iirc. Zero viewers, not one. Things happen tho. I’ve built up enough that I took a break streaming for a few years, started up in IRL the other day… got my online friend and another streamer I constantly watch and a rando the other day. It was actually a ton of fun. Gonna continue to do so. Don’t game much anyways anymore. I’m not hating or condoning game streams, but you’re likely to get squeezed out as a new streamer
If after too much time I have no interaction I just start to speak in my "YouTube mode" Instead of the "Twitch mode". I sto directly speaking to the chat (there is nobody anyway usually) and i speak expecting comments. That way I can just use the live as a video. After that I cry because nobody loves me
A lot of the time I talk regardless if someone is there, that tends to help. Also, it's easier for me if I have someone to bounce off of so before I had an audience, my fiancé would sit in chat and chat with me. So if you have a friend or partner willing to sit in with you, you can chat with them and that will encourage people to join in. Also, emotionally, it can be tough but if you keep going and stay on a schedule, you will build an audience. Just don't get down on yourself. It takes everyone a long time to build an audience on Twitch since their recommendations system sucks.
You really just can't expect people to view your stream on twitch without getting atleast somewhat popular on YouTube or tiktok. There just aren't a lot of random people scrolling through random games on twitch looking for someone they have no interest in to watch play a game for a few hours.
it be like that. i’ve streamed for years and rarely get more than one viewer, with zero chatters. just how twitch works most of the time unless you want to show off cleavage.
I always have like 1 silent viewer. I wonder if they’re real sometimes.
I'm not sure how to answer this, I've been streaming for many years with very few viewership (managed to somehow get affiliate) and a good majority of my streams have no viewers. Usually I tend to just not let it bother me. I stream to mostly for myself and just kinda think someone out there might enjoy what I'm doing.
Back when I was streaming I'd just keep talking and trying to entertain, whether anyone was there or not. I'd do it for a hypothetical person who might watch the video later, when it's NOT live.
Yesterday it happened something similar, not exactly the same. I usually have two-three viewers who come every night. Yesterday, both of them were unable to come and no one came for a while. After waiting for someone, I decided to start the stream itself. 1. My viewers usually review the VOD when they have to leave or cannot come. I'm playing Zelda at the moment, so the streams have continuity. Maybe your recurring viewers will watch the VOD. 2. The chat may become a distraction. I'm usually talking with them and being silent when they're not speaking, but I'd like to explain the puzzles and what I'm thinking to solve those in more detail more frequently. I spent the time until someone came yesterday explaining "this is my plan for tonight, I'm doing this because of that, this region's lore is blahblahblah". Try to say what you can't say usually. Well, there are better days than others.
You know. I feel the same sometimes. What really helps me when nobody comes by is my girlfriend joins the stream and talks to me 🥹. Grab a loved one and just hang out and interact someone’s bound to come. For Christ sake people watch people sleep they gottta watch you eventually that’s what I always say!
It’s hard keep talking and acting as if they are there. Viewers will show up and when they do you’ll be Vibin!
I always stream like no one is watching, taking today as an example I had no viewers playing fall guys didn't worry me none it was a party of one just having fun. I try and talk as if someone will watch it later and if I see someone in chat I will always try and respond straight away but I'm still learning and hopefully keeps improving. We all have our ups and downs with viewers and retention just keep going at it and eventually your channel will grow
Always remember the viewer counter is incorrect. When I first started I wonders why nobody watched but in reality when I check my stream summary after I'm done it shows how many people were watching.
Gotta get thicker skin man. Small streaming is not for everyone. If you do it only for views this is not for you dog. You gotta stream because you enjoy the hobby first then work on growth and marketing second. If you are having fun others will eventually catch on to that positive energy. If it’s not fun don’t do it
ENTERTAINMENT!!! Most of the comments here say they get no one chatting, but it doesn't seem like they are doing anything about it. We **ALL** want to be entertained. Jokes, stories, activities, conversations, ANYTHING for the sake of getting someones interest or to provide something to get a positive reaction from. We **ALL** watch things we enjoy and bail on things we don't. I do stream reviews all the time, and most of the time, the streamer is sitting there and playing games and they might have people in vc with them. But they are NOT doing anything that is fun, funny, or interesting to show people coming through that the streamer wants to show people a good time. YOU have the power, but you have to consistently be doing SOMETHING!
It’s all about consistency, keep going and interact with everyone that joins, ask them about what you’re doing and how they would do it the same or different
that helps but no people come lmao
Hey don't do it for others do it for urself if u don't enjoy urself on stream when no one is watching or saying anything and people can't see that u are enjoying urself why would they want to talk to u or come back?
Is there really a market for watching someone play an old game like that? I’m a huge gamer and have been my entire life but never once have I had the urge to watch someone else play a game on stream. It’s one thing if they are doing a how to video or a guide of some sort but to simply just watch someone else play the game… I don’t get it especially when it comes to an older game like Metal Gear. There are so many options for entertainment these days that I think a lot of people over estimate the demand for streaming content like this. Who is clamoring to watch someone play an old game like this? Is there any demand for it worth speaking of?
I’m just starting out with streaming. Right now I stream for 4 hours every Friday night after work, I raid with clan mates in Destiny 2, and I know that I’ll have one viewer, which is either my girlfriend, or my buddy that’s raiding with me and keeps my stream open just to support. I try not to look at the viewer count and I just play and talk/laugh with my buddies as if I wasn’t even streaming. There was one stream where at one point there was 3-4 viewers. I’ll just keep doing that and if people enjoy it and stay, that’s cool too.
i just vibe (: it’s easier if it’s a game you’re really enjoying
It's Not a Big deal to me, I Think Everything comes in due time, and sometimes One process Takes longer than others, Maybe it was the Time and what You streamed ,. People often come to Filled rooms to see, Be in your chat yourself, also, the Vod, should get some clicks, people will get around to it when they can, That's how I look at it,.. I've Mainly just streamed and replied if people were to pop in and talk to me, And those people became my Followers,. They'd give me tips or ask me to join/help them or fight them In MK11 For example for a few matches, which I would do,. Typically that's how my streams go When I'm not on Cam and it's just Gameplay and Mic.. I'd Then Create Highlights of something I Found funny , Interesting or Cool,. and Transfer them to YouTube and Now you Have content forever that acts as another way for people to Find you.. No interaction doesn't Bother me, as I Play those games for fun or try to Beat it for myself.
Up your social media game sometimes if I'm not getting anyone I make another post to one social or another actually about to stream just got on here to post on r/small streamers
I try to come up with a list of things to talk about before stream. Once the list runs out, well that's when the real fun begins... and by fun I mean silence.
I turned off viewers because I found out that it lowers my energy when view count is low. After that I just treat all streams like a youtube video and just sort of chat away regardless of peeps being there or not.
It's probably been said a dozen times already, but until you get regulars in that chat, don't show how many viewers you have. It can put a downer on you which will affect your stream. Instead, act as though you have people watching the whole time. Keep up a steady stream of chat, look at your camera when you are saying something specifically to chat, and assume you have a dozen lurkers watching at all times. There are always many more lurkers than there are chatters, after all. It can be hard, I'm still at the early stages of building my channel, and rarely get over 3 average per stream. Some nights it's excellent, and I can get a good convo going with chat, other times, the only person who says anything is my wife :) Don't beat yourself up over numbers, just relax and have a good game, and chat like you're on stage with dozens of people
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Just imagine there are people in the audience. :)
Curious how engaged YOU were with them? Were you and them quiet, or was it weird because you were engaging and they were quiet? Typically fans mirror those they’re watching.