Small Streamer Support
Twitch is increasingly seeing success in large, full-time partnered streamers who seem to be growing in mainstream recognition and opportunities, but what is or can Twitch do to help dedicated small streamers get visibility to avoid a YouTube-like situation where it's only for the celebrities.
Failcube
shared this idea
124 comments
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HonestEvolution
commented
Trust me no matter what we ask for even if it is for support for small streamers They will not do it because it doesn't make them money this is why they only support big streamers cause twitch makes more money this way. I have been streaming for 7+ years or longer and never gotten help from anyone cause no one cares about us small streamers... as a vtuber now I still see no numbers and I just don't try much on streaming anymore
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Skubabig400
commented
Can we small streamers get help with viewers
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SlackSystemTV
commented
@ReallyZeroG how could increasing the follower requirement for affiliate by a factor of 20 possibly help small streamers? All that would do is make it harder for smaller streamers to earn money
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ReallyZeroG
commented
I have a suggestion for twitch on this. Maybe think about your TOS. Much in the way that FB and YouTube do not constrain their streamers, twitch could do the same and allow them to go multi platform. In doing so allow them to leverage other site to gain visibility and drive people to twitch to watch them. At least until the other sites catch up, which they will if twitch does not push the boundaries further. Also and this is going to be frowned upon by many, lift the barrier to entry. Make affiliate 1000 followers before people can sub etc. Only issue with that will be that twitch will lose revenue as people cannot sub and can only support the streamer via donations.
Ultimately if you keep the viewer base in the top 0.001% of twitch's content creators you are creating a risk for the business as a whole as should you "lose" those creators like we have seen recently with Tim, Lupo & Ludwig, you will lose a large part of your "watcher" base. A few more big names do the same thing I am not sure if twitch can survive it and you only have yourselves to blame as you have the creator base to remain strong.
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EternaI_Oblivion
commented
A few days ago, I reached 1 year of streaming, to 1 or 2 people max...
I really love doing this, but I don't know if I can keep it up like this... -
The_TerminTator
commented
there hasnt been really small streamer support i been trying to stream and still not getting out there like others and it is hard to get viewer ship if no one helps out getting promoted on front page or hey check this guys out.
thank you
The_TerminTator -
AKversus
commented
Discoverability isn't the issue, streamers not knowing how to title and tag their streams is though.
Simply put I have no problem finding new streamers to watch that are small and I honestly belive that I have no problem being discovered. The problem here comes from entitled streamers thinking that because they "grind" 40 hours of Apex Legends with no tags except for the language they speak that they are owed something.
Y'all need to learn how to brand yourselves before you start giving out to the platform. Of course Twitch is going to offer big names to brand new users who have never used the platform before because they're a safe bet. Why would Twitch recommend your low bitrate 346p COD Warzone where you're not engaging with the audience and not giving any indication that your stream should be clicked over the next person's.
Look at your VODs when you're done, that view count shows how many people clicked on. If your average view count is 0.7 and you've had 40 views on your VOD then YOU are the problem. If you've only had 5 clicks then you're in an oversaturated category. I'm a big supporter of play what you want but you can't complain that you aren't getting discovered when you aren't doing research or understanding the numbers. Stop bitching at Twitch for your failings. Use tags, title your streams better and TALK! Even if nobody is talking in chat, keep talking.
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iadultsohard
commented
You made changes to the browse system that allowed us to view smaller streamers for a bout a week. Now its back to "most popular" again. What happened? Things were going great. Not just for us small streamers but for any of you that actually use the service you provide here. Not many want to join a stream that has thousands of viewers already. Chat is useless and its near impossible to make connections or talk to the streamer when there are thousands trying talk at once. The streamer doesnt get to even read most of the comments or decides to not even read it at all. Twitch is supposed to be a place where you can communicate with the broadcaster of the entertainment you are watching and right now thats broken for your "high view streamers". If you set it back to the previous setup it would be easier to find decent content that allows people to get to talk and get to know the streamer and vice versa. It may upset the more popular streamers but if you dont tip the balance somehow, its only going to get worse.
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coolskyboy
commented
If A Small Streamer have over 30 hours streamed in a month they should get some kind of payment for there hard work
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nerd_knight123
commented
Y a I barely even have 100 followers but get 2-10 viewers a stream 15 is my max and that was luck
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xShadowHavocx
commented
if you have over 100 followers your not a small streamer theres others that barely get noticed its twice the amount of work for some with less then 100 followers
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TamerUK_
commented
Being a small streamer the question here isn't what can twitch do, the question your really asking is why should they do it. What benefit are you proposing twitch provide for someone with single/double digit viewers (i don't say that in sarcasm, im in that category)
Ultimately it comes down to the brass, however one idea I have spoken at length about with other streamers that would assist everyone is an overhaul to the teams function in Twitch, currently it offers Zero value to the viewer, yet if done correctly with full networking integration and add discoverability options it would be a valuable tool for communities of small streamers to grow off each other.
I do think you have a valid point, but I also think there's a lot more to explore than simply asking for more, maybe all us smaller streamers should have a big old chat :)
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TamerUK_
commented
The alternative to something like this would be allow affiliates or groups of affiliates to apply for team pages, then overhaul that system and give them discoverability (searching, tags, nationality base etc) No need for this if they sort out the single most useless feature on twitch.
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IvarIsALie
commented
Dude visit places like r/smallstreamers or literally any of these self-sellout discords people post here. It won't work and will just turn into a cesspool of people posting a link to their dead channel every time they go live "AY YO IM STREAMING COME WATCH ME BRO". It's always the same story.
Work on your own discoverability outside of Twitch because the market is so saturated that this is the only way to get audience. -
BlueberryPoot
commented
It would be nice for a Small Streamer category, or better ways to find new streamers. Perhaps able to filter through Partners/Affiliates/Non-Affiliates too. Help the discoverability to make it easier for us.
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grimsevers
commented
seconding strem frens! it's not follow for follow and helps people meet new streamers and share milestones, queries, and to have a general chat! https://discord.com/invite/Hj9ubez
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Crowded_Enemy
commented
What I mean by this is that Twitch could make a way for smaller streamers can be seen and helped out in many ways such as, helping with promoting, getting viewers actually to see us, a way where we can be heard. Cause trying to get Twitch Affiliate isn't the easiest thing starting out. An example I've been streaming for 2 years now I believe and only have had 1 or 3 viewers max. But only 1 viewer is always there, maybe a bot who knows.
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killaqueen_gaming
commented
Bigger streamers don’t need the extra promotion or they wouldn’t be big streamers
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GHOSTJACKYT
commented
yeah i feel ya
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Creak_TheFreak
commented
I’m a new streamer hoping for people to follow and watch my streams so I’m not just talking to myself.
Twitch: Creak_TheFreak