So people may have noticed (or not) that I'm rarely on Twitch nowadays. Many have come forward to ask me if I'm okay, if anything's wrong, etc. And really, the answer isn't as simple as I'd like it to be. I would love to sit here and tell you the answers are simple and are as common as simply being too tired, not interested, etc, but sadly, it's not as simple as that. Below are just some of the things that have made me less and less interested in Twitch overall.
🗣️COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT🗣️
Over the past few months I have struggled to remain engaged with the various channel communities I'm apart of. It feels so....monotous after a while. Share clips. Share art. Share memes. It just feels like a vicious merry-go-round of rinse and repeat. Many of the communities I'm in, moderators, for the most part, are welcoming but then you get the debbie downers who bring their real life to an all who can see and read, buffet of bitching, whining and moaning. "Oh my wife did this today and I didn't like it" etc. People fail to realize that there's just some things, that don't belong being said online, simply because, you never know who is watching. And even more disturbing is the lack luster support for non-Twitch livestreamers. I stream, when school permits, on my Facebook page. Personally, I designed my Facebook page, Akiba Wolf Productions with the singular intention of building up my own community. Instead, I've had to struggle getting enough people to follow my page, before I can even begin live streaming onit (You need 100 followers before you can even do so).
At first, I had assumed my inability to view chat, as I only have one computer right now, was the reasoning behind my not being able to grow my community, but recently, I was in a livestream on Twitch, where I learned, Twitch streamers, are fairly biased. If they do not like a certain platform, then they will refuse to 'raid out' to another platform. This to me, feels hypocritical when you consider that, other people are trying to grow on their chosen platform, but are being ostracized by a larger crowd for that very reason.
And it hurts.
It hurts because the content I personally livestream, is of no interest on Twitch, so even if Twitch did, somehow magically make it to where you can simply share your screen without having to use 60 different methods to do so, I would still be unable to grow there, making Twitch affiliation, out of reach and impossible to obtain. Whereas on Facebook, it's fairly easy, concise and clear cut, with little to no bullshit involved.
🥺LACK OF GROWTH FOR SMALLER OFFSITE STREAMERS🥺
Really, there is no such thing as 'growth' for non-Twitch streamers. For myself, I've had to struggle daily just to get the very meger 23 Followers I do have. And this was with streaming, everyday, past 4hrs each time, and trying to engage with the chat via a cell phone that has nearly exploded twice now due to overheating. When you say you're 'inclusive' that should also include the streamers who may not be streaming on your chosen platform, but sadly, where many within the Facebook gaming community will go out of their way to raid Twitch channels, the same can not be said for Twitch streamers. And this is where the feeling of being shunned, left out, ignored, and far worse, comes into play. The reality is, there's absolutely no way for non-Twitch streamers to grow, without the aid of the communities in which they're apart of and sadly, many communities simply refuse to acknowledge a non-Twitch streamer's struggle (per CoC for Twitch, advertising your own channel is a no no and is often grounds for your being banned from a channel).
While yes, many Twitch communities have a Discord, fewer and fewer have a place within that server, for you to 'self promote' yourself, this means, even if you wanted to engage with your favorite communities, you can't as the ability to do so, simply isn't there.
😞LACK OF LIKEABLE CONTENT FOR NON-TWITCH STREAMERS😞
I simply don't have the computer space to download 50 - 100+ games. My choices are very limited to what my single laptop is capable of doing. And as I have every intention of eventually moving into a tiny house, space is again, limited. And even if I did have a fully built Gaming PC, I simply don't have the funds for such a computer. So this limits my choices even more. Sadly, much of the content I choose to livestream, is simply not of interest to much of the Twitch communities and I have discovered, that this is sadly the case with alot of other people. Only a very small few, have 'made it' on Twitch, with limited games to play, to no games at all (such as this amazing ole lady I follow and all she does is puzzles!)
🤐COMPLAINING = BEING SILENCED🤐
Many communities will read this and think "oh she's just bitching cause no one follows her" and while only part of that is true, part of it boils down to the fact that this is a never ending vicious cycle within a much larger community. When you game, and you put your heart and soul into that game and literally no one comes to watch you, it's discouraging. It shouldn't matter where you choose to livestream that game from. It should be enough that the community would want to see you succeed and therefore, should want to help you grow. Instead, this isn't the case and if it is, it's not the bigger streamers doing this. But the second someone says anything about this, they're viewed in a negative light and ignored.
Our thoughts and feelings are valid. When you spend $50+ on a game and you want to share it with others but don't have a Twitch feeisble gaming set up and Facebook allows you to simply 'share your screen' at the touch of a button, you go with what's available to you. But when you livestream and you have zero people viewing, especially if you've been live for one hour +, that weighs on your mind and makes you second guess yourself.
🤑MONEY GRAB🤑
The days of watching any channel ad free are gone. Right down to even Youtube. But the fact remains; loyal viewers are often expected to continue a sub even when they can't afford to do so. I've seen this in multiple channels, where the streamer was outright rude, disrespectful and cruel to those who many not be able to afford that $7.99 sub fee. What many fail to realize is, that many of us, myself included, aren't working. We're on disability, we're barely getting by as is. So when we sub to a channel, we're dipping into funds we may think we can afford to give away, but the reality is, we can't. We never could. But we enjoy the content so we subscribed anyways, only to have to need that money, several days later.
I have been on Twitch for 7yrs and in that time period, I have spent well over $40k on subs, gems, etc. I damn well know a few streamers have been able to live quite well from my 'generious' donation of gifted subs for at least a month if not two. And while yes, you would be right to say "well no one forced you to do that", the same logic of "kindness given is kindness returned" can be applied. If I helped you grow, doesn't it stand to reason that you would want those around you to grow as well? Even if they're not apart of the Twitch community.
😷BURNT OUT😷
But for lack of anything else, I'm burnt out. I'm tired of viewing the same content over and over again. I get enough of that on the TV. Why should I be subjected to it, online? I have seriously thought about doing a social media clense but then I realize that, while the following on my Facebook page is small, the following on my socials is not. On my original Instagram, I have almost 800 followers and have begun removing alot of old content, in favor of keeping it as clean as I possibly can. Wishful thinking but it is what it is.
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