#where the on twitter arent as accessible as tumblr's tag system

[blackboxwarrior]

any tips for people who are intrested in streaming but dont know where to start?

I have a few, though less about the technical and more about the social aspects that get you an inch off the ground.

One: Promote on the largest platform you have access to. Streamers who get big on twitter or tumblr or youtube or tiktok do it because they were already independently popular on those sites (or in my case, I happen to be friends with people who are independently popular here). Anything can work, especially if you DONT see people posting stream promos there.

Two: The key to getting popular is seeming more popular than you actually are. I was asking my friends to just have my stream open but muted in another tab for the first few months I streamed so new people wouldnt feel awkward being the only person in chat. This will get you off of 0 concurrent viewers, at the very least.

Three: pick a time slot and dont stray far from it.

Four: In your early stages, especially pre-affiliate, feel free to experiment with your games and see what sticks. Play whatever you have or whatever youre interested in, you'll develop a niche in time (such as me and my increasing dependence on challenge run content). Old games are nostalgic, new games are exciting, obscure games are mysterious, and famous games are prestigious! So long as youre having fun you'll probably be fun to watch. Bundles are your friends, as are emulators.

Five: never shut the fuck up. Never. Unless you have someone on cocom with you there is no reason to ever stop talking. I promise youre not annoying, people came to see *you* and even if youre all alone in a chat room with 3 people you know arent actually listening, the fourth who tabs into your stream will most likely stay for at least a little while so long as you keep the one-sided conversation going. Talk about the game, tell stories about your life, talk about ANYTHING. Also BACKGROUND MUSIC-- get a youtube playlist with your favorite video game tracks or whatever and just run it in the background whenever youre not playing a game with bgm. it doesnt need to be loud but it should probably be there.

Six: Anyone who tells you not to get affiliate the moment youre eligible is talking out their ass. Sure ads suck, but you know what doesnt suck? Community features like polls, emotes, raids and channel points. That being said, you should have a team of mods by then.

and finally, and I cant stress this enough, DONT TAG YOUR STREAMS AS LGBT, DISABLED, POC, OR ANY OTHER MARGINALIZED GROUP, you are only going to attract hate raids. Be who you are openly and proudly through the content you stream, but until twitch fixes this situation do not touch the tagging system outside of its relation to your stream content.

#I have a lot to say but im still a small streamer so take what I say with a grain of salt.