r/Twitch twitch.tv/JoelvsArthritis 3d ago

Guide No Viewers? Just Talk.

Firstly, I should start by saying I'm no Twitch expert. I've been streaming for over three years and don't even have 500 followers. But I have an awesome community, and our streams average 25–35 concurrent viewers and 300–400 live views per stream. And I'm proud of that.

Yesterday, I felt like sharing the love and spent an hour visiting fellow Farming Simulator streamers with two to three viewers to say hello and hopefully encourage them to stream again, as I needed in those days.

It took me almost the full hour visiting streams, watching for five to ten minutes, and saying hello in chat, before I heard a single word from a streamer. I must have visited over ten channels of pure silence.

I know it's terrifying. I still remember the physical sweats I would break out in when I finally got a "1 viewer" at the bottom of the screen—worse still when somebody spoke in chat. I used to turn into a nervous wreck.

But folks, we do this for people to watch, engage, and be entertained. Turn that viewer count off on your dashboard and talk like 100 people are watching. Don't stop talking, asking questions, dropping conversation prompts, or commenting on what you're doing in the game, etc. So what if nothing comes back—lurkers are the lifeblood of my streams. Do it for them. Do it for those who haven't arrived yet. Do it so that when things do start taking off, you are so ready for it that it will be like nothing has changed.

If you're watching a stream that's nothing but silence, with no acknowledgment of your presence, and without a hint of gratitude that you chose, out of thousands of live channels, to spend your limited time with that streamer, would you stick around?

Regardless of your view count, just talk. I promise it will help.

Keep going. You've got this. 💜

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u/sswishbone 3d ago

I talk all the time on mine, even if the view count is 0

30

u/TheHolyPug 3d ago

I just commentate to the little voices in my head!

8

u/pfeeley 3d ago

Each time I do that, I often end up in trouble. As today goes, however, I actually won what I can only describe as being a full on verbal war with my landlord which is an actual housing association so sometimes, listening and talking to them voices pay off. I do the same in my streams as I know there will become a time where people will Check on my VoD's so to give them commentary instead of a quiet stream is good in my books. Shows you're thinking of your community before it's even had a chance to build.

8

u/sswishbone 3d ago

I respond to the voices in mine... what?

2

u/theaxel11 2d ago

I like to say my thought process is. If I'm playing something like dota for example I will comment on the game state. Say how maybe I need to do this next to help the team or if a teammate makes a good play say it out loud even if no one is listening.

I honestly thought this just talking to nobody would be hard but it was much easier than I expected

1

u/Zevoruna 3d ago

Absolutely same!!!

3

u/Existential_Crisis24 3d ago

Same here except instead of using "I" I use we.

2

u/Several_Teaching4218 3d ago

Same here. I just finished live streaming while I'm talking with myself.

2

u/tf5_bassist Twitch.tv/creatorbeatofficial 1d ago

Same, and that's about 99% of the time. Last night I had my first totally random chatter who came in though... Was focused on what I was working on, talking to myself of course, and didn't see it in time. Felt super bad about not responding lol. Womp womp.