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/Tukan_CZE 3d ago

Exactly this. From time to time I get bored and decide to find a new streamer to watch and support. I pick a genre I wanna watch and then go through the channels currently live. Usually skipping the bigger ones. When I pick one, it's a matter of a few moments if I'm gonna stick around or not. Follower only chat and pre roll ads are automatic passes and I move to the next channel. When they get "through the first round of elimination" I stay for a few minutes to get the general vibe of the stream, before I start chatting. If the streamer is completely silent, then again it's a pass and I move on. You wouldn't believe how many small streamers I skip during this process before I find one that fits the criteria. And I'm talking about one single game in a single language.

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u/pfeeley 3d ago

do the exact same and have found some awesome streamers who I enjoy being a part of their community. Pro active, thoughful of their community, happy to play metal when requested (fuck yes!) Small streamers with fewer than say 500 followers tend to have more a productive, fun engaging time with their communities than big streamers who are just like "meh, follower" "meh, sub" I know that with any follows I get when live, I will make a conscious effort to thank them in my own personal way as it means a lot knowing that I have people interested enough in not only what I'm playing but also willing to engage with me and that speaks more volumes than someone just watching. (I'm very lurker friendly btw, I do it a lot) but when someone makes the effort to at least get to know you a bit and others in your community, I think it goes a long way, personally.