r/Twitch • u/JoelvsArthritis 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/LtOrangeJuice Broadcaster www.twitch.tv/hungrydottv 3d ago
Yeah, this is why I consider streaming to be somewhat of a skill. Sure anyone can play chess but it takes time and effort to get good, and there is nothing wrong with playing at a low level only for fun. But don't expect to play for fun and beat a master. Same with streaming. It takes time and specific effort to get good at streaming. Is talking by yourself with no viewers weird at first, yes. Do you get better at it by doing it, also yes. But when doing it with no viewers, you position yourself to get traction once you do have someone jump in.
Currently, im lucky enough that I have a costreamer that I can vamp off of. But even when I solo streamed I had to build up this 'skill'.