Tag Archives: Twitch

Panels, Why should I have them?

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What are panels?
Panels are an image/text that can display a certain part of who you are/your channel. Look at them as titles to chapters with a mini write up underneath or just the photo there with information or a photo that if clicked sends you to a page.

Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com

Why should I have them?
Panels are a great way to showcase who you are and the content you are willing to provide. If you aren’t live for example and someone comes to check out your channel this is a great way to show who you are without being able to at the time. It can give them an idea of who you are and can even determine if they give you a follow or not even if you aren’t online too!

How can I get them?
Panels do not have to be expensive or even difficult. Anything is better then nothing when it comes to panels. Below is a website Nerd or die that I myself have used, It lets you create your own panels even if they aren’t something fancy its still something to use until you know what you want or can afford to get a personally created panel set. I have also included the twitter of people I have personally used for some of my designs as well!

Nerd or die:
https://nerdordie.com/resources/free-resources/customizable-twitch-panels/
You can also search Etsy and find some generic pre-made panels there too, though they are normally part of a package there are some really nice ones out there too!

What panels should I have?
– Bio/About Me: Pretty self explanatory. Put whatever you want here about YOU! Make is simple and short and a quick description of who you are! Think of this as a mini intro that you would tell a new viewer if they wanted to know who you are and what you are about!
– Tips: Also known as donations. However donations are more for charities. I myself am guilty of putting donations as a panel however when I get the money for a re-vamp/re-design I will be putting tips instead. This is normally linked to your paypal or other form of tipping site so that folks can tip you for your entertainment!
– Subscribe: This is for anyone wanting to subscribe per month to your channel. This normally directs people to your subscribe page. This is also for affiliate and partners on twitch and a very valuable panel to have especially if someone is on mobile. It can make subscribing a lot easier for someone. If finding where to subscribe is difficult you may be losing out on potential revenue!
– Games Played: This can be valuable in case you play multiple games or do play-throughs often. It can also help if folks to see what kind of content that you like to do. I would suggest to keep this to maybe your favorites though. You don’t want this to become a list of 20+ games and totally throw off the flow of your panels either.
– Sponsors: This is a great spot to showcase if you have a sponsor with anyone. Sometimes the company will create or have their own panel and it is required to have this there as a means to promote them and sometimes a way to make a percent of sales too!
– Socials: These are always important, whether they are twitter, youtube, instagram, tiktok or whatever else you might use. Normally when people follow someone on their streaming platform they are also inclined to want to follow on different socials. They want to see your content across multiple spots. Not to mention, if a person is unable to financially support a streamer they are more then happy to help someone by retweeting, liking a picture or thumbs upping their videos since all of those ways to support a streamer are free!
– Artists: This is a great way to shout out the people who make your channel unique! Some artists have their own panel designed which you are able to use while having the panel link to one of their socials or websites. Others might just have a link which you can use an “Artist” umbrella panel so you can add each artist you use individually with a hyperlink under the panel.
– Shout outs: This can be used for 2 things. Some folks have this to shout out their streamer friends and to hopefully direct the love to them as well. This can also be used for showcasing the biggest supporters. Maybe the tops bits giver or sub gifter. Maybe someone has supported financially for a long time and you want to shout them out too. Again, just like the games played keep the list to the top. It can be very unappealing to the eyes when you see a list of 25+ people who support you and have to scroll down the page in order to see other panels or the bottom of your list too.

Don’t do this in panels
– Do not ONLY have a tipping panel. A lot of new streamers are inclined to have only a tipping panel. This looks SUPER scummy and normally when viewers especially new ones visit a channel and only see a tipping panel they are immediately turned off. It demonstrates to a new viewer that you, the streamer are more interested in them giving you money. Which is not a bad thing, But with that being the only thing it can come off very bizarre.
– Don’t write a book. Keep it interesting and point form. Sure you can write a story about it. But why not write enough to keep the viewer interested and then if you have a story you can use that while you are live to tell stories. If all of your panels have long paragraphs of things then it will be extremely hard to keep a potential viewer interested if they have to read 20 minutes worth of text in order to find out a simple question they might have about you or your stream.
– Don’t make everything all cluttered. There is a flow with panels ie: Making them all the same size, Same style, one side isn’t just panels with links or another filled with texts as well. You do not want to have someone open your channel and start to read your panels when they have to scroll down pages to finish reading text when the other side has been finished long before.

Panels are pretty much a fundamental part of a channel. Whether you make them yourself of have someone make them. Make sure before you even hit the live button once that you have these done! Look at them as an extension of YOU!

Setting Boundaries as a Streamer

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Setting boundaries as a streamer are extremely important. Let’s face it, There are some pretty screwed up people in the world and having a stalker is an all too real thing out there. How much you share with your community is ultimately your choice. However you don’t want to say too much. Remember, It is a lot easier to not over share then it is to over share and regret saying too much. I will also tell you how much I share with my chat and why I don’t share certain things with them also. There really is no right way or wrong way with how much you want to share with your  viewers it all goes on personal preference. I know I have watched streamers share a whole lot and others not even share their real name!

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DO NOT SHARE YOUR LOCATION!
I swear you would be surprised how many people do this. For myself I do not mind sharing a VERY rough location. ie: I live outside of Halifax. This is a huge city and if someone wants to find out where they will have a very hard time trying to find out where exactly I am. You would be surprised and a bit unsettled when you see and hear of streamers getting swatted (Police called to their residence) or having followers/viewers randomly show up at their homes. This is a complete invasion of privacy and can be extremely alarming as well too. Our homes are our space and there is a reason why we need to be careful for this. I would also suggest that this includes where your camera (If you use one) is facing. If you say live near a very easily figured out location, and your webcam is facing a window people can find out where you are located simply in a few clicks or searches. I don’t have anything by the homes that I lived in that would really show where I live but I know just as I have done if there is a window behind me chances are there is curtains that are always closed. Not that I really think about this when doing streams and where my cam faces just that I always had my curtains closed even in other rooms of the house.

**If you like what you are reading through out these blogs, and are looking at ways to financially support the blog, please consider checking out my Ko-Fi link here. You will NEVER be pressured to contribute to towards put any type of money towards the blog however if the thought has crossed your mind, here is a great way to help a stay at home mom provide some financial relief for her family.

Last name
This one can be tricky. For me personally, I don’t advertise my last name however I believe if you tip I do think it shows up and I’m okay with that. Chances are if you are tipping a streamer most times people are supporting the person and aren’t going to spill their name to people. That being said this can also be pointless if you are say a pro e-sports player because more often than not your name is already out there when you compete for your team too. If you have a lot of trolls then you might not want to share this also too. However remember if you are making a username or email and you use any part of your name that can kind of defeat the purpose. I know a few folks on twitter who have their full names there which can be a bummer. Especially if they want to keep that side of their real lives personal.

Any type of personal information can be used to trace where you are. Therefore it is extreme important especially as you grow to manage what you say to your community. It can easily slip out and once it’s out there it can be extremely hard to get it back. If you have a few viewers it can be easy to forget and as you grow that not all viewers can be kind. Or if you have the same bunch of folks in your channel regularly you can easily grow close to them that when new people come in to chat it can be hard to adjust what you have said or shared.

It is also important to know, the more personal you are with your chat the easier connections will be. Chats love when a streamer makes them feel like a friend even if they are not that friendly. Making a streamer seem real with real issues and stories is a lot better then a streamer who is a wall and has no connections with them. For me, as a viewer I will watch streamers who connect more on a personal level then ones who don’t. Why? Because if I wasn’t looking for a personal level connection I would simply watch youtube videos. I like the real time interaction of Twitch and a streamer who is personal even without spilling all of their personal information. It also seems that (From what I can see) The more personal a streamer is the better success they have. If someone is all robotic, shares very little, starts stream and just playing games, a person cannot connect it will be hard to bring new people in for sure.

For me. I would like to think that as a streamer I am a personal one. There are things I never mention though have slipped up before. My Bf for example does not want me to say his name on stream. We refer to him as “Space” Mind you there have been times that I have slipped up and said his name but that is not a HUGE deal though. There are also times when I tell stories about my family or friends and most times especially when referring to my brother and sister I don’t say their names either. My camera is pointed at a wall and not a window so that folks cannot see anything outside of my house. Not that I live near any landmarks but it is better safe than sorry in these types of situations. I want to be open and honest with my stream because I treat them as I would my friends. Even if we are a streamer/viewer relationship I want them to feel like it is a safe space. If I wanted it to be a production and totally planned out then I would have a green screen, keep chatter to a minimum and not connect at all.

Be safe out there and remember, setting high boundaries in the beginning is okay, because when you set them low and want them higher, It may be a lot harder to reign them back in if you want to change them!

Streamers and “Pity Parties”

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If you haven’t been keeping tabs, that is totally okay! I am a streamer though I am so bad with a schedule that it is incredibly hard for me to even keep it going half the time. Juggling two kids, being a wife, and pregnant with our 3rd child, and trying to keep a household kind of clean while cooking, cleaning, playing, sewing, writing, the things that are being done are endless.

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Though there is one thing that has never changed since I first started streaming. I don’t really care about a lot of things streamers do, but one thing I do mind is streamer pity parties. I know, does this make me sound bad? Sure, maybe to some people who consider this as a tactic to make money. But for the vast majority of streamers I think we can all agree that sometimes it is PRETTY OBVIOUS when a streamer does this.

So what is a pity party? And what is it in regards to streaming? Streamer pity parties is when a streamer will play on the emotions of their viewers by trying to get some sort of compensation from them. Sometimes this is in regards to maybe their mental health has been struggling, other times it may be the unexpected bills, or maybe it is simply put, because they know their viewers will donate to them for whatever reason so they try to get that motivation for their viewers to feel bad. To guilt them so to speak.

Before I continue, I do want to state, not everyone is like this. There is a lot of people who have donation goals or different things that people love to help out when they have a few extra dollars. Which is totally okay when you think about it. What I am referring to is streamers in particular who will take extremely long breaks, And on top of it come back with new hair, fresh clothes, nails done, and everything else, and complaining that they no longer have their rent. This is weird and while many of their “financial supporters” are unaware of this hidden agenda to others it couldn’t be more brighter of a light.

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One of these tips to figure out if a streamer you watch is playing this dangerous game would be that they constantly talk about their hardships. Maybe they talk about how they are eating ramen all the time due to being unable to afford food. Maybe they talk about how there pet is suddenly sick, and I say suddenly because they have been sick perhaps for the past year multiple times with various ailments. One thing that is blinding when it comes to these is that someone who complains they are unable to afford rent, however they have a fresh set of a full foil highlights on their head which can be hundreds of dollars. Maybe I am the crazy one, but I would like to think rent should be the priority over a personal appearance thing.

Another red flag is when someone has a donation goal which is bigger than a lot of the other elements on their streams. Now before you are all “Stacey, You too have a donation/subscriber goal”. Yes I do! However it is smaller and in the corner of the stream to not take away from the stream itself. Does that mean I don’t mention it if someone asks? No I will. But I don’t continuously talk about it either. I will never mention that we are xxx closer to our goal, or whatever you want to say too.

The fact is, a lot of established streamers do have some people who are in a position financially to support the stream. There is absolutely nothing wrong with people who do this. What I am talking about is people who KNOW who these people are and will do anything that they can to get every single cent from them. Have you ever noticed that established and good streamers never mention money? hard times? or anything else? Because people know that like myself and others, when you mention these things constantly you run a major risk of actually turning people off of your stream. The fact is a lot of their viewers too could also be struggling and they don’t want to also hear someone else who is struggling.

Why might this be? Because at the end of the day a lot of people around the world are also struggling. To the point that they are working two jobs, making sacrifices to their daily lives while hearing someone sitting on their computer trying to make money from other people. I am a big supporter of the “If you cannot afford to stream you need to find different ways to make money”. This is more or less the people who think streaming more will mean more money, which is totally wrong. There is a lot of different ways to make money and streaming is one way to do so. Maybe they need to pick up a little part time job or maybe go different avenues of making content. One that can bring money in.

MAYBE I am so out there in left field that I am the one who is jealous or envious of people who have these suckers who have the money to spend on them. As I mentioned, I am all for transparency. If you are struggling, by all means, you can share with viewers, but if the topic of conversations always end up to the fact that you need money in some way shape of form and that you need money then it may be a sign that you are watching the wrong streams. Especially if the streamer is using emotions to make you feel guilty about not donating. That is just not okay.

We live in a world that there is an abundance of jobs and if you want to be a streamer then you need to do more than going live and hoping for the best. To be a twitch streamer you need to be looking at all pathways to bring viewers in and performing to the best of your ability. This does not include making your viewer, who watches you regularly, feel bad that you are unable to afford that new set of fake nails, especially since as streamers, we don’t know just how much our viewers are struggling, and at the end of the day they could be struggling far more than we are!

Overlays, Good or bad?

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An overlay is a great way to display to your community different things that you want to achieve ie: A sub goal, Tip goal, Follower goal, Top tippers and anything of that nature as well. You can even display most recent followers if you wish too. As simple as it sounds there can be a right way and a very wrong way to do this as well. Here are some questions you should ask yourself when you decide to add an overlay to your stream.

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Should I get an overlay?
This should be the 1st question you ask because there are certain circumstances where you will not be able to use an overlay. IE: if you stream from console and DO NOT use a capture card then it will be harder/not possible to use an overlay. I have been told that if you use a console and stream directly from there to Twitch or whatever platform, that if you use the remote play feature or do it through a computer then you should be able to use an overlay. Personally, I have no idea how to use that as I never needed to but apparently it is possible. I used to have an overlay when I did use a capture card though. This is because it runs through OBS and you are able to add the file/image to your scenes. If you stream through a computer then you will have no problem adding an overlay to your streams to make them a bit more personal as well too! I personally never got one until I was on a PC/Capture card. If you are in a position where you are unable to have an overlay, that is totally okay too! You will be able to add one eventually as you continue to progress in your journey!

*** If you are someone who is really enjoying the blogs and has the financial freedom to want to support this through tips, you are more than welcome to do so by clicking on this link to bring you to my personal Ko-Fi page. Never will you ever be pressured to support in this way however the option is there if you wish to do so! Your continued support regardless of financial or not is greatly appreciated.

What is an Overlay?
An overlay is any type of information or design that you want to display on your stream. In order to do so you need to either be using a capture card or streaming from a PC. Some streamers have different scenes where their overlay displays chat, or the top donators or subscribers and things as well. It really depends on what you are looking to show to your community in your stream as far as how you would like this to be shown. If you wanted you could also display certain types of goals you might have for your channel as well too. It really depends on what you are looking for as a streamer! For myself, I sometimes show the subscriber goals that I have when trying to save for certain things, I also try to show things like followers sometimes. I also have a chat overlay as well sometimes depending on the scene that I am using too.

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How can I get an overlay?
There are places where you can get a pre-designed overlay. This would be the quickest and one of the easiest ways to get one. Another more expensive way would be to commission a graphic designer and ask them to do a one of a kind overlay for you. Keep in mind if you want all the “Bells and whistles” then it will cost some money to get done. I always say when looking for ANY type of graphics it can be extremely helpful for the artists if you have somewhat of an idea. Even knowing which colors you would like on there is a huge help! And if not, that is also okay since your artist should be able to articulate your idea’s for you if you have trouble.

My Overlay
When I decided I wanted to do a little revamp, an overlay was something that I wanted. I knew I wanted it to be simple and I knew I wanted it to be timeless. I asked for my name “StaySeeJ” to be on there and I dropped the 08. Why? Because eventually if I got to the point I wanted a name change I would be dropping the 08 if it was possible. Spoiler alert: Fast forward to now, and I have actually dropped the 08 from my name which is great I thought ahead and am able to continue to use the same overlay! And I felt this was going to be cleaner without the number too. My colors that I liked was blues and white/black. The whole point was to have it slick and clean looking. I wanted it to be very minimal at the top of my screen and that’s how mine was done! Its simple, customizable and easy to add to any streaming software. I have also added through Streamlabs the different information that I wanted at the top. ie: Sub count, Sub Goal, Top Bits, Recent follower, Recent sub. The best part is that if I want to change out the displays I just need to add text and find the different spot in Streamlabs to get it done!

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DON’Ts of Overlays
– Don’t make your overlay too cluttered. People are either watching your stream for yourself or game play. Nothing is more annoying when you click a stream and 75% of their screen is filled with different alerts, text, logos and many other things. Its cool to display things but making your overlay look like a collage board from school is not the way to do it. It also can be very distracting to what you maybe trying to portray. If you are a great Apex player and all everyone see’s is your logos and things flashing on the screen it will make it incredibly hard for anyone to really focus on what it is you want to people to focus on.

– Don’t make donation goals the center of your overlays. Though I think it can be important to showcase a tip goal for your community I don’t think making it the most important thing is going to do a lot of good for people wanting to help out. If you do have one on your overlay make sure you STRESS the importance of your viewers simply being there instead of making them seem like your only goal is to get their money. When streamers talk about money as their goal it can really put a damper on things especially if people in the chat are unable to financially support your stream.

And lastly, As I have mentioned with lots of other posts. Be careful who you get to commission your work! Make sure you do your research before putting your trust into another person. Word of mouth when it comes to designers is a huge way to see how they are and if they are worth your time and money. If someone is known for copying other artists or not getting back in a timely fashion then they may not be worth you giving your ideas to. If you aren’t sure with what you want and are not in a rush post on your twitter, discord, ask in streams, or even check reviews if a person has an online portfolio in order to make sure you choose the right person for you! Go with your gut too, If you have a feeling that the person may not deliver what you expect then don’t go with them! This is something for YOU to showcase your brand and you shouldn’t take anything but the best for that!

Should you be a content creator?

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Since the beginning of Covid it seems like there has been a lot of people who want to try out the world of streaming and online content creation. With people being laid off and losing their jobs due to work places preventing them from working to help break the spread people think content creation is easy and the way to go. Here is a few things you might want to ask yourself before you begin. They might not be easy questions and some of the answers might be hard to hear but still they need to be asked regardless.

One huge question you should ask yourself is Why? Why do you want to start online content creation? Is it because you want to get rich quick (Which let’s face it, will not happen fast and there will be more about that later!) Or because you want to make a bigger impact on the world or even an impact as an influencer too.

What type of influencer or content creator would you like to be is one of the most valid questions you should ask yourself. Do you want to be a different person and create a persona or would you like to be genuine and yourself? Not to mention, Where do you want to produce content too, Youtube, Twitch or Facebook? Do you want to grow on Instagram or Twitter? When I first started streaming, I could have told you that I wanted to be a partnered streamer and see how that realm of creation works. Now, I would tell you I want to be a successful writer and blogger with streaming on the side as well.

There are many different skills or qualities you need in order to be successful in creating content for the world direct on the web. Some generic answers for this would be you should have some type of a sense of humor and charismatic personality. You also should understand the space you are trying to break into. And a huge if not one of the most important qualities would be to understand that this is the internet and there will be people who do not like you. They will troll you and direct hate towards you for many reasons. How you handle this can ultimately decide your happiness. People will hate or be rude towards you for anything from your appearance or even sound of your voice or way you put out videos or blogs or photos too. Ignore them. Having haters is typically a sign that you are doing well!

Doing some research and finding a niche will ultimately be a challenge for anyone. For example: If you are looking to become a streamer and want to play the game with the most viewers on Twitch chances are you will find a really tough time breaking in unless you are a pro player and absolute god in the game. Another would be if you want to be a blogger and if you don’t research. I stared this blog on Streaming and without thinking, streamers probably are more likely to watch a YouTube video instead of reading a blog about it. Switched to Lifestyle/Parenting/etc and my blog seems to be slowly flourishing when I should have did a bit more research into it. I also had no idea the importance of pinterest in blogging and growth either and that was a whole year wasted (Not really since I did learn more!) that I should have been pinning and helping drive traffic here. I also didn’t use any tags either which didn’t do me any favors.

Here is the question everyone is asking and probably thinking it is easy to get. Will I make money at creating content? The short answer is No, Not right away. Nothing is quick and it will take you a long time to grow your brand and make people want to tip you or support your content. You are going to have to do a lot to influence folks to want to give you money for whatever reasons. Do you provide a product? Do you provide a service? Entertainment? Or whatever else there might be. I have been streaming for nearly four? or three? (Honestly it feels like ages!) years and right now currently I am making about 25$ per month. That is legit all. And with Twitch you only get paid every time you hid the 100$ threshold. That means I essentially don’t even get a “pay check” every month from them. That is another reason why I wanted to focus a bit more on blogging. Streaming is such a give give give way of making money and the reality is the money you make is never a for sure thing either. You could totally make a modest month worth of cash and the next month make next to nothing. I feel like long term blogging could be the way to make a regular income once I get it grown to where I feel I am able to search the financial side of it though. Just like any job, content creation on whatever platform is not easy. Overnight success is not easy and chances are you will be working hard for a long time for little to no money before you can say that you “made it”.

So before you dive in, Ask yourself if creating content online is right for you. And before you take the plunge into trying to make a living out of this I would recommend NOT quitting your day job. So many people in the time I have been around on twitch along have been trying to make it big just by streaming full time hours. If you want to be successful put content to different platforms and bring others towards different avenues you have created. But NEVER put your own family or livelihood at risk because you think you can make full time hours online. Truth be told, The people I have seen stop and try to stream full time and be successful, are no longer streaming at all anymore.

Have you ever thought about creating content online?
What spots have you wanted to produce content?
Do you have any tips you would like to share with folks too?

Let me know in the comments below!

– Stacey

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What channel bots to use?

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Choosing a bot to stream with can be daunting due to the fact there is really hundreds of bots that have different features and levels of skills required to use them and set them up. Ill be going through the few bots that I have used since I started streaming and ones I am really not a fan of to hopefully help you in making a decision in which to use in your streams!

When I first started streaming (As mentioned in so many blogs previously) I didnt have the monitors or bells and whistles so to speak. I had a TV and my playstation. I had the chat pop up on my screen for a while then switched to having my laptop open with my stream so that I could see what was happening. I started using Vivbot because while I was able to stream from playstation and unable to use overlays (I never got a capture card till way later!) I wanted to use this as it was easy for me to see who was following me so that I was able to thank them for supporting the channel. I also wanted a main bot like Nightbot to put majority of commands that viewers could check out and use when they needed as it wasnt really required to have a PC for it but a lot of streamers seemed to have their stuff and timers there as well too.

Fast forward now, I still use nightbot and the amount of commands it has grown to is INSANE! I try to add the commands that i want to be there forever as it is so versatile. There are commands that are there since my streaming from a playstation day and there are also some that i have added recently. The amount of things that you can do is incredible and whenever i see a cool command from anotehr chat I just take it and put it on my channel. Nightbot, in my opinion has to be one of the most used bots across twitch because it really is user friendly as well too. Now that I am on a PC I also use streamlabs chat bot. I use this for my timers, temporary and perminent as well, and I also use it for my hcat games like heisting and betting too. Its a bit more complicated to set up while I have had a friend do that due to the fact that it had to be connected to an account which I made TheSocietyBot to represent my community that I have. Some people connect them to their own channels and it will post certain things on their behalf, I thought this made the channel a bit better this way!

While finding a bot you should ask yourself what you would like the bot to do. Do you want it to just put out timers or also commands. Do you want it to have games or interactive things as well. Finding a bot that is for you can be challenging however if you know what you want it can narrow down the search. A good practice too is if you notice a bot in someones channel that you watch a lot then you can see the different things that have set up for it also too. I knew I wanted timers, some games for chat and also some commands. Thats why I choose nightbot and streamlabs chatbot which I still use in my streams today. one feature I had no desire to see was the one which shows you every so often the amount of viewers in your chat through the chat. No one wants to see it consinutesly update to 1 or 2 viewers. I also do giveaways quite frequantly on my channel and was looking at something that could be easy to use for giveaways and make it fair for others. I use mainly streamlabs chatbot but nightbot can also do this feature if needed too.

Popular bots that I have seen across twitch is for sure Nightbot, as well as Streamlabs Chatbot. I always still recommend Vivbot as well if someone is unable to have another monitor to have them or overlays to be abel to see alerts rigth on the screen.

As a new streamer I would suggest this: If you choose a bot MAKE SURE it does not post you are live on twitter. If you start this you will feel lay and soon your profile will be the filled with the exact same posts which will be a major turnoff from new potential followers. As mentioned above a particular one I know Wiebot has something that puts in your chat how long you have been live and viewers whether they go up or down every so often. Remove that feature. You do not need to see how your viewers flucuate whether you are new or old at the streaming game. It can be a really big moral boost watching it post you are losing viewers every half an hour. Make sure that you are also aware of what features that the bot you do choose has. If you can choose a bot with more features that you want it will save a lot of time than setting up multiple bots with one feature on each one! I only have had 2 bots going at once and I cannot imagine having more. You also will need to make the bot a mod in your chat in order for it to do certain things. Not to mention as well, If you are new and are not sure who to mod or make a mod set up an auto filter on a bot so that it can help if you only have yourself managing chat or the person or people you have modded arent around!

Regardless of which bot you decide to add to your stream, there really is endless possibilities on which you would like to use for whichever purpose. And if you get sick of one or it changes chances are there will be another that can do all the features you like and more!

-StaySeeJ08 xo

Skills needed for streaming!

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Stream from the outside may seem like a very easy thing to do. However you will soon find out after starting if you havent researched anything about it, that entertaining is not as easy as it appears to be. This blog we will talk about a few things that make streaming, well, streaming!

Interaction and conversation are pretty much the backbones of streaming. If you are unable to interact with your chat (In the beginning at least) you will find it extremely hard to grow at all. People go to Twitch for the fact things are LIVE. If they didnt want to interact or watch things in real time they would go to YouTube where they can pause and click through videos at their wish. This also includes making conversations when there is no one to talk to. Whether you are commenting on your game play or gaming with friends, you really have to have the ability to keep a conversation going. This being said a lot of people I have seen who arent normally talkative have found that streaming has also brought them out of their shells. It isnt as direct as talking in person but it does help with growing those skills even if you dont think you have them to start!

Tech Skills or at least having the ability to learn the skills necessary by reading blogs, or tutorials and watching videos on YouTube you will find that it can be very tricky to even begin streaming or continuing to grow in the streaming world. When i first started I streamed directly from PlayStation. I clicked a button and was live. I eventually got a Cam and that too was just plugged in. Now when I decided to use a capture card and my laptop this was a whole new ball game. Thankfully i had a great friend who had already done this and was able to help me out as it was a lot of new technology that I had absoutely NO knowledge for. I would have taken a lot longer to figure it out by watching videos but it wasnt that hard and once you know the general idea of what you are doing it can be easy to learn new things and tweek your setup. This also goes for other aspects like mics, volumes, hardware, devices, etc.

Equipment can be SUPER subjective as well. You could go with the products that have the best reviews, You could also ask your friends or fellow streamers which products they like or even by a trusted name that has other products or go by the price tag too. I think regardless of things when you start streaming you should have the skill set as much consumers do to be able to decide on a product. Like any hobby or interest it is also good to note that when starting out you do not need to have the best of the best in order to grow. In fact starting at a lower tier end and growing in products is a lot easier then starting higher and losing interest or what not. For me, I started directly6 on my playstation streaming, I got the Playstation webcam next and then afterwards I purchased an Elgato Capture card and then I used my boyfriends old computer and saved up for my own. Staring at the beginning for a hobby you may or may not fall out of love with and spending a ton of money on it can be expensive for sure.

Knowledge of Streaming would also be great. Whether you are a viewer or whether you even know anything about the streamer side. As mentioned before watching a streamer can be incredibly simple. It can look like seamless when you are a viewer from the transitions and overlays and alerts but in actuality it could be anything but! Knowing some of what it takes to be a successful streamer even from the mental health side to the demanding schedules and dedication and consistency would save a lot of people heartache if they knew what to expect and understand how difficult making it in this industry can be.

Etiquette would probably be something I wish I had explored before streaming as well. Learning what is acceptable and what isnt is extremely hard and not nessacarly in the rules of someones stream. For example self promo is a big no-no in nearly every stream on Twitch. I had done this thankfully to friends who told me the reasoning behind it but had it been a random stream i enjoyed how awkward would that have been! Another would be the push to talk on discord when you are streaming with another person who is also streaming too. This is something I encounter quite often and it really is a pain when you have someone trying to butt in on a stream or when they are shouting out their alerts over your stream. These are all important things you should know if you decide to take the plunge.

Knowing who YOU are is probably one of the most important things I think. Knowing who you are and not who you want to be can make or break you. Do you want to try to be like Ninja? You may find it a struggle since he is who he is. You want to be family friendly or do you want to be mature audience? Do you want to be a one game stream, just chatting one or even a variety? There is so many things you need to think of even as far as what you want to call your followers or subscribers once you hit affiliate. These things can also come as you stream more and as your followers or subscribers say more they can even help along the way with ideas.

Whatever you decide, know that these skills are forever changing with the trends as well as with the medias and streaming equipement. You may not need to be fully up to date on them but having some sort of an idea would be a great way to start instead of going in blindly!

-StaySeeJ08

Streaming with other Streamers, Making connections with their Community

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Playing with fellow streamers is a great way to mix 2 communities of similar interests. Whether you have been friends before or you are simply looking to make new friends, This can be a fun way to even produce some quality content for your viewers especially if you both play similar games, or are of the same skill level as well too! I myself am not normally playing with friends who stream regularly but I do game with friends normally especially playing Dead by Daylight. Though I am not apposed to streaming and gaming with someone I just tend to be very picky on who I play with due to past reasons. I do this because it helps time to go by and when there is moments of a quiet chat you can still talk and not feel like there is a lot of dead air too.

What is streaming with other streamers? Well this is when you are both playing a game or even doing a just chatting together too. It could be producing any content with another person. You probably have seen streamers like TimTheTatman playing with DrLupo or Ninja together as well. Sometimes people even do this when certain games release.

One of the most important things to remember when duo streaming and gaming with other streamers, and I cannot stress this enough, is respect. Remember before I go into my thoughts about this that respect goes both ways. There is nothing more annoying when you are streaming with another streamer then when they DO NOT  use a push to talk or some type of mute function when streaming with someone else. This is just a simple and easy to show respect. It is extremely annoying when you are playing with someone and maybe they have a few more people in their chat, Or you have a few more in yours, and all you hear is them thanking their viewers or having a full blown conversation. This should be a no brainer when it comes to streaming with another streamer but it really isn’t. Not to mention it can be extremely annoying when you are hearing everything they are saying. I had to do this when I was playing on PS4 because there is no function that would allow a push to mute/talk. Now that I use discord to communicate with team members I would ALWAYS use this. Heck, I wont even play with people on stream or live if they wont use this.  Another aspect of this would be cross self promo. I have had this a few times and it is extremely annoying and frustrating to deal with. I have had people who subscribe to me feel like they support my stream and content, when in reality that is their way of playing with me and streaming and making comments like “Send some of them viewers over my way”, “Can always check out my stream”. This is not only invasive but extremely rude. Though for me I find it can be extremely hard to speak up against this that I typically never play with them again if this happens. Kind of a lesson learned moment. Respect that each other have their own streams and let things happen naturally. Not only that, But if you are the person who is trying to say things like this then you will look like a total loser to the other community or other streamers. Not to mention as well, If I regularly play with someone and they are a streamer as well, Chances are I will be shouting them out to my community or vice versa at the end of the day.

Being Genuine and having natural connections are kind of similar but so different. Being genuine means to not be fake about why you want to stream with a streamer. If you both play totally different games it may look super suspicious if you want to play a game with them, ie: Maybe the streamer plays fortnite and you play something like Dead by Daylight. You wanting to play with them is fine, But if your only motive is to get some of their viewers to watch you then that might not be a wise decision. Most times streamers will know when someone is being sneaky and trying to play with them for personal gain. If they don’t know right away eventually they will figure it out. I know for me, It was pretty obvious when the people would only show up When I was live or when I had a bunch of viewers in chat. If there wasn’t as many as my regular numbers they wouldn’t be around. And again when the numbers were there they would come back.

Finally, I think this goes without saying. If you are in fact ONLY streaming with someone to essentially try and steal their viewers. It will not work. This is the same reason why people dont ask for raids and things. Because at the end of the day it really does not do anything and will not help you grow. The viewer may look at your stream sure, but they will always go back to the orgional stream they came from even if both of you are live. Chances are they have built a connection already with the streamer and their community and would like to keep looking at their content, though they may check out your stream if the streamer is not online or on vacation or something, Just to fill that void.

So be smart, kind and genuine. I know as someone who follows streamer twitter this can be a very challenging thing to do. And remember as I have mentioned before in blogs multiple times, You cannot rush a friendship and like all good things they take time! And be careful, After all, If something is said or done on your stream by someone who is on it, it will fall back on you. If someone you know wants to play but they swear or use dirigatory words, it may be best to pass up and maybe play with them off line.


-StaySeeJ08

Sponsorships

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Sponsorships are great, they are part of a lot of streamers and creators lives. Whether they be a tech company, food or drink products and whatever else. Finding the right sponsorship for you and one that you enjoy or use regularly is insanely challenging at times. Not to mention you have to have some type of community for a company to even begin to be interested in sponsoring you! If you have a few friends and not a whole lot of people behind you than it can be tricky to even get looked at. However if you have a great presence over social medias it may be a bit easier since you will have a much larger reach!

Looking for a sponsorship can be a headache if you aren’t sure what you should be looking for. I think the biggest difficulty that someone can have is finding a) the right company for YOU and b) making sure you have enough reach in order to make this sponsorship successful! I myself have an alright reach on Twitter however it really is hit or miss. I don’t want to go for a sponsorship if I am unsure if I am able to really pull my own weight so to speak with a product. I want to make sure that I can be a good fit for the company and they are able to have new customers through me.

I think this almost goes without saying but I will say it anyways. If you are NOT using a product DO NOT GET A SPONSORSHIP. Nothing is more strange then seeing someone promote a product or company that they are obviously making money with and they are not even using the product. This pop, I love Coca-cola. I would even prefer it over Pepsi. However, for example, Pepsi offers me a sponsorship and for whatever reason I take it. Whether it is good money, free things, etc. But I continue to drink Coca-cola the rival of the company that I am sponsored with (Which most times is in a contract that you NOT do) and then I screw myself over and the company by not really enjoying the product. Not to mention, From a viewer standpoint it looks extremely strange if they see and know I am a Coke fan if all of sudden I am now pushing Pepsi at them. Not to mention if you have said some not so nice things about the opposite company it looks equally suspicious. Within streaming people joke about being a “Sell out”, You know playing games you normally wouldn’t for a buck or what not. This is like the ULTIMATE sell out when you are sponsored by a product that you have trash talked and not liked.

Making money or something out of is always something you want to ask yourself. Is it worth it? We all know if you remotely use twitter and are in the streaming world the particular “Grip” for controllers that seem to sponsor everyone and their dog. What are the people promoting the product REALLY getting out of this? Not a whole lot. I checked out their stats and it couldn’t be much lower. If you are going to get a sponsor and promote their product make sure it is worth your time and energy as well as your reach. For example: We all see Elgato out there with sending their people products. You can tell when they have the #Ad (More on that later) in their tweets or social posts. Whether it be a new larger stream deck or even a new light. Do they get paid by this? Maybe if they have an affiliate link that they are able to direct their viewers to when purchasing the products. But they do receive the free products. Which I am also sure there is a certain amount of posts every so often in a contract that they promote such product!

And finally #Ad. We all have seen this in promotion tweets and if you do happen to get a sponsor or something YOU MUST DO THIS. Besides all the ethical things happening you want to be as transparent ass possible with your community and audience that this is a paid/etc promotion and you are not simply doing this out of the goodness in your own heart. You probably have even seen a few people with paid sponsorships get in trouble with their communities by NOT putting the #Ad in their posts as well too. It is extremely important to be transparent with this to your viewers or it can again, Come off a bit scummy. Not to mention, If you are getting paid to promote something and you are making it look like you are just enjoying the product it can take away from your credibility as an influencer and could even effect your future with companies! Which is never a good thing to have happen.

So as you can see, Having a sponsorship is great! Just make sure you are actually getting something out of it and you aren’t doing it for the “sake of doing it”. Don’t promote something that you have no intention of using yourself. And if at all possible, Before you get a sponsorship especially for food and drink, TRY IT OUT! If the company is not willing to send you samples of this for you to test out before you sign up, chances are they are not confident in their product and you may want to think again before taking this opportunity. It would look pretty silly if GFuel gave sponsorships to people without being willing to send samples along the way right? Look at the people who post the new flavors to try out with their #Ad! This is not only a way for them to get a bit of a perk but a great way to make the general public aware of their latest product! As for me, I will be waiting for a Tim Horton’s or a Candy sponsorship to arrive!

-StaySeeJ08

Twitch, They continuously miss the mark.. Time and time again.

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I think its safe to say that people who know of the streaming community can agree that twitch is dropping the ball in terms of their many misses in recent months. From their emote add ones to running ads in the most absolutely wrong way, here is some specific things as well as suggestions from the community. Just because Twitch is the biggest streaming platform whose rival appears to be YouTube gaming OR Facebook who recently worked to get their Partners free from some DMCA claims, the way Twitch is NOT handling situations is really making them stand out for all the wrong reasons.

First let’s begin with their ever so invasive ads that would essentially force the streamer to either run them on their own or be forced for a picture in picture experience for the viewer. Why is this bad because they happen at the most inopportune times for the streamer, From beating a boss or an epic kill in a battle royale game, it really is not helping the viewer experience in any way, shape, or form.

A particular streamer is also not happy with these ads and rightfully so. Quiltoni is a quilter and educator on the platform. While streaming and running a family friendly PG stream twitch decided (Or whatever the algorithm is) to run a Trojan (Condom) Ad during this time. This is a detrimental part of their stream due to the fact that it can and is broadcast in quilting supply stores as quoted by;
Quiltoni:
“They also may have just killed my relationship with a store that has me live.”
Quiltoni also mentioned that their channel does not have the 18+ (Mature Audience) Filter on either. However by having that type of system in place Twitch can use that to help filter ads that can be damaging to a streamers channel. And I couldn’t agree more. If Twitch is going to force ads on the streamers we should at least have a say in what type of ads are shown on their also. An 18+ channel would be better suited for the beer and condom ads instead of a family friendly stream for other types of things.
( You can find their twitter here for all links: https://twitter.com/quiltoni )

Then there was the emote add-ons by twitch to celebrate the Hispanic Community on the platform which was met with IMMEDIATE backlash due to their extremely stereotypical designs. Now, I myself am a White Female and have never been met with racism before therefore I obviously am not going to speak on that. However I will say this, Why is it that it took a community backlash to prevent/remove these from being released? How many people did this particular change have to go through in order to have them approved? I feel like as a company as large as Twitch or even Amazon that there are some obvious marks about cultural appropriation that have been missed here. Why are people not informed on these particular issues OR better yet, why was the community not all asked on what they think could be a great way to start in terms of adding content to the platform that showcases this.

I also would like to mention that after year and year and year on the platform why has the support system not been updated? The ticket system is flawed at best and there is 0 live support for something that might be needed such as the hate raids that have been popping up in streams more and more frequently. This is where particular streams are targeted with bots or actual people and spamming hate speech where the mods are banning and constantly trying to rectify the situation and making chat safe again. There still are MANY MANY user names that are coming out and “beating the system” so to speak with their way of being written so that they are still allowed in chat. I feel like as a company there should be better ways to make this change happen to prevent so many names from being allowed on the platform. This would go along the lines of why are people who are banned from the channel still able to search and view the channel? (This was mentioned by a tweeter saying that Mixer when it was live actually had a feature that you could not see a channel had you been banned from it). Let along do we need to talk about view bots and how they are still around the platform CONTINUOUSLY!

I think the most frustrating thing from a streamer perspective is that Twitch as a company appears to be a) all about money (as most large company’s do), b) They appear to be more and more about “Smoke and Mirrors” in terms of trying to make it seem like they want the community involved when they really arent involved at all. Case and point would be when they wanted to bring a diverse group together as part of this Safety Counsel however all it was doing was to protect the company by creating policies, Oh and did I forget to mention how one prominent member thought they would go on a bit of a rant about how they were protected from anything and were near “God-Like” due to being on this counsel.

As for streaming asking for things something as seemingly simple as discoverability for the content creators on the platform Twitch doesn’t really do a whole lot their. They took away the “Communities” feature and decided to go with tags which is still again, extremely challenging to find up and coming creators. Why is something that could greatly benefit the streamer community as a whole something on the back burner or not even thought of?

Should we even mention the Sub-tember that focuses on new subscribers and not old ones. I get it, From a marketing perspective you want to bring new viewers in to subscribe for you to make money, And the people who continually sub already will keep doing so, But why not please both? Is that a difficult task to do? Or is it still about money here?

Not to mention, Kudos to Twitch for doing SOMETHING among the sexual abuse accusations that are happening. My only thing is I believe they should be more transparent with what is happening here. They are banning permanently people who have a lot of evidence for them and the crimes that they have committed. They have taken the accusations towards people seriously. I do believe that people are slipping under the radar because they are “bigger” streamers and pulling in viewers. Not to mention their viewers are also harassing the people who have proof and accusing them. The fact they are doing things I will say is progress for sure. Especially for such a delicate issue.

I guess as you can tell there really is some major flaws with Twitch and the direction that they are going. When it comes to listening to the streamers across the platform they really aren’t doing a whole lot to keep them around or offering anything more that other platforms are now. I hope that they do see this and the suggestions and work towards trying to make Twitch a safer place. Also Twitch, Remember, Just because you may be the leading platform in streaming currently, Doesn’t mean that you are going to stay there OR that you can and should slack on what the greater community would like to see.

-StaySeeJ08