We’ve all heard about streaming music, movies or even live streaming. However there has been a phenomenon going on where not only famous artists or big companies make a profit from streaming but regular people like you and me do too.
I’m talking about live streaming your hobby or talent. Since the rise of youtube personalities and the whole –make a living from your passion – hype we have seen a lot of the younger generation recording their hobbies and passion. However the landscape of video on demand is currently very saturated, it’s even hard for people to get 100 views after a month nowadays.
So a lot of the creative artists have turned to live streaming. One of the best examples is Twitch.tv. Founded in June 2011, Twitch is the world’s leading social video platform and community for gamers, video game culture, and the creative arts. Each day, close to 10 million visitors gather to watch and talk about video games and more than 2 million streamers play the game for these viewers (Bean, 2014). The concept is simple, people that are good at the game make an account, play the game, turn on their camera and talk to their viewers (these people are called streamers).
The people that come to watch have the opportunity to donate and or subscribe to their favorite streamers and so the streamers can make a living of whatever they choose to stream.
Not only playing a game and talking with viewers is popular on Twitch.tv, you can also choose categories like ‘social eating’, ‘drawing’, ‘woodworking’ or ‘music’.
Social Eating actually has roots in South Korea. Muk-bang, or “eating broadcast,” is a live stream where the host eats a big batch of food while folks watch (Davidson, 2016). Apparently there are quite some people watching this and as long as there are views, there are donations, subscriptions and ad revenue to make.
Go and take a look at Twitch.tv and go plan your own online streaming career now, there is a viewership market for everyone!
Cited:
Davidson, J. (2016) ‘Twitch now has a category for watching streamers eat’ available at: http://www.technobuffalo.com/2016/06/30/twitch-social-eating-muk-bang-livestreams/, 13-10-2016.
Bean, D. (2014) ‘What the Heck Is Twitch, and Why Does Google Think It’s Worth $1 Billion?’ available at: https://www.yahoo.com/tech/what-the-heck-is-twitch-and-why-does-google-think-its-86224528319.html, 13-10-2016
Hi Elisabella! I have heard a lot about good gamers making money while streaming, but does the same concept applies to people who just eats food in front the camera? Certainly, there must be other factors that affects donations other than just being ‘good’ at eating.