Twitch Networking: Expectations versus Reality

12 min readSep 25, 2020

by S4B0T4G3FIRE | September 25, 2020, 8:00 AM EDT

Disclaimer: If at any time while you are reading this article, you think it is emitting an “entitled” tone, ignore that thought. People can have expectations without being an “entitled brat.” While you are reading, keep in mind that I believe the following: nobody owes anyone else favors on Twitch. Now, let us get into the article!

About Me

Briefly, allow me to introduce who I am, the role I play on Twitch, and where I stand in the whole Twitch “food chain.” For our purposes, I think this will be easier in a listed form.

Name: S4B0T4G3FIRE
Date of Account Creation: November 23, 2013
Primary Role: Viewer (since 2013)
Secondary Role: Moderator (since 2015)
Tertiary Role: Broadcaster (since 2020)

Obviously, Twitch is nothing new to me. I know how it works on a macro-level (channels, broadcasters, subscriptions, etc.) as well as a micro-level (social interaction, banning versus timing out, platform humor, troubleshooting, social problems, etc.). However, there is one concept that I recently realized I was very wrong about. This concept is called “networking.”

In this article, I will discuss not only how to network but also the discrepancies between my expectations of networking and the actual outcomes of networking.

What is Networking?

Essentially, networking is interacting with other platforms users, typically ones with whom you have things in common, in order to build your own image or brand. Similarly to how networking works in real life, it is all about “who you know.” Getting to know people (and getting people to know you) can be done in many ways.

For instance, you can make your presence known by following people on social media (maybe they follow you back), Direct Messaging people on social media to engage in small-talk (perhaps also planning collaborations), viewing people’s content, giving feedback on people’s content, and basically just being friendly to people. In other words, networking is showing people that you care about them and what they do so they will find it worthwhile to care about you and your future.

Keep in mind that networking is not: doing someone else a favor and anticipating something in return from that person. Remember your role in this. Your role is to be friendly and generous to like-minded people who are a part of the same (or similar) community and, like you, are motivated to grow their channel or other business. There is no room for you to get caught up in the make-believe game of “favors.”

The “Favors” Game

On Twitch, many of us are likely either viewers, moderators, broadcasters, or some combination of these three roles. As such, we want to be the best viewers, moderators, or broadcasters that we can be. Before we pursue these titles, however, we subconsciously come up with a list of “favors” that we think we must perform so we can receive something that we want in return.

Viewer:
Viewers believe that the more time and money they spend on someone else’s channel, the higher up their status will be over the other viewers of that channel.
Moderator:
Moderators believe that the more commands, bans, and relationships they make, the higher up their status will be over other moderators, perhaps even becoming the broadcaster’s “favorite.”
Broadcaster:
Broadcasters believe that the more frequently they stream, the more deserving of viewers, subscribers, and hosts they will be, and the higher up their status will be.

The keyword here is “more.” While numbers are sometimes crucial to success, this is not always the case when it comes to networking. It is much more valuable to focus on building high-“quality” relationships as opposed to a large “quantity” of relationships. But, if users wish to believe that “more is always better” when it comes to carrying out their roles in networking, then who would we be to stop them? Well, to be honest, we really should stop them because the persistent hunt for status is only a recipe for disaster because it is unhealthy to place such unrealistic expectations on others.

The Expectations We Have of Others

Regardless of how much you have contributed to the lives of people around you, placing expectations on those people to help you succeed oftentimes makes you appear entitled. To expect something in return for doing a good deed that nobody asked you to do is frowned upon in both virtual and real society. Reimbursement may eventually come your way naturally, but do not actively seek it out because doing so will only damage your reputation and nullify your good deed.

The following expectations may be familiar to you, whether you were the one expecting someone to do something, or someone was expecting you to do something. Believe it or not, these examples are actually observed to be rather common on Twitch.

Viewers:
“I watched a week’s worth of broadcasts and donated $100. The broadcaster now has to give me “Moderator” status in his/her channel because I have earned it.”

Sorry, Viewers, but nobody is ever entitled to receive “Moderator” status. Realistically, in a growing channel, the trust required to earn this privilege is very difficult to obtain in such a short period of time, and only the Broadcaster decides when you have earned it.

Moderators:
“I helped the broadcaster maintain a safe chat space in his/her channel for the couple of months that I have been his/her Moderator. This means I am entitled to visit his/her home in real life.”

Sorry, Moderators, but the privilege of visiting a broadcaster’s home should not even be granted within half a lifetime. Information as simple as a home address can leak so quickly that years upon years worth of trust need to be acquired before something like this should even be considered. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule, but you are not the one to decide whether or not you are the exception.

Broadcasters:
“Almost every day of the week, I stream a very popular game. This means that my channel is guaranteed to earn viewers, subscribers, and hosts at a rapid rate.”

Sorry, Broadcasters, but nobody is ever entitled to viewers, subscribers, and hosts. There are a lot of other broadcasters who are equally as determined to grow their channels, and they “deserve” viewers, subscribers, and hosts just as much as you do. Besides, even your regular viewers and re-subscribers have lives that they need to maintain which are far more important to them than your channel ever will be.

What all of these examples have in common is that someone is relying on somebody else to fulfill some sort of unspoken agreement. Essentially, this is nothing more than a way to shame someone if they do not adhere to your rules. So, Viewers, if you have a small stream of your own and decide to host one of your more popular streamer friends, do not place an unfair expectation on that streamer to repay you with a host of his/her own. You did something nice, so leave it at that. If, by some chance, it comes back around to benefit you, then good job. You earned it by being nice, positive, and patient…as you always should be because that is the reality of networking.

The Reality of Networking

Part 1: Testing Networking

All of the above is crucial to understanding the basics of networking. Individuals are biased toward “being the best,” whether they are trying to be the best, or they believe that they are already the best. As a result, they want, need, and/or believe that they deserve praise for the things they do. But what if we cropped out all of these preconceived notions from the picture? That is exactly what I did in the study that follows.

As a person who has absolutely no plans to receive anything in return for “virtual philanthropy,” I have always turned down absolutely everything from free subscriptions, merchandise, and other gifts that I have been offered in return for the basic contributions that I have made to broadcasters’ channels. However, I did still want to test the effects of my networking, so I decided to start a broadcast of my own and apply the same selfless mentality to it to see how my networking paid off. Listed below are the conditions of the study (Keep in mind that, due to the laptop that I was streaming with, I did not have a say in all of these conditions):

Low frame rate with occasional lag (no say in this)
Grainy, pixelated video quality (no say in this)
No microphone (on purpose)
No face camera (on purpose)
No “Subscribe,” “Donate,” or “Cheer” options (on purpose, even if I became eligible to apply for “Affiliate”)
Simply showing gameplay and chatting with whoever visited my channel (they would be visiting knowing that they were not in for anything special)

Basically, there would be literally zero incentive to watch my broadcast (other than to keep me company which, to be fair, is a really nice thing to do). I wanted to see for myself the results of nothing more than five (5) years worth of viewing, chatting, reminding, moderating, befriending, engaging others, Liking, Sharing, Retweeting, advising, encouraging, Following, Subscribing, gifting, wishlist shopping, donating, and being accessible, trustworthy, and reliable at all times (these are all ways to network). So…

Question: Despite the bare minimum entertainment value that I would be offering to people, would they choose to sit in my chat and (at the very least) have a basic conversation with me about my day, my stream, and/or the game I am playing, solely because I did these things for them during their broadcasts?

Before I get into the results, I will reinstate the disclaimer I made at the beginning of this article:

Part 2: Test Results

Since broadcasting live for the first time on Twitch on July 26th, 2020, this is what happened:

Follower Count = 66 followers (+22 since the first stream)
Hours Streamed = 67.33 hours
Unique Days Streamed: 25 days (within 5 weeks)
Average Viewership: 1.39 viewers
Number of “Regular” Chatters: 3 chatters
Total Number of Unique Names that Visited and Chatted at least Once: 20 names

To say the least, streaming for the first time is a very humbling experience. Knowing that you have been networking, making friends, and helping people for five (5) years, you do begin to expect some sort of “payoff” even if you do not want one. In my panels on my Twitch channel, I even wrote:

“Unless my mind changes, I will not have subscriptions, donations, or bits enabled because my only desire is to share my passions with anyone who decides to visit!”

A part of me actually believed that I would run into the problem of telling people that I would not be applying for “Twitch Affiliate,” so I felt the need to make that disclaimer. Then, reality hit. My average viewership started at about 2.9 viewers (3.0 is required to apply for Affiliate), and then it gradually decreased all the way to 1.39 viewers. I could not figure out why. I had been visiting all of my friends’ broadcasts, I was raiding/hosting their broadcasts, I was using their “self-promo” channels in their Discord servers, and I was sending out the occasional Tweet saying that I was live or telling about the progress that I was making in certain games that I was playing during my broadcasts. Eventually, the “but I did it for them” thoughts began to creep into my mind when I was not seeing much support, but I quickly ignored and erased them, remembering my own advice about being patient and optimistic while also being unentitled. This was only a test, after all.

It was at the end of those five weeks when I learned just how inefficient of a machine “networking” actually is. You can input five (5) years worth of viewing, chatting, reminding, moderating, befriending, etc. into building relationships with hundreds/thousands of people if you absolutely want to, but the end product that comes out of this machine will be of nowhere near the same value as what you put in. You will feel good for having done those things (which is a more-than-sufficient reward for me, hence why I continue to do them), but, without trying to sound blunt, it would be considered “an enormous waste” by industry standards.

Possible Question Pertaining to the Study

Question: “Why would anyone want to watch gameplay and only receive commentary from the streamer via delayed chat messages?”

Answer: Before beginning this study, I had already considered this. Without a microphone and/or face camera, I would be just another chatter in my own channel (since I would only be communicating textually). Even though I would still be responding to everybody, sharing reactions to gameplay, and chatting about other things, I would not meet a viewer’s average requirements. The majority of viewers need verbal and visual communication as a form of “ear/eye candy” (I do not mean this in a sexual way) that is pleasing and adds to their viewing experience. Personality and expression are both crucial in the entertainment industry.

Perhaps, if I extended this study by a month and added a microphone and a face camera to my broadcasts, I would check off some sort of “personality” requirement that viewers (rightfully) rely on for a good viewing experience, and my numbers would begin to rise again. For this study, however, I really only wanted to see the rawest results of my networking. Would people help me just because I helped them? If I deprive them of everything that makes a broadcast “good,” would I still gain followers, lurkers, and chatters who want to help me because I did the same for them? In other words, I did not want anyone to have any incentive to help me other than to simply help me. This was the best way that I could eliminate any external biases that would turn people toward or away from my broadcasts.

Summary/Conclusion

So, I think it is safe to say that I learned a lot about networking during this study. Although it is obvious that it would never be a “like-for-like exchange of goods,” I really did believe that there was a specific way (my way) to go about it that would yield more value in return for the efforts that were put in. Of course, it is also entirely possible that the “recipe” I was using for the past five (5) years was flawed from the very beginning. In my opinion, that is not the case, but that and any other possibilities cannot be ignored.

Advice to Future Broadcasters

Write down your expectations of your channel.

Why are you broadcasting? What is your goal? Are you looking to have fun or actually reach a certain following and/or make a living off of streaming? Writing down answers to these questions ahead of time will serve as a favor to your future self.

2. Identify the people within your community with whom it makes sense to network.

Seek out the members who also stream and are looking to grow their own channels. These should be people whose channels are about the same size as, if not a little bit bigger than, your own. Do not seek out aid from “large” channels unless you are good friends with, or a trusted moderator for, a “large” streamer.

3. When you begin to doubt your channel’s growth/success, refer back to the self-expectations that you wrote down.

The fact that you were in a clear, unhindered, positive mindset when you wrote down those expectations means that you can trust them. Do not allow “slow days” (in chat) or slow growth or unreturned favors (from the people with whom you have been networking) to influence your decision to change your plan. Trust your initial instincts, and give yourself a sufficient amount of time to see them through. If, for some reason, your expectations still are not met, only then should you adjust accordingly. By then, you will have also gained statistics that can you help you create a plan that is more suitable for you.

4. Be nice, in general.

If you are doing nice, generous things for other people for the sole purpose of personal gain, you are networking improperly. Be nice for the sake of being nice. Be generous for the sake of being generous. Be helpful for the sake of being helpful. If are you keeping a mental record of the “debts” that people owe you, you will quickly become exhausted by the whole thing.

Did you find this article interesting? I wanted to be thorough with this subject and make sure that my intentions were clear. If you have any further comments or questions, or if you would like to share your own experiences with networking, I would love to continue the discussion on social media. I encourage you to check out some of my other articles here! Also, feel free to check out my Twitch, Twitter, and Reddit for random thoughts and posts!