By Matthew Rowe

In a world that grows increasingly connected online every day, live streaming on platforms such as YouTube and Twitch has become more and more popular. For many kids and young adults, these live streaming platforms are familiar; they may even have a favorite streamer whom they watch often. To many older adults, however, live streaming seems to be an Internet concept that they do not fully understand. 

What is live streaming? According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the verb “livestream” is defined as “to stream (a live event) over the Internet.” This definition stretches to any live event broadcast via any platform on the Internet in real-time. The most popular platforms for streaming include Facebook Live, Instagram Live, Twitch, YouTube, House Party, and TikTok for public broadcasts, as well as Skype, Zoom, and Discord for private broadcasts to invited guests. Live streaming offers connectivity and familiarity between the subject(s) of the stream and the viewers watching it. Collegiate School has been live streaming sports, performances, assemblies, and other events for quite a few years now, and this practice has become even more prevalent during the last year of a global pandemic. This 21st-century phenomenon continues to improve to shorten the distance between everyone, especially in a time where we are forced to remain apart due to the coronavirus. 

Twitch logo. Image credit: Twitch via Wikimedia Commons.

Live streaming has become popular in particular due to video games. With thousands of games to play and an estimated 2.7 billion gamers around the world, gaming live streaming has exploded. Twitch has always been the dominant platform for gaming live streaming since its creation in 2011. It quickly became the go-to platform for gamers and viewers. In 2014, Amazon acquired the platform for a record-breaking $970 million. In that year, according to Business Insider, Twitch accounted for 43% of all live streaming traffic by volume. The platform also had 55 million unique users at that time.

Since Amazon’s 2014 acquisition, Twitch’s viewership has erupted, breaking records by the month. The live streaming service now has a whopping 140 million unique visitors per month. Of these viewers, around 65% are men, and 35% are women. This gender disparity has narrowed since 2017, when 81.5% of users were male. Twitch is also primarily used by younger viewers, with an estimated 41% of viewers between the ages of 16 and 24, and 73% of Twitch viewers are below the age of 35. Furthermore, there are about 6.7 million active monthly streamers. At any given time, around 127,000 broadcasters are live streaming. 

When you take the time to comprehend some of these statistics, the numbers are mind-boggling. The website is only six years old and is ranked 34th globally for total internet engagement. 

Screenshot of Twitch’s homepage. Image credit: Matthew Rowe.

Twitch was created as a service for esports (electronic sports) live streaming; therefore, almost all of the content on Twitch is video games. The most popular game on Twitch is League of Legends, with 35.67 billion hours watched. Other notable games in the top ten all-time most-watched listed are Fortnite, with over 20 billion hours, Grand Theft Auto V, with nearly ten billion hours, and Minecraft, with about five billion hours as of January 2021. Aside from games, the Just Chatting category offers streamers the ability to interact with their viewers and, well, just chat with one another. That category has amassed nearly three billion hours of watch time.

Many popular streamers have amassed celebrity statuses from their followings on Twitch. The number one streamer on Twitch is Ninja, a household name in recent years due to his success playing Fortnite. He has 16.8 million followers on Twitch, making him by far the most popular streamer. Some other streamers in the top 10 include Tfue, with 10.1 million followers, Pokimane, with 7.4 million followers, and Timthetatman, with 6.3 million followers. For the vast majority of streamers, however, these types of numbers are only seen in their dreams.

Screenshot of one of Ninja’s recent streams. Image credit: Matthew Rowe.

Most streamers get into live streaming as a hobby in their free time, and for many streamers, it remains as no more than a side hustle while working a main job. Something like 50 followers might be a starting goal for them. For some streamers, however, they gain enough popularity and revenue to stream full-time on a regular basis in place of a “real job.” 

How do streamers make money? Streamers earn money through Twitch’s partner and affiliate programs, as well as through ads similar to those on YouTube. To become an affiliate, a streamer must have at least 50 followers and at least eight hours played across seven different days. Twitch partnerships are more exclusive to highly popular streamers, with around 27,000 partnered streamers in total. Earning the status of affiliate or partner is a tremendous milestone for any streamer. 

As an affiliate or partner, streamers can set a monthly subscription fee of $4.99, $9.99, or $24.99. The streamer takes around 50% of the subscription earnings, while Twitch takes the other 50%. A streamer with 1000 monthly subscribers earns roughly $2.5k per month, or $30k per year. Prominent streamers can make six-figure sums solely from Twitch subscriptions every month. 

It is important to note the difference between a subscriber and a follower to a Twitch channel. A follower only has to have a Twitch account with a linked email account to follow a streamer. A subscriber pays a fee of at least $4.99 to any specific channel, giving them benefits such as unique emotes they can use in the chat feature, ad-free viewing, and recognition from the streamer you are supporting. This recognition just means the streamer reading your name out loud whenever you subscribe or resubscribe. You do not have to be a follower to watch on Twitch, as every stream on the platform is public to watch. Twitch can be watched on all devices with access to the Internet, including mobile devices, for free.

In addition to subscriptions, streamers make money through ads and donations. If you are not subscribed to a channel, it is typically to see a 30-second ad before you can watch any streamer, much like on YouTube. They also have the ability to run ad breaks, which are similar to but shorter than commercial breaks on tv, whenever they please to earn extra money, although these are much less common. Streamers earn on average about $250 per 100 subscribers through ad revenue every month. They can also directly receive donations through a linked payment account such as PayPal, Venmo, or Cash App. These donations are not taxed by Twitch, so streamers receive 100% of the funds. Donations are comparable in real life to tips at any store to a cashier, waiter, etc. 

It might seem ridiculous to give money to someone playing games on the Internet, yet donations are commonplace. According to the streaming blog Gimbl, “Fans give money to streamers because the action makes them feel good about themselves. While big streamers can rely on lucrative brand sponsorships and fan subscriptions, small streamers aren’t so fortunate.” Viewers often appreciate the streamer they are watching and feel the need to express their gratitude and support. Some fans may also be motivated by having their username read out by the streamer for a shout-out when they donate or subscribe. 

With all of these sources of revenue, the question remains: Is it a viable career? A full-time streaming career comes with financial risks. Streamers make money from their viewers, so if they were to somehow lose major viewership, it could have serious effects on their livelihoods. Twitch, however, is growing in viewership by the day as the industry continues to blossom. According to a Forbes article on streaming as a career, “online streaming is a young industry that is only growing by the day. Twitch.tv is the website that takes up the eighth-most bandwidth in the entirety of the internet.” As Twitch profits continue to rise, streamers will make more money, therefore lowering the risk factors of committing to streaming full-time. Also, the younger generations are beginning to see streaming as a viable career option. According to Business Insider, 30% of children in the United States and the United Kingdom say they want to be YouTubers when they grow up.

I decided to get some input from the Collegiate community on streaming as a career choice. When asked if he thinks that streaming is a viable career, gamer and frequent Twitch viewer Henry Mountcastle (‘21) responded confidently, “Yes, definitely… because I think video games are going to steadily grow from now on, and… I think that live streaming really is part of the entertainment industry.” To him, live streamers are on the level of musicians, performers, and actors in society. 

15-year-old millionaire and Fornite pro player Clix streams on Twitch. Image credit: Matthew Rowe.

When asked the same question, active Twitch streamer and gamer Jack Smithson (‘21) also voiced his support for streaming as a career choice. Smithson said, “Streaming is definitely a viable career choice as shown by a bunch of streamers even as young as 14, 15, or 16 who have already made a career out of the industry.” He named Clix, a 15-year-old Fortnite professional and twitch streamer who has already made himself a millionaire. Another notable teenage streamer is FaZe Ewok, a deaf 15-year-old streamer who joined the famous esports organization FaZe Clan in 2019. 

Smithson is supportive of live streaming, as he enjoys streaming on Twitch in his free time. However, he made note of what it takes to prosper as a streamer. Smithson said, “It’s not something that everybody can do… You sort of have to have a combination of hard work and get kind of lucky through getting exposure and viewers.” Smithson also noted that the best way to get viewers is to “be good at the games and be entertaining, because nobody wants to watch someone who is bad at a game unless they’re really fun to watch.” The opportunity to succeed in the live streaming industry is certainly there, but it takes a combination of dedication, determination, and entertainment to become successful for most streamers. 

Through streamers investing themselves into the platform, Twitch has become a multi-billion dollar business. According to an article on Twitch statistics, “Twitch’s current net worth is estimated to be $5 billion.” The platform makes money through advertisements and subscription fees. Twitch generated $213.8 million in ad revenue in 2020, which is only a small fraction of the $12.75 billion Amazon made from ads in 2020. Twitch’s annual ad revenue has been increasing steadily from $102.5 million in 2017. 

Since the coronavirus pandemic and associated quarantining began in March 2020, Twitch has continued to break out with viewership. More and more people had time to spend watching streamers while stuck inside. When the lockdown first hit, Twitch’s average viewership increased from 1.6 million to 2.4 million from March to April 2020. In January 2021, Twitch hit a peak monthly average of viewership of 2.9 million. Furthermore, total hours watched nearly doubled from February to April 2020, jumping from 981 million in February to 1.79 billion in April. Twitch will likely continue to grow thanks to all of the new viewership COVID-19 indirectly brought to the platform. 

Since Twitch’s creation, many non-viewers have questioned why people watch streamers on the platform. So what is the appeal of watching someone else play video games instead of playing them yourselves? According to Streamers Playbook, an informational website on streaming, “The three main reasons that people watch Twitch are for entertainment, community and to improve at the video game they are watching.” Like many Twitch viewers, Mountcastle mainly enjoys watching funny streamers such as Timthetatman because they provide solid entertainment, and, “It’s cool to see things happen live on Twitch, because you can see the reaction of the streamer and the viewers in chat as it happens.” 

In addition to watching streamers for entertainment like Mountcastle, Smithson enjoys watching streamers that are talented at the games they play. He explained that, to him, “watching streamers that are good at games compete at a high level is the same as watching a professional sports game on tv.” Smithson also noted the interactions and connections between streamers and their viewers as one of the reasons why he enjoys watching. 

Some students at Collegiate stream on Twitch in their free time, including Smithson and Ethan Funk (‘21). In his Senior Speech on March 3, Funk elaborated on the special community he has built through streaming. According to Funk, “ I enjoy streaming because of the people I meet. Once in a while, you will come across annoying viewers but for the most part, I have attracted great people. Those who want to have a conversation are genuinely interested in you instead of the game.”

US Congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) streaming on Twitch. Image credit: Matthew Rowe.

Over the years since its creation, Twitch has been a generally positive and friendly environment for people to gather and enjoy themselves. The platform is a place for people to meet and connect with other people they may not ordinarily be able to contact. For example, U.S. Representative Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has used streaming to connect with voters and answer questions while playing games with some popular streamers. 

Twitch nurtures a community where streamers can help each other grow through collaboration and generosity. There is a notable feature where streamers can host other channels while they are offline. One streamer brings their viewers to another streamer via a host, which can give the other streamer helpful exposure. Ninja is a great example of this. At the end of Ninja’s stream to perhaps ten thousand viewers, he selects a smaller streamer to host who might have less than one hundred viewers at the time. Through the host, Ninja’s viewers are transferred to the smaller streamer’s stream, so now they have over ten thousand viewers. Now the small streamer is overwhelmed with generosity through subscriptions, donations, and gifted subscriptions.

Another positive engagement of Twitch is their subscription gifting feature. Any viewer can gift a subscription or subscriptions to specific other viewers or to the community. They can select a tier of subscription, which is usually tier 1, at $4.99, and gift subs to 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, or 100 random viewers in that stream. This is a healthy way of sharing subscription benefits with viewers who may not be able to afford the subscription, while also supporting the streamer and their community. 

Dr. DisRespect. Image credit: user PUBG n8bit via Wikimedia Commons.

While Twitch has so many positive aspects, it is not without its problems. The platform has received massive scrutiny for its toxic and sexually harassing work culture amongst actual Twitch employees, unfair bans to popular streamers, and copyright issues with streamers. 

Funk mentioned above that he loves the ability to create friendships, grow his community, and interact with his viewers on Twitch, but he was also quick to note one of Twitch’s big issues. He said, “Twitch has a lot of issues when it comes to moderation. They seem to excuse some streamers from bans while others are punished for smaller problems. None of the moderation problems have affected me yet. However, if I was in the position of those bigger streamers, I would be quite upset.” Funk is referring to moderation bans Twitch has doled out to streamers such as Dr. Disrespect and xQc. He hopes that Twitch can be fairer with moderation in the future.

Twitch’s positives do outweigh its negatives. The platform will likely continue its upward trend in popularity in the coming years as gaming becomes a more attractive pastime for many people.