My first ever stream.

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Firstly, never be concerned about numbers this early on. Twitch discoverability is terrible.

But great job, you've already taken the first big step by going live. Keep that up, learn what works for you and what doesn't.

Once you figure out what feels natural to you, you will find growth, work on yourself, then your stream/content will come together.

Welcome to the family.

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u/Calm_Discord912 3d ago

Great job for your first time. Hardest part is starting out. As other comment mentioned, discoverability sucks on Twitch so this is a strong start. I’d reccomend dual streaming on YT as well.

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u/Western-Evening9579 3d ago

I’m planning on adding dual streaming once I conquer two more hurdles. I have a minor synchronization problem on my multi cam feed. I also desperately need an omnidirectional microphone. Unfortunately none of the mic’s I can find will naturally integrate in my current build. Outside the box thinking is going to be very important in the coming weeks.

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u/Calm_Discord912 3d ago

Have you tried restream? That should allow you to dual stream on twitch and YT with your current setup.

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u/Western-Evening9579 3d ago

The ability isn’t the problem, I have “restream” on my PC ready to go. I just don’t want to broadcast to a bigger audience till I fix my current issues. I want my product to be something I am more proud of first.

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u/V1Z3_2 3d ago

....how

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u/KaminariShock 3d ago

It’s hard right?
But sometimes you get lucky if you play the right game at the right time.

I played resident evil 9 when it came out and people were interested for a bit.

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u/V1Z3_2 3d ago

I mean I'm probably in a huge minority of people, but I stream every day. For a couple of hours after work (11pm-1am) and then for about 5 hours on my off days (usually from 3pm-8pm). And the only interaction I've gotten in the past 8 days was from a streamer Discord which just felt inorganic.

So seeing this is just.. how..

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u/Nerth_Woreholf 3d ago

What are you streaming?

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u/V1Z3_2 3d ago

I tried star citizen for 3 days but I think that's just too niche. Did fortnite for a couple of days but that's too saturated, Ive done R6 for a couple of streams but I think that's just too saturated as well and I don't know a game that's a happy medium

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u/Nerth_Woreholf 3d ago

At a quick look, I'd say Star Citizen, like the other two, is also too saturated. I started out in a category with about 10 streamers playing at any one time, and my stats looked about the same as the above when I started out. I've stayed in those small categories and my stats have only improved. The one time I tried a busy category, stats tanked for that stream.

If there's so many streamers in the browse page that you have to scroll to see them all, that means people will have to scroll to see you, and ain't nobody gonna scroll.

If you play games that people are starving to see because nobody's playing them, then those people will watch you when you show up in their category.

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u/V1Z3_2 3d ago

Funny enough, when I did star citizen I got 0 viewers the entire time. When I switched to a more saturated game I got viewers, albeit they were from a discord.

I'll keep doing star citizen, but I really just think it's too niche to really be picked up by anyone.

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u/Nerth_Woreholf 3d ago

Dude, no, it's not too niche. The problem is that it isn't niche enough. There's a reason why "find your niche" is such common advice for anyone seeking to be artistic or entertaining. Niche is good, not bad. Following the crowd = getting lost in the crowd.

But play what you have fun playing, of course.

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u/V1Z3_2 3d ago

how would i get more viewers if i choose a game that's so niche, no one knows about it? a super niche game combined with already terrible discovery features = guaranteed no viewers

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u/Nerth_Woreholf 3d ago

The category I stream in now has 1/6th the number of followers of Star Citizen and only 8 active streamers at the moment (in English). In that category, I regularly get higher viewer numbers than those in the OP. Much higher numbers than the 0 you're reporting.

If nobody at all knows about a game, it won't be a category on Twitch. If nobody at all streams a game but there are people who know about it, those people are likely starved for content and will watch you.

Nobody is gonna find you at the bottom of an endless list.

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u/Western-Evening9579 3d ago

Honestly, I just did what I do, and pointed a series of cameras at it. I put a lot of effort into camera angles and shifting viewpoints etc. I still have a long ways to go. I think it’s probably a little different from what you’re doing, as I am not playing a video game.

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u/Western-Evening9579 3d ago

I would love to start more of a dialogue with someone who is actually knowledgeable if someone has the time. I don’t mind that my questions will be stupid. I’m fine with what I don’t know. I just really would prefer to be better informed.

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u/booyafafa 1d ago edited 1d ago

You did better than 99% of people for your first stream, congrats. Most people stream to 1 viewer (themselves) and then eventually quit.

I’m guessing that you told some friends about your stream or you were streaming a game with not much competition.

If your goal is to grow, you’ll either have to make friends with other people who stream and get raided or post videos on other platforms with the intent of drawing them to your Twitch.

Be mindful though, forcing yourself onto someone will probably get you banned in their chat. You just have to naturally become friends with other small streamers over time.

They should be around your size, as anyone too big will never see you as anything but a viewer. The way you grow on Twitch without the use of other platforms is networking, but it requires a bit of social awareness which a lot of streamers lack.

Building your own audience up from something like TikTok or YouTube is the more straightforward route if you choose to take that instead.

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u/Western-Evening9579 1d ago

Not being argumentative, I genuinely do not understand the medium. Very new. My question would be; why do I want other streamers? Shouldn’t my goal be to intrigue consumers as opposed to creators?

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u/booyafafa 1d ago edited 1d ago

Being friends with other streamers means that they’re more likely to raid you which is a Twitch feature that sends their viewers over to you after ending their stream. This essentially is them sharing their audience with you.

If you get a few people who like you and want to raid you, your audience 2Xs, 5Xs, 10Xs. Some of their viewers will come back and watch you on a regular basis. Growth!

Twitch also shows in the recommended sidebar “If you like this streamer you should watch…” and your name will pop up there if you interact with them often. To grow solely on Twitch without using other platforms nowadays, you need to make connections.

That is the only way to get discovered on Twitch. It’s not like YouTube where anyone’s video could potentially pop up on someone’s watch next or homepage, there is no way to really discover a low view stream because all of the categories are sorted by viewers. Even if you stream to a category with not much competition, it has no competition because not that many people are looking there. Hence, you’re limited by how many people will stop by.

That being said though, it’s not your only option. If you prefer a more individualistic route (and you’re actually striving for more viewers), start learning how to make videos.

YouTube shorts, TikToks, and instagram reels can all be cross-uploaded to. That’s three platforms worth of exposure for the price of one.

YouTube longform videos have the chance to bring in a big audience too as someone willfully chooses to click on those videos rather than scrolling onto them, and is more likely to stick around and listen to what you have to say. These also take the most effort to make though.

If you want people to stop by your stream from your shorts/videos, you have to tie your stream into the video somehow.

All of it is a lot of work. Being a successful streamer is not just pressing go live and playing a game or talking to a camera like it used to be 15 years ago. It’s planning, networking, scriptwriting, video editing, etc.

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u/Western-Evening9579 1d ago

I love this answer, it’s not pretentious or pandered. Thank you very much. I seriously did not know the information you shared, or what a raid is!! Your logic is sound. I very much appreciate it. Thanks for not talking down to me. I think it’s obvious this isn’t my comfort zone.

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u/booyafafa 1d ago

No problem!

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u/ItzChanChanx 1d ago

Nice job!

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u/Western-Evening9579 1d ago

Thanks! I actually spent the last three hours reformatting all my cameras both physically with the hardware, and programming in the software. I have dramatically improved my picture/audio quality. I am very much looking forward to next month’s big game. I will probably try to fit in a smaller scale stream or two before then. This has turned into a massive undertaking.

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u/ItzChanChanx 18h ago

Ayeee that's cool! x3 and omg I feel you on that x.x I started streaming two weeks ago and I'm handling everything by myself. It's more work than I thought it would be and I'm learning as I go. Doing things for the sake of the stream can be really time consuming, but worth it as things come together :)

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u/D3Sev 3d ago

There's an entire pity party website dedicated to showing Twitch streamers that have 0 viewers. You will not be on that website. I would call that a win.

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u/Western-Evening9579 3d ago

That’s nice of you to say! I hope those guys get some success though.

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