Why are people watching?

 Why are people watching?

 

As you continue on your streaming journey, more and more people will start coming to your streams. It might be only one or two people to start and that is perfectly fine but as people consistently spend time in your stream, you can start identifying who is watching and why. It’s important to focus on more than simply superficial things such as usernames, the average age of your viewers, or even their location. You want to get to know what type of viewers are joining your streams and why they chose your channel.

Being able to identify your audience is an important skill any streamer and content creators alike must learn. I don’t see this topic discussed enough, but we all need to know who is watching in order to understand what is and isn’t working for our channel. We covered in the previous entry titled Your Elevator Pitch that your stream won’t be for everyone but with that, it is important to know what makes people stay and why some people are being turned off by your stream. By deep diving into this, we can understand what kind of value your channel offers. It can also help pinpoint why you are losing viewers without getting many in return helping you figure out what you need to change when it comes to how you produce your streams. 

Why do people choose to watch?

Much like in life, you will encounter all types of people, and they all have different motivators as to why they are in your stream.  Let’s review the different types of people you might encounter in your stream. 

Fan of the genre

This type of viewer from my experience is there because of the game you are playing. They have an interest in the game and clicked on a stream to watch.  We don’t yet know what aspect of the game they came to see, so this is where engaging and getting to know this person is very important in understanding what they want to see. Is this person coming in looking to possibly purchase the game, or have they bought it already and finished it and want to see speed runs, or simply how someone else handles certain situations and plot twists?  

In my opinion, these viewers are wild cards because you don’t know their motivations right away. It is important to remember that these types of viewers will be loyal to streamers who stick to the one game they enjoy. If you are a Fortnite streamer and that person came to your stream to see Fortnite you might be set. However, if you ever change games, they may unfollow you or start spending less time supporting your stream. This is why it is so important to connect with viewers on some other level and create a bond. You have to find a way to make this viewer interested in watching you as the streamer over the game. 

Viewers/chatter with an ulterior motive

Not everyone who joins your stream has the best of intentions. All the examples below have happened to me, and it is important to know that this behavior is not okay and remember that you are in control of your stream. What does this look like? This could be someone who wants to promote their own channel, someone looking to trick you into saying something inappropriate, or someone trying to impose their values on your stream in some way. You might want a new follower, but if someone asks you to do something you are not comfortable with, don’t allow yourself to be humiliated or taken advantage of. You deserve better.

Unless someone has your explicit permission, it is not okay for them to ask your followers to follow them or even say something along the line of it’s been great chatting with you, but I need to go stream now, or I’m about to go live. The same goes for someone who says I’ll follow if you do or say this (insert request here). This person is simply trying to enjoy power over you. Again don’t humiliate yourself. Don’t give in to their demands and instead remind them of the rules of your channel.  Not all is lost here as chatters with an agenda can sometimes, and I emphasize sometimes be befriended. If the person is reasonable, acknowledges their wrongdoing, and respects your rules once you explain them, these viewers just may stick around and grow into positive members of your community.  Don’t be too quick to ban people, but certainly, be weary. 

Unreasonable Viewer (Troll)

You will undoubtedly encounter viewers that are completely unreasonable, and you have to be willing to make the hard decision of banning them. These viewers are those who won’t stop posting self-promoting messages, they continuously talk about topics you have asked them not to, or perhaps they are being mean to other viewers/members of your community.  This person is toxic and needs to be removed.  If you have warned them, and they continue, you have to ask yourself, “Is the follow of this one person worth the loyalty and trust of my community?”. 

The most difficult situation to encounter is when this situation happens with a long-time viewer with whom you’ve built a connection. Despite all of that and you two having multiple conversations with them, they continued to disrespect you and chat, they leave you no choice but to ban them. It is important to realize that this type of person has their own agenda, and often they simply enjoy the power they have over you. 

New Viewer (Fan)

This is someone who you have now seen come into your stream a few times in a row. They might not know everything about your stream yet, but they have enjoyed it enough to come back. You have to make this person feel welcome and make sure you get to know them. Nurturing your relationships with new viewers who genuinely enjoy your content is important as they often become longtime community members. It is important to be mindful not to call out lurkers, those who like watching and staying behind the scenes. Give them the space to enjoy your stream as they see fit, and eventually, they may start interacting and give you an opportunity to get to know them.

Long Time Viewer

This is someone who has been around for a while and knows the community and joined a large majority of your streams. They are the ones who not only enjoy watching you, but will actively participate in your stream and want to get to know you, and will follow your journey regardless of the changes you make to your content. These are the people you want to be thinking about when you create content for your streams. New followers are great and having random people join your stream is always a good thing but having those long-time followers should be the goal you are working towards. These people will become friends, with whom you will share details of your life with them and go through good and bad times together. Do your best to keep these people. Don’t be someone who doesn’t give a second thought to your existing community in favor of acquiring new followers. 

Final thoughts

People go to streams not only to see video games being played but also want to feel a connection with the streamer. The connection could be established by discussing their favorite game, being introduced to a new game, inviting them to be part of your community, or even just relaxing while watching someone play and silently getting to know them.  One thing is for certain, everyone who is watching has one thing in common and that is that they want to be entertained. 

Remember, you will never satisfy everyone but having an understanding of what kind of viewers go to your stream is a great first step in understanding your channel as a whole. Being able to distinguish the type of viewer someone allows you to approach them in a way that most interests them and hopefully, that will help you bond over common interests. Keep in mind, that you need to ask yourself these two important questions: “Who is watching your stream?” and “Why are they watching?”.

If I forgot a view type please leave a comment, so we can discuss it.