Livestreaming on Twitch: Nerve-racking, but a lot of Fun

I woke up on October 26 with a single goal in mind - I wanted to finally stream on Twitch. So, at 7:30 p.m., I streamed Hades, one of my favorite games developed by Supergiant Games.

I have been interested in livestreaming for a very long time. Video games have always been one of my biggest passions, and being a member of the speech team in high school has made me enjoy performing in front of a crowd.

Thus, livestreaming is the best of both worlds for me - playing video games in front of a live audience. I did not realize, however, how nervous I would be in the hours leading up to my stream.

An image from my livestream on October 26. Taken by Owen Roberts.

Nervousness before the Stream

The main reason I was nervous to livestream was because I was worried I would not have much to talk about.

A lot of new livestreamers do not get many viewers. Therefore, if I did not have a lot of viewers, there would not be people participating in chat.

It turned out, however, I did not have to worry about that. I surprised myself about how I was able to keep talking even when nothing was happening in the chat.

I talked a lot about what I was doing in the game, some of my favorite parts of the game, and, at one point, about an article I read in the New York Times about a genetically modified kidney from a pig being transplanted in a human. I did not expect to talk about this article, but it happened, and my friend texted me after saying the article sounded very interesting.

Furthermore, I was excited to see that I had an average of 2.4 viewers the entire stream. For my first stream ever, I was very proud of this.

I posted this image on my Instagram page (@erobertsblog) to advertise my stream. Taken by me.

My Livestream from a Viewer's Perspective

The reason I had an average of 2.4 viewers is because of my friends and brothers watching the stream.

I recently talked with my good friend Steven Biegel, a 20-year-old sophomore from Indiana University, to discuss livestreaming and what he thought about my stream.

"When I was younger I would [watch livestreams], but now, not really," Biegel said. "I don't know the last time I watched a livestream. ... I'd rather watch a YouTube video where I could just ... press fast-forward on it."

Despite not typically watching livestreams, Biegel watched my livestream for nearly the entire two hours, saying: "[I watched] your livestream just because it was you. ... I thought it was really cool, ... it's different seeing your friend ... than ... some random guy online."

The last thing I asked Biegel was whether or not he would watch me livestream again. He quickly stated, "Yes, 100 percent."

Conclusion

Despite my nervousness at the beginning, I truly enjoyed livestreaming. It was a lot of fun to talk with my friends and brothers in the chat while playing one of my favorite games.

I definitely want to livestream again in the future. It is a bit difficult to find time to livestream during the school year, but I know I can make it work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgrb04azl9w

Here is a short clip I took from my livestream.