The Guardian's videogames editor wrote that streamers are not known for hard partying.
I was surprised by how hard they worked. The woman sitting next to me told me that she streams for eight to 10 hours a day, and when she's not live she's on her social media, scouting for brand partnerships or collaborating with other streamers. She seemed confused when I asked what she does for fun.
Playing video games for an audience for a living sounds like fun, but it is also an ultra-competitive profession that attracts millions of aspiring kids with no concept of work-life balance. It involves a lot of work and a lot of pressure to be available to the audience of viewers who depend on them. According to leaked data, the top 1% of streamers on the platform received more than half of the $889m it paid out to creators last year. Millions of people made nothing.
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I was not surprised to read stories about these young people burning out, because they looked like the best job in the world. When your hobby becomes your job, when your personality becomes your brand, and when your brand becomes your personality, what does life offline look like for you? Who are you when the camera is not on? The camera is almost always on for streamers trying to make it in the crowded world of playing video games on the internet. It's the best way to build an audience on twitch if you stick to a regular schedule and stream at least eight hours a week. The reason for these hours is simple: the more you broadcast, the more likely you are to be featured on the website's homepage, and the more money you might eventually make.
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Tens of thousands of creators make at least a livable wage, according to the article. Many streamers end up obsessed with the numbers and graphs and invisible algorithms that determine their fate.
