Hello and welcome to My 2.0 newsletter. I realized that I started this out as a music newsletter but I have so many things I want to write about. You are still going to get music, but you’ll also have emails about content creation and gaming at times as well. But every newsletter will have some music for you to listen to while you read. Hope you enjoy!

Song of the Newsletter: (Play this while you read if you want)

I get asked this all the time

“I’m trying to get into streaming… Kofie how do you grow on Twitch?”

Now I could say the typical advice of “Just start, be consistent, and stream a game in your niche” but I wouldn’t be upfront without going over this one fact. Over the years, I have built platforms on other social media sites. Thanks in turn to the people reading this very newsletter. I’m extremely lucky to be where I am today.

I work for a Youtube Channel with over 1 million subscribers, I have over 240K followers on TikTok. I have 74,000 followers on Twitter. For me making the leap to Twitch was easier because I had platforms elsewhere.

I’m not saying that this is the best or only way to grow on Twitch… not even close. But it was easier to go to each platform (Except the 1 million sub-Youtube because I like working there and it’s not my channel) and say “Hey everyone. I’m going to start streaming!”

But not everyone on Twitch has that luxury, and instead of being a smooth path to discoverability and growth on Twitch, the platform is filled with hurdles at every turn. Let’s look at some of those hurdles

Twitch isn’t easy.

The way Twitch is set up right now the best way to grow on Twitch is by attracting people outside of the platform while being on that other platform. When you think about it, I can’t think of another social media site that makes this feel like the best way to grow on a platform. Snapchat, Instagram and TikTok all encourage you to use their in-app features (Something that annoys me and is another newsletter topic)

The thing about the other social media sites is that they all have a way for you to grow organically within the app. IG has reels now. TikTok has a “For You” page to show your work to people that don’t even know your account exists at the moment. Twitter has the ability for your posts to be retweeted to a larger audience and be found through… hashtags (vomits inside). Youtube has an algorithm that shows your video to people long after you made them.

Twitch doesn’t really have this.

For the most part, Twitch doesn’t really show your stream VOD (Video on demand) to viewers because most viewers on the site are shown streams that are currently live.

When you go on the Twitch Homepage they offer you streams that they think you’ll love that are currently LIVE. This homepage continues on down to a tab that goes “Clips we think you’ll enjoy” but we’ll get to that later.

Now you might be seeing this and think that the answer to this is “Oh so all I have to do is stream a lot? If I’m always live I’ll always be recommended and easier to find?”

NOPE

An ocean of content.

Now there are so many people that stream on Twitch and so many games/categories on Twitch.

Twitch and many other streaming sites categorize streams by Game. This formatting can lead to the belief that a lot of new streamers can just stream a popular game and it will make their stream popular.

That’s just not the case.

A popular game often means that there’s hella competition and it’s harder to grab a specific viewer’s attention. So if you stream a popular game it’s likely that new viewers are going to go to the already popular streamers. The best way I describe Twitch to people that don’t use the site is to imagine an arcade.

You have many different arcades and when someone is going for a high score then a lot of people tend to swarm around that arcade. Now are you as a new viewer most likely going to go to the big crowd to see what’s going on? Or will you go to someone playing the same arcade machine with a smaller crowd?

(If that analogy sucks then I’m sorry)

If you are one of these new/smaller streamers just know that it’s not your fault. This discoverability system is a constant uphill battle. It doesn’t matter what game you’re playing. Playing a game everyone is searching for is a competition in and of itself. Playing a game fewer people are streaming sometimes has other challenges.

As a retro sports gamer, It’s very difficult to get eyeballs directly in the app because I’m streaming a game that was made during the Obama administration. Let’s say I’m playing Madden 10.

1. There are a lot of people that are interested in Madden but there are so many specific versions and variations of the franchise. No one is going to type in MADDEN 10 into the search bar. But there is a subset of people that would watch a Madden 10 stream if it was put in front of them and go “OH SHIT I REMEMBER THIS GAME”.

2. While few people are streaming Madden 10 so it may seem like an advantage. There are *too few* people streaming Madden 10 for that game to be shown on the recommended tab.

What I would LOVE to happen is if you were able to split streams by Game name AND game genre AND Time Period. That way if someone was interested in a Sports Video game that was made in the time period of 2003-2013 then Madden would show up in that subsection. That would make a lot of retro game streamers happy.

Right now when I stream Madden 10, I say that I’m streaming “Sports” because that’s the biggest category that has other people that might like what I’m streaming. Madden 10 is too specific and won’t show up on people’s radars as much.

Now I know Twitch has Channel Tags where you can do this but it would be more helpful if that was better integrated in the actual browse features.

So streaming for a long time isn’t a guarantee of growth measure, so how do grow your stream outside of Twitch?

Clips… Everywhere except Twitch.

A popular way to get people’s attention on stream is to put your Twitch clips on other platforms. There have been many people that have posted their clips on Tiktok and Reels and been able to get people to follow them on Twitch that way. Here’s an example from me. Converting a clip from Twitch to put on every platform BUT Twitch. (Follow the TikTok if you want)

@kofiewhy

#NFL #FOOTBALL #SPORTS #FYP #GAMINGONTIKTOK

Now the main question that I have is If people are coming to Twitch to watch and find new streams through CLIPS of past Twitch streams…

*Why doesn’t Twitch lean into that ability and put it on their own platform?*

I would LOVE to be able to have my Clips feed into a TikTok-style algorithm that people on their phones can use to “Discover new streams whether they’re online or not”.

I think there is definitely an avenue for people to watch Twitch on their mobile app and find a new stream that might not be live right now but because a clip had “#smallstreamer #sports #basketball” they would be able to find an NBA 2K7 stream or something.

Now I know people are complaining about the Tiktokification of certain sites but I think that having that feature on Twitch would make sense. Popping into a random Twitch stream that’s LIVE for 2 minutes vs Watching an actual HIGHLIGHT of the stream might actually make the difference in if someone follows the stream or not.

But the way Twitch Clips are set up, they’re not really put in a place to thrive. They’re often seen as an afterthought and not a feature with untapped potential

This is a wishlist thing again. If it’s not possible it’s not possible. I’m saying this as someone that makes so many stream clips just to put on other apps, that I’m so curious as to why I can’t just post these on Twitch in hopes of discoverability. Now, Twitch gave us the ability to make vertical clips out of our clips from within Twitch ourselves… but to put them on other apps and not on Twitch themselves.

Now I’m not saying that this would instantly make every streamer grow on Twitch, but I think that just having the option to do this would unlock a lot of streamers/content creator’s potential. Maybe I’m wrong, maybe I’m not. I’m interested in hearing what everyone thinks. I love you all.

Thanks for reading and I’ll see you later.