"Streaming"

[Alex_V]

Question for the collective here, if we can all discuss and answer objectively and without undue prejudice.

I grew up home-schooled, and we had close to an average amount of technology (I'm 26) in the home but video games were almost non-existent and certainly weren't allowed to be considered any kind of constructive activity. The thought of spending the money on a gaming console/system was completely out of the question, too. That is to say, I know how I feel about it but it could be partly from what I was taught work and being productive/constructive is.

A family member who's currently 16, also home-schooled, but whose parents and siblings (two older, one younger) have always been into gaming and computers, goes on and on about his aspirations of making money "streaming" - basically, letting members of an online community chip in $5, or $20, or whatever amount, on a monthly basis, to watch him do whatever he cares to do in front of a webcam for a couple hours a day.

I just can't swallow it. Okay, some could say it's basically a more personal/personalized form of television or DIY youtube videos, but for an able-bodied person with aspirations of learning to weld, mechanic, play instruments, etc., to have this on his lists of "things I can do to make money, have a community, and become an adult" seems really messed up.

So who's out of touch here?

 

[pandus13]

Both of us (That's me and you).

Just look at the number of 'tube videos with reactions to the last GOT....

It seams to be something of the new "Sharing economy".

Me, I'm camera shy and privacy concerned...

Heck, our resident redneck fix-it-all, El Jefino, had the most comments on his videos about tire changing on his choice of clothing or showing a certain crack....

 

[Johnny2Bad]

This very much depends on the specifics. Generally my first gut response would be "No F'n way" because there is a lot of danger potential. But, I don't know the kid in question. That makes all the difference.

Is he or she someone who would be a good candidate for drama classes, if they were not home schooled? That's just one possible angle, but it's questions like that I would want answers to before I agreed to anything.

Also, strict time limits. No video streaming at night, for example.

Break the rules, whatever they are, and it all gets turned off. No exceptions.

 

[Virtus_Probi]

My understanding was that ad revenue was what drove such activity...I doubt too many people are going to pay directly to watch webcam streaming unless an attractive young lady who is getting dressed/undressed, showering, etc. is involved.
My daughter knows a high school boy who has made a good chunk of change through his YouTube videos showing how to succeed at various video games. He drives a very nice late model muscle car and lots of girls seem to be interested in him (not my DD, thankfully).

 

[bubbatime]

OK. What this is, is folks making YouTube videos. Each YouTube video will have an advertisement at the beginning. YouTube gets a cut of the ad, and so does the person that makes the video. If your video has 20 views, you get no income. If your video has 10 million views, the ad revenue can be quite dramatic. Some YouTube video makers are making serious money. One of the top rated guys makes FOUR MILLION DOLLARS ($$$$$$$$) per year, to make and upload YouTube videos. There are thousands of YouTube video makers that make $100K a year or more.

THEN, these YouTube video makers will use a web sight like Patreon, were people will pledge $1, $5, $20 or more, for every video that is made and posted online.

Here is an example. SV Delos is a sailboat that has been sailing around the world for the past 7 years. They film their exploits, and post the video to YouTube. They get income via YouTube AND via Patreon. They get $11,385 FOR EVERY VIDEO they post just through the Patreon network. So yes, these guys get to sail the world to exotic locations, make a few videos, post them to the internet, and then make a million dollars a year or more while permanently on vacation. Sounds nice, right?

https://www.patreon.com/svdelos
https://www.youtube.com/user/briantrautman/videos

So I wont be too quick to judge folks that try to make money via this rather odd way. If they are good at it, they can make a SUBSTANTIAL income, doing what they love. But the real reality is that a vast majority of folks wont go "viral" and will make $25 a month, which wont be worth the effort.

 

[Nick1994]

Modern times are very different. I have no interest watching people play video games but a lot of people do, I think the website is "Twitch". I also think that's how PewDiePie on YouTube got rich and famous, the guy made millions and millions making gaming YouTube videos. Quite a few rich people out there doing it.

The problem is the successful ones are few and far between, the odds of making good money doing it isn't very good.

He's young, let him try it out, he's got plenty of time to start over, go to college etc, once he sees whether it's a good source of income.

 

[bubbatime]

I roll my eyes every time a hear a "video game" guy talk about making money in video games. My cousin went to a VERY expensive private school for video game design. Know what it got him? $200K in debt, and no job, while he sits on the couch of his mothers basement, playing video games.

At the mall last week, two obese, disgusting, smelly, haven't showered in a month guys walked by me. Poked the wife, told her to "watch, I bet those guys are going to game stop." Yup, they waddled right up to gamestop to spend more of mommy's money on the latest game.

 

[Virtus_Probi]

Originally Posted By: bubbatime
I roll my eyes every time a hear a "video game" guy talk about making money in video games. My cousin went to a VERY expensive private school for video game design. Know what it got him? $200K in debt, and no job, while he sits on the couch of his mothers basement, playing video games.

At the mall last week, two obese, disgusting, smelly, haven't showered in a month guys walked by me. Poked the wife, told her to "watch, I bet those guys are going to game stop." Yup, they waddled right up to gamestop to spend more of mommy's money on the latest game.


Don't be too sure about where their money is coming from, I've worked with plenty of engineers like that. At one major company that was rolling in the dough at the time and is now basically defunct, we had one guy who regularly had brown streaks down his pant legs because he was too fat to get to the bathroom fast enough (he'd just keep working, sometimes would wash his underwear in a sink and leave it to dry on his file cabinet) and another guy who produced a "doctor's note" that said he could only bathe once every two weeks due to a skin condition after neighboring coworkers complained that he smelled so bad they couldn't function at work.

Guys like that will never make management, but can still earn good bucks.

 

[Alex_V]

The website he aspires to is Twitch. I'll acknowledge monitizing Youtube, while maybe annoying for some watchers, is in some ways really only a more organized, big-time way of doing what Twitch does - record what others will pay to see, and let them pay to see it. But I have to draw the line somewhere.

I follow several travelers (Two VW'ers - Live, Work, Wander and Idle Theory) that have a Youtube or Instagram presence, who no doubt monitize their channel - great way to help fund their lifestyle, and I aspire to spend at least a little time living mobile at some point in my life so it's of interest to me. The internet and the ways it allows one to make money without showing up to the same place or punching a clock every day certainly allows people options (in a positive way) to make money that didn't exist 20 years ago.

I think the likes of Twitch just sounds too close to the Wall-E thing or sci-fi novels about future societies that mingle via an implant, video-game style, while semi-comatose.

 

[BrocLuno]

He might be able to make some money ...

But, I'd rather be tuning a Cletrac Tractor ...

 

[Mr Nice]

Originally Posted By: bubbatime
I roll my eyes every time a hear a "video game" guy talk about making money in video games. My cousin went to a VERY expensive private school for video game design. Know what it got him? $200K in debt, and no job, while he sits on the couch of his mothers basement, playing video games.

At the mall last week, two obese, disgusting, smelly, haven't showered in a month guys walked by me. Poked the wife, told her to "watch, I bet those guys are going to game stop." Yup, they waddled right up to gamestop to spend more of mommy's money on the latest game.


Maybe your cousin can join the military and play with real high tech weapons instead of Xbox video games. Not surprised about the teens at Game Stop.

 

[LoneRanger]

Have a 30 lb house cat that does some silly [censored]. I've also almost got him trained to poop on command. I should Youtube him and monetize it, LoL.

 

[Alex_V]

Originally Posted By: BrocLuno
He might be able to make some money ...

But, I'd rather be tuning a Cletrac Tractor ...


I'm with you! Never used a tracked vehicle but it's gotta be interesting.

 

[PandaBear]

That's pretty common these days (it is likely on twitch and not YouTube).

I know a guy who used to do online gaming professionally when he was younger (i.e. around 17). That industry is brutal. You train a lot of hours to get the reflex you need to win, and eventually you get so burnt out you lost the interest in doing the thing you love the most (gaming). Your reflex slows down when you age so you are now obsoleted with little valuable skill other than coaching others on gaming.

It is ok to do it just for exploration when you are young, then use the experience to get into a better career (i.e. software development, marketing, animation, graphics design, etc).

 

[JHZR2]

Video-based learning is a game changer. All the good instructional and diy type videos online (especially Youtube) are huge enablers for lots of people to do lots of stuff.

I'd consider paying someone like Hickok45 50c or so to review a gun I'm interested in, or maybe even a few bucks to do a DIY strip, clean and lube video on a gun I'd want to see. Ditto for someone who is good on cars to do the same sort of thing for a specific type of car repair. If I was in need.

I'm also glad that people generally do it out of the goodness of their heart sometimes, and other times to promote their business, or for the view-based ad revenue. While I'd be willing to pay a nominal fee to get certain videos produced to teach me something I need to know, the world has gotten by without them for a long time, so I won't die without them...

But to pay for random observation of people doing random things? Or to watch them play video games? What a waste of their time and the person paying to watch. Granted, I liked my NES when I was about 10. I grew out of that other than some occasional computer gaming in hs and college. I recall the cheat books on the nes, essentially showing you what to do and where to go to win the game. I suppose watching a video tutorial is no different than that, but anything much more than that seems like an awful waste of time, money and bandwidth.

 

[LoneRanger]

Originally Posted By: PandaBear

It is ok to do it just for exploration when you are young, then use the experience to get into a better career (i.e. software development, marketing, animation, graphics design, Barista, etc).


Fixed it for you.

 

[MinamiKotaro]

I stream a little bit. I don't get many views and have no illusions of being able to monetize it. But, all I have to do is click one button before I start playing a game so, why the heck not? I guess the two or three people who consistently watch them get something out of it.