“The live interaction is the best part of the entire thing,” said Lee about streaming. Through streaming Lee bonds with his current friends and makes new friends along the way. Photo by Robert McCarty
Senior John Lee has been streaming since June of 2017. In almost one year, Lee has been able to become an affiliate of Twitch.tv. To become an affiliate with Twitch, Lee had to have at least three viewers for an entire month, have 50 viewers, and stream at least eight hours across the span of a week. Lee currently has 300 followers and he recently had 65 views on one of his streams, the largest audience he has ever had. “[It] may not seem like a lot but everyone starts somewhere,” joked Lee.
Twitch is an online streaming service created in 2011. The service has become very popular with 1.5 million broadcasters and 100 million viewers per month. Streaming is a live feed of a video, in this case a video game, that is broadcasted to viewers in different locations. Being an affiliate with Twitch means revenue can be earned by streaming. Before Twitch Lee streamed on youtube, but he made the switch to Twitch for a better experience.
Lee can devote anywhere from 10 to 30 plus hours a week to streaming. Despite the long hours, he doesn’t see streaming as a chore but a way to make new friends. “People watch Youtubers or Twitch streamers to find an escape for a bad day,” said Lee, “I’d like to be that escape for some people.”
This fall Lee intends on attending the University of Southern Indiana, USI, with a major in photography. Despite his future just beginning, Lee is determined to continue streaming. “I’ll still be streaming for fun even if I have a full time job. I’ll just have to find my balance,” said Lee.
Featured image courtesy of Twitch.
