A Challenger Approaches
It's fitting that today is the day I write this Steemit article, because it's my 3 week anniversary on a newer platform called Beam. For any of you that have heard of Twitch, Beam is an up and coming challenger IMO. For those of you that don't know what Twitch is, I'll explain both below.
Platforms such as Twitch and Beam are streaming services that allow gamers (and artists, developers, and other creatives) to live stream what it is that they're doing and build a community while doing it.
Interactive Livestreaming
Streaming is awesome, but as your channel grows it becomes increasingly difficult to engage with thousands of chatters and smaller streams aren’t as fun as they could be for viewers.
We’ve crafted a platform to give viewers a window into the streamer’s gameplay. By coupling visual controls with our realtime streaming protocol, we’re changing the way streamers interact with their audience. - Beam (https://beam.pro/about/features)
One of Beam's biggest draws to me is it's interactivity. Because it has an ultra-low latency with sub-second delays, the streamer to audience interaction is practically real-time. So real-time you can almost feel it! ;) Pair that with it's SDK that allows developers to come up with creative ways (with as few as 25 lines of code) for the viewer to interact DIRECTLY with what they're seeing on screen and you've got a platform that isn't only fun to watch, but a pleasure to experience and be a part of. Some of the interactivity apps that have already been developed include controlling gameplay, influencing decisions, controlling robots, and playing sound clips and mini-games and more are sure to come.
Along these same lines, Beam rewards you for streaming and watching!
You’ll earn new emotes, boosters, and increased influence over games just for interacting with and viewing streams. - Beam (https://beam.pro/about/features)
So far there are two rewards for watching/streaming: Experience (user level) and Sparks. Every 5 minutes you're watching or streaming, you earn 10 XP and you gain even more by completing goals in interactive live-streams. You also get 2 Sparks every minute (4 if you're a Pro user - $7.99/mo). Right now you can use Sparks to do things like unlock upgrades for your own channel, purchase a stream team, or interact with a streamer, with more uses on the way (think earning emotes and increasing influence)!
A Tight-Knit Community
For now, Beam is still fairly small. While that has it's own limitations, it also has some tremendous strengths. And one of those main strengths is the community.
I'm sure there are some trolls hanging around somewhere in Beam, but I've yet to really see any. And I'm sure that more will come as Beam grows, but the community that has developed inside of Beam since it launched on Jan 5th is one of love and support. Everyone that I have met and interacted with at Beam really does care about their fellow streamer and viewer. Every stream I've been a part of has ends with a raid (where a streamer will host another streamer and send all his/her viewers to the other channel) and every raid I've been a part of has been full of follows, hosts, and retweets! Plus, every stream I've been in has had numerous shout outs where the streamer will promote other streamers that are in his/her chat!
This aspect of Beam isn't one that is advertised by Beam itself, but it is actively promoted from the Beam community because most of them share the same notion that I do... that the Beam Community is really the best feature the that Beam has to offer.
And Beam supports new and upcoming streamers more than other services I have seen, with featured categories right on the homepage!
And Matt, the Co-Founder and CEO pops in our chat and streams with us sometimes too!
Built For Greatness. Destined For Growth.
Beam came out of beta and officially launched on January 5th. In 8 short months they saw tremendous growth and were acquired by Microsoft on August 10th! Since then, they've hit the ground running with their ideas and apparently have a HUGE update coming in December that has all of us at Beam more excited than.........
Rumor has it there will be an Xbox integration and more!
So if the concept of Beam excites you and you want to get in as close to ground level as you can, come on over!
If you currently stream on Twitch or Hitbox and are curious what all the buzz about Beam is, I invite you to come check it out too. Beam is a warm, welcoming community and we love talking about and showcasing what it is that we love so much about Beam.
Come by and say hi at beam.pro/ThePolkaWarlord
And while you're there check out some of the first streamers I met when I first showed up
- Polka
Current Features Available On Beam:
Sub-Second Stream Delay | Built-in Raiding/Hosting | Intelligent Viewer Legitimacy Tracking | Discord Integration | Drag to Moderate Chat Gizmo | Realtime Analytics & Statistics | Intelligent Browse Ranking | HTML5 Playback | Custom Channel Thumbnails | Kindle App | iOS App | Downloadable VODs on Mobile | Android App | Chromecast Streaming | Live Browse Channel Previews | Custom Partner Emotes | Built-in Giveaway System | Partnerships | Freely Unlockable Stream Teams | Searchable Viewer List | Twitter and Discord login | Seamless Subscriptions | Confetti Cannon for Subscribers | Advanced control over live notifications | Twitter Cards for Stream Links | Video on Demand Stream Playback | OAuth Authentication | Two Factor Authentication | Desktop Notifications for Chat Tags | Virtual Currency & Leveling | Realtime Chat Polls | Powerful Chat Commands | Chat API | Beam API | Interactive API | Persisted Chat History | Full Stream and Site Encryption | Free Transcoding
Coming Soon
Dynamic Stream Recaps | Sub Anniversary Announcements | Channel Editors | Scheduled Live Streams | Team Based Interactive Games | Voice Chat Commands | Co-Streaming | AV1 Stream Encoding | Private Messaging | Group Messages | Moderator Permission Editor | Channel Moderation Logs | Built-in Donations | Theater Mode | VOD Chat Replay | Console Apps