This post is mostly centered around the streaming/influencer space and does not take into account all of the other wonderful things HIVE has to offer. I am trying to focus on one potential avenue of growth and revenue stream and hope you understand what I'm trying to deliver throughout the post. If you have any questions, feel free to post in the comments!
I've been creating content through various channels for most of my life through one means or another and have found myself working in the streamer/influencer space along the way. One thing I have found through my own experiences and through my engagements with creators on a professional level (I work with "AAA" streamers and professional athletes in the e-sports world) is that in the end everyone is trying to achieve two things:
- Make money (sound familiar?)
- Visibility
We can easily break down what 'make money' and what 'visibility' entails and how they translate into potentially huge value propositions for HIVE and for growth.
Make Money (CREAM BABY CREAM)
- Part of what I do includes interviewing streamers for various reasons to collect data. During these interviews I receive a wide mix of answers to the same questions but fundamentally they almost always mean and lead to the same thing. Content creators want to be rewarded for their time and effort spent creating content. Sure, some have different goals such as making extra cash to take the family on vacation or using their financial gain to support themselves full-time but in the end it is very few who at the end of the day create content and do not wish to receive compensation/reward of some type for their efforts.
Visibility
- Along side reward/compensation lies visibility. This means different things for different creators but again, I believe in the end the majority of results lead toward the same path. In my research most content creators hope to
- Become "big enough" that they can support some part of all of their journey as we mentioned above
- Grow large enough that they are noticed by <insert goal job/sponsor/deal here> and can transition to that full-time (usually in the creative space similar to what they're doing) and
- They want people to see their hard work.
Value Propositions
HIVE in my humble opinion is perfect for content creators across pretty much all mediums. I believe at its' core HIVE is built on rewards through engagement of community or other words, 'rewards' through 'visibility'. This stages HIVE to be a behemoth of a contender within the creator space while also benefiting from it in various ways.
There is huge amounts of money pumping into the gaming, content, and streamer/influencer industry and this grows every day at an extreme pace as we dive deeper into digital consumerism and entertainment which is directly leading to the success of platforms such as Twitch and others. The problem is that these services are either too saturated for new users to get started, take too much of the creator revenue for themselves, or are simply plagued by many of the politics that get in the way of allowing creators to have a voice.
HIVE can be a very shiny alternative and even mainstream contender, and as we begin to capture more of that market we will begin to see more and more capital flowing into HIVE as a result and by nature of how streamer to community relationships are built on engagement (which also includes large amount of revenue flow). The more creators/streamers we have the larger sub communities will grow within HIVE, the more attention we will receive from corporate brands/money, and the more competitive we will be against others who are starting to gain momentum in this space such as Theta.
I think if we could increase the viewership and engagement (and by nature of this, rewards) on existing platforms such as VIMM or 3speak it would entice more content creators to come to HIVE. I have been spending some time personally watching VIMM over the past few months and generally I think it suffers from a combination of 'lack of creators' and 'lack of viewers'. This is a tough problem to fix when there is no momentum on either side! Kudos to those of you who have been streaming regularly. I hope you agree in that larger viewer numbers would motivate you to put more effort and more time into broadcasts.
Conclusion
While these are just general thoughts and I definitely don't have all the answers, I do hope that this stimulates more conversation around how much more successful HIVE could be with more influencers and creators on-board or at least reminds you that services such at VIMM exist within the ecosystem. I am one who feels we can champion HIVE through streaming but it will take curation and viewership to entice folks to leave the competition, at least at first. As we build up the $PIZZA token curation account, we will be using it to curate streams and broadcasts (seeking delegations!). Also, I could have just gone total DEGEN the past hour of my life so feel free to be critical. I'm a big boy ;)
Let's go, streamers!
I'm willing to help get the ball rolling. If I post a regular EXCLUSIVE VIMM schedule and focus on building a high-quality consistent stream to showcase to other streamers that HIVE can be a home, would you come hang out and watch with us? Again, viewership will be important for creators to see.
(I do think streaming to Twitch is still a good idea for visibility, use all channels!)
Stream Team? IDK
I'm even willing to facilitate building and managing a HIVE/VIMM stream team to ensure we have shows on schedules. Let me know if you're interested in throwing around more ideas.
@ddrfr33k @chiren @derangedvisions @hivegc
I'm not really sure who to poke for visibility. Please let me know if you think I should @ anyone specific.
THE PIZZA CLAN STREAM TEAM.
SOUNDS AMAZING :) !PIZZA
@thebeardflex! I sent you a slice of $PIZZA on behalf of @dadspardan.
Learn more about $PIZZA Token at hive.pizza (2/20)
Love the idea
!PIZZA
@thebeardflex! I sent you a slice of $PIZZA on behalf of @zottone444.
Learn more about $PIZZA Token at hive.pizza (4/10)
Stream teams are a feature that we will be adding. I'm working on bringing a few teams to Vimm, and they're definitely interested in doing so!
What are you doing around existing creators that are already in the HIVE ecosystem @ddrfr33k?
Many of us who are interested in making the switch are wondering what incentives are you offering these stream teams you mentioned that you've been talking to? Curious how long these talks have been happening for and what your timeline/roadmap is for onboarding more creators!
What is your plan around growing general audience/viewership?
My current plan for growing general audience/viewership is entirely centered around social media engagement. When I see our more engaging streamers are live, I'll tweet them out from the Vimm Twitter account. I'm telling people about Vimm, and the overall reception is positive, but they don't like how few streamers are on the platform. And when talking with streamers, the overall reception is positive, but they don't like the low viewership numbers. Short of throwing six figures at a big name to draw more viewership, we're relying on people who see the value in Vimm and building them up as best we can. As those people grow, they will drive more viewers to Vimm. And indeed, we're seeing that growth with people like myself, @shmoogleosukami, @ciderjunkie, and @trey50daniel.
Yeah this plays directly into what I mentioned in my post. We need viewers and incentives to attract creators, but we need creators for viewers to watch.
This is why I am offering to take a step forward to work with you guys on building out a consistent stream schedule with creators. It would require work and effort from a few different angles to be successful.
Wouldn't it be great if when you demo the product you already had streamers and viewers?
Exactly! I put your last stream on the OCD curation trail, too. If I see you're live, I'll try and drop by and say hi.
I know a lot of people in the space and see value in VIMM. The space is competitive and while I don't think you need to change the wheel by any means, I do think times are changing and you have a really great opportunity to scoop up market share as others are starting to do (referencing creators leaving Twitch more and more for alternatives) if you can offer some appealing features or incentives.
I'm very interested to see more of the tools that will be available. Channel community/customization is really important and maybe we can even discuss $PIZZA sponsoring or incentivizing streamers through our game keys some day.
We are partnered with OCD for curation rewards to help streamers already on Hive. Streamers who engage with their viewers and other streamers will receive larger upvote rewards than streamers who don't.
For the teams that I've been courting, there's a few features we don't currently have that are in the development pipeline. Once those features are added, they're ready to jump ship.
Is there anything you're willing to talk about regarding these up and coming features?
How do you manage who is interacting with their viewers vs. who is not? Is it manually curated each time? If so, how do you plan to scale that?
The big two needs are individually assignable stream keys for each team member and chat bot integration. They're both on our development radar.
OCD requires manual curation for their program, which is run entirely by volunteers. We look at the streamer's scores on the leaderboard if we miss the stream. Activity Scores and Builder Scores play into how large of an upvote the streamer receives. If anyone wants to help Vimm with OCD curation, they are welcome to DM me on discord. I can be found on the Vimm discord, as well as PAL and my own.
im streaming to forget my sorrows and worries for the Moment... if i get rewarded sure im Happy but its not the thing why i do it...
I want to have a good time with the people which join my channels and share their time with me...
maybe im diffrent and yes i give my viewers the chance to treat me with a donation but i deliever a special thing to em for it and why i do it not to get famous or rich i do it to give em a smile and if i get something yes im happy with it , im using it for my stream setup so i can give em more fun more nicer moments... So i dont hink i match your points in all :)
I do DUAL Streams on VIMM and Twitch and im using VIMM for a long long time...
Greetings from a diffrent place of the globe ... but one thing i need to say... if we dont have fun as CREATORS we cant reach People outside... Streamers need to stop to think they turn the Stream on and people will rush the channel... People come people go... but the constant need to be WE the one which fill the channel with love and life !
Love your passion!
!PIZZA
@ciderjunkie! I sent you a slice of $PIZZA on behalf of @thebeardflex.
Learn more about $PIZZA Token at hive.pizza (2/20)
Mate you re welcome, im happy i met you last night and i enjoyed your stream mate... go on... i like it when new faces around vimm so it shows we do a good job over there
Streaming on a stable blockchain is still in it's infancy. Personally i don't count dlive since they have done all things wrong in the past. Vimm is still growing and I see it every day. I see streamers come and go. Do they understand how HIVE works? Not really sure but anyone who comes to my channel and has any questions about HIVE in general I am more than willing to go over it with them. I love talking nerdy to my audience. My stream times are not set in stone which is a problem when it comes to growth but i am not all for growing to be the next ninja. I am happy where i am on VIMM and will continue on doing what i do.