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Content Creators

Content Creators
avrona's avatar

I always liked creating things that others interacted with or used. I was always the one to start clubs, make up playground games, or otherwise try to come up with stuff others could do in primary and secondary school. Don't know if it's just because I wanted that external validation so badly, or because I always saw it as a gateway to recognition or greater things to come. I guess I was always at least very ambitious.

The way I discovered online content creation and how I got into it is probably not that conventional. I played this online browser game for kids a lot growing up, and one time, by complete accident, I discovered a fan-made blog about the game, while searching for the official blog from the devs. Given my track-record with such things, by the end of that same day, I set up my own blog, with no prior experience with blogging, online content creation, or how this online community around the game even worked. Somehow, I managed to make something semi-successful and recognisable in that micro-niche. To make my blog stand out, I also started a YouTube channel. The blog was supposed to be the main priority still, but I could embed my videos into posts, while also driving traffic from YouTube. I loved every second of this. However, soon the community around the game died out, and so did my blog. With that, the only thing I was left with was the channel, and I still wanted to make content and make something out of it, and it would have felt weird to forget about the channel as well.

As I discovered what is possible with YouTube, my ambitions grew as well, especially after I also had my first summer job which just made me realise how much I needed to work for myself, on my own terms. I wanted to turn into something special, a real company with awesome content. The path there has been excruciatingly slow, with currently just 10k subscribers since I started the channel in 2013, however there's no reason to stop now, and I since then founded a whole company around myself and the channel, and the content I make on there.

Schadsquatch's avatar

I'm a people pleaser. I love to be the center of attention and I love making other people happy. Its one of the (many) reasons I became a teacher! I also really enjoy being a leader/educator. It made sense for me to try streaming/creating content. Most of the time when I'm live I'm either teaching people something, trying something new and sharing it or cracking jokes. I feel a real sense of accomplishment when I am able to reach others in unique ways.

During the pandemic, I was forced to teach online classes. My students and friends said I was great at engaging people in an online space and I should try streaming on Twitch. My friend Courtney taught me some tricks and got me my first dozen or so followers. I have since then found much more success than I could have ever thought was possible for myself, reaching over a couple thousand followers, many subscribers and a bit of a loyal fan base!

Letitia Lemon's avatar

For me, I took a bit of a weird path into content creation and the entertainment industry overall... back at school I studied media, with the intent on working behind the scenes on TV and films, so I studied FIlm and Television at university- with a focus on Floor Managing, Cinematography and Directing. It wasn't until I was told by some industry professionals that I had an easy to listen to voice and I should do some presenting, so I started presenting some of the shows we made while there, and dabbled in acting as well. I had a lot of fun with it and decided that I wanted to do more of that, so I got a couple of acting jobs with the BBC, then some immersive theatre work after I graduated. Streaming came about because a lot of my other presenter friends and some gamer friends were all starting it and said I would be fantastic at it with my charisma, how naturally funny and witty I am and the fact that I'm not terrible at games in general (I know, such supportive friends) so I gave it a go and had a blast with it. Didn't expect anyone to turn up to it and so I felt motivated to keep going. The bigger community I built up through that and the fans I garnered through my acting and voiceacting work (in videogames, audiodramas and other productions that overlap with gaming) the more I realised that even smaller creators and the non A-list celebrities can still entertain and inspire people. Hearing people tell me that they cozy up to my content after a long and tiring day or they feel inspired to try a certain game or go and do something they wouldn't normally do, it's really moving because I know I wouldn't be who I am today if it wasn't for the actors and entertainers who I looked up to while growing up so now being someone who can have that kind of impact on even just a small amount of people means so much to me. I've voiced in a couple of award-winning audiodramas based on videogames and having fans of the shows come in to my stream chat to praise my work as a VA and then to vibe with me as a gamer is always a fun experience as they get to meet me, the performer who brought to life the characters that they felt moved by. Streaming is a way to connect with the audience and fans of productions I've worked on, make friends with other gamers and creators all the while being all comfy at home. I feel very lucky to work in the industry that I do and be able to make content and stream as well; they all compliment each other well and I wouldn't want to be doing anything else with my life now.

Lanah Tyra's avatar

From tour guide to raid guide…

Before the pandemic I’ve worked as a tour guide. Even though I was lucky enough to keep my job, the industry has changed so much that it was not that enjoyable anymore. During lockdown I’ve spent every day in Final Fantasy XIV and found a community running 48-man raids with callouts and explanations for newbies. Eventually I became one of their raid leaders and was streaming our runs. Teaching people how to do the mechanics and telling tales about how the game has changed gave me the same feeling as my guided tours used to and made me realise how important it is to do something you love, something you are passionate about.

Growing up I wanted to be an actress, and I noticed when I’m streaming casual gameplay I easily get into the role of my character and comment the game’s story from their point of view. I used to make anime and game music videos at uni and loved to build the story up to match the lyrics of the song as well, not just the beats and transitions.

See a pattern there? I love to tell stories. It will be a long and hard journey to make a living out of this, but it was about time near 40 to realise what is my “dream job”, what is it that I would love to do, and could wake up and smile when I think of work.

FUN INC's avatar

In advance of streaming, I was recording all aspects of my game play in EVE online in order to evaluate performance and improve. What I soon came to realise was that I was basically streaming, but just for myself, so soon realised that I may as well just stream. After a few failed starts - rubbish internet connectivity being one, I started streaming in earnest and never looked back.

For me its about community connection. I feel more connection to the community via streaming, and in turn I enjoy the game (EVE online) more. There is of course a slight bias here - I did also use streaming as a "recruitment plug " for my corporation, and the NPSI fleets that I run - it would be disingenuous of me to exclude that - however, it is not the sole focus / reason.

I like having the ability to share great experiences, understand failures, and celebrate the good times - of which we have a hell of a lot! ... remember that time we got dropped on by 7 titans in game ... remember that time we got titan bombed... yes... well I can show you the stream clips, and have a great laugh in the process!

You can read more about me here

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