Technology

Playing the Toughest Game on Twitch: The Numbers Game

As youâ€™ve probably figured out by now, between my social media posts about Destiny and my recent title, Twitch for Dummies, I play video games. And I have a Twitch channel. When Destiny 2 went live on September 6, 2017, I set out not only to make myself a better Guardian (what you are known as in the game), but set a schedule for myself to see if streaming was for me. I spent my first few gaming sessions using an earbud-mic included with my PS4. I picked up a modest $30 gaming headset shortly after. Then my ~~enabler~~ good buddy, Matt Drake, offered me a PSEye, the consoleâ€™s proprietary webcam. Thus began the evolution of my stream.

This is something Iâ€™ve noticed about being a streamer. Your channel, regardless of the platform, experiences pockets of evolution. My first was the incorporation of a good headset. Then you upgrade your ability to interact with Chat. (For me, it was Streamlabs.) Then itâ€™s your first break from streaming, which for me, drove home how much I enjoyed it. There are also unexpected challenges you face along the way, all of them leaving a mark on your channel.

Then thereâ€™s October 3, 2019 â€” a date which will live in awesomeness.

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Embracing the Dummie in Me

â€œWhy would we need you? There are no dummies here.â€

The year is 2006 and I had just wrapped for the day presenting at a conference, recording interviews for a client, and giving a seminar on the potential of podcasting. One of the things I had talked about at length was the podcasting community â€” really cool people who loved talking shop, meeting other podcasters, and making connections.

Then I met the charming fellow quoted at the beginning of this blogpost.

What had caught my eye was a sandwich board pointing to a podcasting class being taught at a different event in the conference center. I was always excited to connect with others and see what their approach to podcasting was, so I swung by the classroom to make a quick introduction.

My introduction did not go well. At all.

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Are You Paying Attention to Your Social Media?

It’s a good idea, if you have a Twitter account, to pay attention to it.

While the much-maligned platform seems to be dominated by cyberbullies â€” some of whom occupy large white houses in historic districts of the United States â€” there are some people in the Twitterverse that will make your day at the most unexpected of times.

And let’s be honest â€” those times are the ones most welcome.

Case in point: my Saturday morning started off with a lovely tweet from someone I deeply admire in the Destiny and Twitch Community…

@TeeMonster is an amazing person! So kind, and has published many books! He interviewed many of us at conventions for this book! Loved being a part of it and he has so many other wonderful streamers that gave feedback! (All different size / types of streamers as well!)
— iLulu (@lulusoccer) September 14, 2019

I mean, wow! I’m blushing over here. Seriously.

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If Social Media Is So Easy, Why Is It So Hard?

Iâ€™m a little worried if Iâ€™m a canary and the people I work for are running a coal mine.

Let me explainâ€¦

Recently, I accepted an opportunity where the clientâ€™s entirety of a social media strategy was Twitter and a blog, both posting updates when time allowed. (In other words, infrequently.) I was asked to not only work with the tools given, but build on them and make something better, provided the resources were free. While I was thereâ€¦

Twitter went from occasional updates to three tweets a day, on average. The content included news stories, promotions over upcoming events, and special tweets featuring the client front and center.
A new LinkedIn page launched, reaching a completely new audience from Twitter, also posting two-to-four updates throughout the day.
On the dates of special events, both platforms would host images, quotes, and, if possible, video.
Video, a medium completely new to this client, had reached enough demand for a Vimeo channel to launch.
The clientâ€™s blog went from â€œa post when time allowedâ€ to a managed editorial calendar, offering original weekly content.

After a lot of positive feedback and encouragement during my stay, I was told by my superiors they wanted a fresh start and new perspective on their digital strategy. Yep, I had been replaced. I respected their decision, left behind a detailed Communications plan (which included a look ahead to what I was planning), and hoped their new social media manager would take their digital presence to higher levels.

Within a monthâ€¦

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Why Fake News Works: Internet Audiences Cannot Be Bothered

Yesterday, I had a pretty rattling exchange on Facebook. (I know â€” a bad back-and-forth on Facebook?! Inconceivable!) The headline reading â€œHollywood Film Depicts Trump Supporters Being Hunted for Sport by Liberalsâ€ appeared in my feed, and immediately my â€œPeter Tingleâ€ kicked into overdrive. I went to Google and looked up â€œThe Hunt, 2019 filmâ€ as that was what this news article (not flagged by Facebook, mind you) was pertaining to. The official plot of The Hunt is as follows:

Twelve strangers wake up in a clearing. They donâ€™t know where they are, or how they got there. They don’t know they’ve been chosenâ€¦ for a very specific purpose â€¦ The Hunt. In the shadow of a dark internet conspiracy theory, a group of globalist elites gathers for the very first time at a remote Manor House to hunt humans for sport. But the elitesâ€™ master plan is about to be derailed because one of the hunted, Crystal (Betty Gilpin, GLOW), knows The Huntersâ€™ game better than they do. She turns the tables on the killers, picking them off, one by one, as she makes her way toward the mysterious woman (two-time OscarÂ® winner Hilary Swank) at the center of it all.

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Kickstarting a New Project on a New Social Media Toy.

So, over the weekend, this happened…

In a nutshell, Pip and I attended Steampunk unLimited 2015, launched a Kickstarter for the fifth book in the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences series, and had a blast with friends and fans throughout the weekend.

Yes, I know I said “Steampunk unLimited 2016”Â in the video and all I can do is blame my lack of coffee and the desire to time travel, but I digress…

This Kickstarter really has come out of the box strong. We were already at the 50% mark within four days. I don’t think we saw that kind of love even for The Ministry Initiative. We’re doing all we can to keep the momentum going, and are optimistic that not only will we meet the initial goal for The Ghost Rebellion but we may also see some of those stretch goals come to fruition. There’s a lot of possibility ahead, and we are pretty stoked.

So’s one of our stretch goalsâ€”V’s Cosplayâ€”who put together a quick little doodle here of Eliza using “grenade incentives” to get people to pledge.

Since we are talking about possibilities, how about we chat a bit about that video posted above.

If you’ve been paying attention to me on Twitter (as well as Books and Braun), you may have noticed a few tweets taking you to the official website forÂ Periscope. If you haven’t heard of this new platform, here’s a quick rundown of what I’ve learnt in two weeks of testing, filming, and posting. Periscope offers you the ability to streamÂ video from your smartphone or tablet, and opens your live broadcastÂ up for comments and “Hearts” (Likes) that Â interact withÂ you and your content, all in real-time. You can video for as long as you like, and Periscope will continue the stream for as long as your data connection remains.

So you can see how much fun an app like Periscope would be at an event like Steampunk unLimited.

As for what you can do with Periscope from an author’s point-of-view, there’s a lot of ideas I’ve been kicking around, and if you want to read about those ideas, swing on over to One-Stop Writer Shop where I take you on a deep dive with the app. It’s a lot of fun.

So we are off and running with our Kickstarter. Please make sure to let people know about what we are up to!