Mixer? I hardly knew her.
Time’s Up. Everywhere you look, people are essentially saying IDGAF anymore, here is my truth and you can deal with it, or not. Microsoft announced they are closing MIXER and have a deal to transition the community toward Facebook. It didn’t mention anything about the story floating through twitter the day before. Was Mixer shut down in response to that story? Doubtful, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the process wasn’t accelerated. Mixer came and went so fast, I didn’t even have time to create an account. I kept looking at Mixer and Twitch to figure out what the difference was. Thousands of channels with tens of thousands of viewers. There are so many different types of streamers. If you’re curious why some of these people put a camera on themselves while they play, check out Rich McGrath’s series “Why I Stream”
A lot has changed since I started streaming live gameplay and arguing with chatters about platforms and add-on packs in 96. Fast forward to 2006 when we wanted to stream All Games Interactive each day. There was only Justin.tv - I spent months with a camera on my head and a netbook in my backpack. My life was not that interesting and it was a constant minefield of making sure I didn’t say or do something stupid on camera. When you look at what has sprung up on Twitch/YouTube/Facebook, the numbers are staggering. If you’re going to sit at home and play video games, why not stream them to the world and make friends and money online?
Why hang out in real life with people you don’t like, doing things you don’t really want to do? Online, you play the games you want, have the experiences you want, with the people you want. It’s not all unicorns and rainbows on these sites. These communities have the same problem as online games. Trolls and Griefers. People who get more joy out of spamming racist or sexist comments in a chat room, posting racist and sexist memes, into places they aren’t welcome. There is no shortage of sub-reddits waiting for the most vile meme or pic you can find. That’s not enough. They want to make people uncomfortable, like lighting a stinkbomb off during a wedding reception.
So now we have Twitch, Facebook, and YouTube as the platforms to stream your life online. We have done Twitch and YouTube Live streams so I am not sure about adding Facebook to the mix. There is definitely an audience on there and the potential future of VR live streaming is exciting.
Do you watch livestreams? Have your own? What’s your preferred platform? Comment below.
