Hey, you. Yeah, you, up-and-coming CC hypothetically reading this post. Yeah. C'mere. I have something I need to tell you. Your entire job revolves around cultivating and maintaining a fanbase, right? They pay your bills with ad revenue and twitch subs and merch purchases.
Oh, you know that? Cool, awesome. Right, so let's move on to the second thing: you want new fans to find you, right? Yeah, of course you do. It's good for everyone: a healthy fan community benefits hugely from the network effect. You get more money, but you also get more people with eyes on your work (which all artists like, don't deny that!) Yeah, you get it. It's good stuff. Right?
Cool. Yeah, so I just wanted to warn you about something. See, a bunch of your buddies- oh, they're not your buddies? That's cool, I get it- anyway. A bunch of your colleagues, who I'd never heard of before in my entire life, decided that the best way to introduce themselves to me (And, I'm sure, many other people!) was by kicking off a giant fucking shitstorm.
Yeah, I know. It's fucking insane. Yeah. So these guys all saw a third rail labelled FANS DOING STUFF and all of them decided to unzip and piss on it. Yup. Fucking crazy, I know. But you're not going to do that, right? You're not going to make your introduction to a huge number of people petulant tirades, insane comparisons, implicit and explicit support of harassment, and cultivating a super toxic fan space?
Yeah, I thought not. Because, like, if you WERE to hypothetically do that, you'd turn off a shitload of potential viewers. Like me!
Yeah, anyway, I'm just telling you all this because, like, I've seen this happen a couple times before, and I'm just hoping you can avoid repeating the same mistakes-Yeah? Obviously. Yeah moderate your discord however you want, that's cool. Twitch and Youtube too. It's your space. What? Look, just block that guy if you don't like what they're making. It's literally that easy. Yeah, see? And now it's gone.
Hey. I know you don't like it. But think of it like this: That weird shit you just blocked? It's literally free advertising for you, dude. It's free! You didn't even have to pay for it! And now some other people who ARE into that might tune in to your stream. That's money and eyeballs! Isn't that what you want?
Yeah, I know. Crazy right? Treat your fans well, and they'll treat you well? Yeah. Anyway, good luck! Can't wait to catch your next stream!