alt Hacker NewsI used to live code on Twitch regularly with zero viewers and it didn't really bother me. It forced me to actively talk through my decision making processes just by streaming which slowed me down but was often useful. I'm not sure what the family/partners part is about, I certainly had both while streaming.
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Does knowing that someone could be watching change your performance? I wonder if the "Live" status acts as a mental catalyst that you can't get by just talking to yourself offline.
Yeah, the snark by some commenters is unwarranted.
There is this programmer and he is just chilling, programming and listening to music. Just 2-3 viewers. On occasion I say hi, make a chitchat. It’s harmless and a bit of fun/socializing.
I think most streamers know what they are doing.
I’ve thought about doing this at work. Schedule an hour of programming once a day or once a week where others are free to join and watch, and comment or otherwise engage, or not.
Actively doing this. It indeed forces me to think things through, organize thoughts and speak them out. I open paint/miro to draw. It's good practice.
Last year I would larp as a Spanish-speaking gaming streamer on Youtube to practice Spanish, talking out loud while trying some new game to force myself to speak it.
If I were trying to do that in private, I would stop after two minutes.
But the mere threat of someone watching me forced me to take it seriously even though I knew nobody would.
It was so effective that I would default to Spanish for the rest of the day, or I'd listen to Spanish and then realize how I could have communicated certain things better instead of just passively ingest it.
Though the same reason it was so effective also created a mental toll that I started avoiding by not doing it at all. Need to start it back up.
That said, I reckon the vast majority of streamers are gamers who do want viewership and aren't using it as some productivity hack.