How Twitch sets you up for failure

I feel like the Twitch Affiliate program sets people up for failure. The metrics to obtain it are extremely low and it sets an expectation that if you can obtain it, you can make money on Twitch. While it is possible to make money by anyone, the reality is it is extremely difficult and relies on a lot of random factors beyond the streamer's control.

With 7.57 million active streamers on Twitch, you need to stand out in the crowd somehow to get people in the door. Making money isn't that easy and the vast majority will never make a dollar on the platform. With the metrics being so low, it's too easy to monetize.

I have been in communities where the mods and owner will blast out in the Discords "*person* has started streaming! Let's get them to affiliate! Go follow and open up a tab!" You can literally hand affiliate to someone without any effort on their behalf. The fact that it's that easy is a huge problem. The requirements to become part of the partner program are exponentially higher so why is it so easy to start to monetize? The answer is because they can make money off of anyone but not everyone can make money off of them.

When you generate any kind of revenue, of course Twitch gets its cut and you get yours. The caveat, though, is Twitch gets their cut immediately but you have to hit a threshold to get yours. With new people trying to get into the scene all the time, they might get a sub or two here and there and Twitch will get their couple bucks but the streamer won't get theirs. Twitch never has to pay out if you can't break threshold so they essentially made $5 off of the streamer since they don't have to give back the $2.50 per sub.

This is why it is so easy to start monetizing and why it sets people up for failure. It sets these expectations and most people go into it with higher expectations than they should and when the reality hits, it takes a mental toll. The feelings of inadequacy and depression are very real. How many people do you know who have bowed out of streaming because it has become too mentally taxing or they feel like a failure?

The partner program is so much harder to get into because your slice of the pie is bigger and if you are generating enough viewership to meet requirements, you are generally generating enough revenue to hit the threshold every month with no problem. They want you to start monetizing but not grow. This is why discoverability of small content creators is so poor as well.

They want the $5 you "earned" and give you nothing for the effort it took to get it. How much "money" is sitting in dead affiliate accounts that will never be cashed out? With over 7 million active streamers, if each one only ever generated a single $5 sub, that's $35m Twitch made without ever having to do anything for it. They didn't even have to ask. All they had to do was entice you and it worked. If you can't hold up your end of the bargain, they don't have to hold up theirs. You don't actually make money. All you make is the promise of money.

This is why the Twitch Affiliate program sets you up for failure.