My digital artefact has certainly changed shape a few times and come lengths since the beginning of BCM114. My digital artefact originally was a YouTube channel that could’ve been considered successful at the beginning, however, I was not passionate in that form. Therefore, I changed my digital artefact to become what it is today, a Twitch gaming Channel.
Twitch is a live streaming website where individuals live broadcast video games they are playing and audiences can interact with them as they play. I really loved this idea as a big passion of mine is actually playing video games yet due to my university & work schedule, I just never had the time. Having a passion in the digital artefact was key for me wanting to enjoy it and do it regularly.
Not only because I loved playing games, but the rise of Twitch as a platform, I thought that audiences would enjoy it because it is an opportunity for people to interact differently than everyday life. The ability to watch game play and discuss things with the player can also be highly entertaining and inclusive for audiences. I myself am a regular audience member for multiple Twitch channels and enjoy getting to be part of the experience. I suppose I looked to those channels that I already watched as ‘inspiration’ and adapted my own channel to suit how I felt needed.
Initially I had intended to stream at least once a week, this seemed to maintain the same. Usually Thursday at 1pm. This regularity helped audiences know when they could join in and become part of the experience.
To begin with, the process of setting up my Twitch Channel wasn’t time effective by any means. It took me hours to work out how to record and live stream on programs such as OBS Stream labs. I also paid around $20 AUD for an individual artist to help me design my channel art, which was a fun process as I was able to help pick my designs and colours. Channel art is really integral for a twitch channel because its similar to a book cover, that’s the first thing an individual sees when they go on your channel.
Another integral part of game streaming, is a face cam. I intended to stream off my laptop, but the laptop couldn’t handle the streaming. So I resorted to just streaming off my PS4, which meant that I had no face cam – and a surprisingly key element to twitch streaming as audiences like to actually see who they are interacting with online. Rather than just hearing their voice over the gameplay, so this definitely impacted on my audience numbers.
Through processes of FIST and FEFO I really worked hard at my DA and interacting with audiences on feeds such as Twitter and seeking feed back, this was really useful for me.
Overall to the end of my DA progress, the little, or lack of an audience, I found to be incredibly disheartening. I was constantly questioning whether there was any point to streaming, I’d be streaming for over 2 hours and I was lucky to get 3 people watch. To the end of the process I really didn’t have the motivation to continue my DA and slacked of, therefore I have barely worked on it the last two weeks. Something I recognise that I shouldn’t do but it happened, and is a step to accepting maybe this wasn’t the right thing for me to do for a digital artefact. But I did really enjoy the process and learning whats right for me and finding my niche.
Till next time,
Alex 🙂
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