trans gamer

** Announcing My New Twitch Channel Landing Page **

I had promised an announcement with the new year and that is what this post is about. I have been working on a web page dedicated to my Twitch channel. 

Please check it out at: 

http://maidenariana.com

If you have not visited Twitch before, thinking it is only for gamers.. here is more from the “About Twitch” page..

Why are people watching Twitch?

• Twitch is more than a spectator experience; it is social video that relies on audio and chat to enable creators and their audiences to interact in real-time about everything from gaming and pop culture to life in general.

By the Numbers

• 15 million daily active users
• 2.2+ million unique content creators per month
• 25,000+ members of the Twitch Partner program
• 110,000+ members of the Twitch Affiliate program (I am in this category)
• 106 minutes watched per person per day
• 2+ million peak concurrent site-wide viewers
• 65+ million raised by the Twitch community for charity

Why is my twitch channel important to me?

My channel provides a way for me to interact directly with my followers. Particularly, it has become a channel that is frequented by many lgbtq+ people and I hope to keep growing that community. We have a discord channel too and I see conversations between followers and friendships springing up from those conversations. Whether you are a member of the lgbtq+ community or not, you are welcome here as long as you respect everyone else! There is a growing contingent of transgender content providers who are out and open about their status on Twitch. Though we do experience harassment on occasion, overwhelmingly my experience on Twitch has been a positive one. Besides, all one needs is a few good moderators to ban the trolls and keep the peace.

I really hope you will consider checking out my channel’s website and visit my Twitch community during the next stream. Don’t be shy and join the chat when you are there, you will be glad you did!

Also, just a note about common misconceptions about streamers. People who are partners and do this for a living can pay their monthly bills, but for part time affiliates like me it is very different. I am making almost no money off of this. In fact, after streaming for nearly 14 months I just now finally received my first payout check from Twitch. They only send out payments to Affiliates on a 60 day delay and on a rolling basis. You must make over $100 cumulative to even receive a payout. My first and only payout has been $117 after all of this time. It is basically a nice little bonus at this point for the time that I put in. I do hope that more people who appreciate my channel will consider subscribing or straight up donating when able. If I could sustain it to a point where I do get at least some sort of payout each month, then I will be able to stream more often and work side website jobs less often 🙂 I plan to continue streaming as I am able regardless of whether that happens or not, because I now have regular visitors whom I consider friends and they find the channel and community to be of value. 

Thank you to my Twitch followers and subscribers for helping me get to the point I am at! I hope 2018 sees growth of the channel but more importantly growth of the supportive community surrounding it!

** About the header photo above.. it is just a shot of the moment I found my NYE party dress. The dress in the picture was a size 8. I was once a size 20 or 22! After years of transitioning and being the truest and healthiest version of myself, it still is hard to believe that zipper closed all of the way. I ended up buying a size 10 because I knew that once I had dinner or needed to move around more I needed a little extra space. The 8 fit, but was VERY snug. Anyway, thought I would explain the photo 😉 **

Hope to see you in Twitch chat!

-Ari