I occasionally broadcast my games on Twitch, but I've never thought of broadcasting my night's sleep on the web!
Does anyone really want to see me toss and turn in bed, let out the occasional gas, and then get up around 3 am to go to the bathroom? I highly doubt it. But for some reason, some streamers had the idea to dive into this strange adventure and surprisingly, get paid for it.
Seriously? People Sleep on Twitch and Earn Money?
This type of live presentation is called "IRL lives", so "In Real Life" broadcasts, where streamers simply broadcast everyday activities. The idea is to see people unpacking packages, eating, talking, or... sleeping. Some streamers even have thousands of subscribers watching the whole thing. Well, according to me, there is a clear demonstration of voyeurism here (we all are a bit, aren't we?), but who am I to judge?
If I were to watch a live IRL broadcast, I think I'd go for the unpacking of packages (I love the sound of tape peeling off a cardboard box) or a broadcast of someone removing the thin protective transparent film from a new screen (so satisfying to gently peel off that film without breaking, in a very long piece in one single go).
Me unwrapping my XboxSeries X
What Does Sleeping on Twitch Look Like?
It's all well and good to want to get paid to sleep, but you don't go into this without preparation or strategy.
Here are some of the famous Twitch overnight streamers who slept on Twitch, and their original ways to make money:
Kaitlyn "Amouranth" Siragusa
Famous cosplayer Kaitlyn ''Amouranth'' Siragusa (over 2 million Twitch subscribers) broadcast a six-hour sleep session where she encouraged her fans to subscribe and donate. For every 20 subscriptions, a bell would ring and her alarm would go back an hour (so an extra hour of sleep). It was also possible to send her voice messages.
Kacey "Kaceytron" Caviness
Another, Kacey "Kaceytron" Caviness (559 600 Twitch subscribers), had her sleep disturbed by her fans sending her (in exchange for donations) text messages read aloud from her computer. Wow, imagine that crazy night! I wonder how loud the computer was?
The "Ice Poseidon"
But it gets worse, as the popular and controversial Paul Denino nicknamed "Ice Poseidon" (banned from Twitch for a few years) raised a pretty penny in 2017 by allowing his audience to send him sounds of guns, bagpipes, and big dubstep sequences while he slept on Twitch. Hahaha!
Asian Andy
More recently, the so-called Asian Andy (no longer on Twitch, but now on YouTube with 1.12 million subscribers) made $16,000 in one 7-hour night with a technique similar to the one used by Ice Poseidon. Seriously!
A "Dreamed" Broadcast
To sleep on a Twitch stream is completely crazy, weird, but also quite funny.
Why would I want to watch someone sleeping on Twitch?
No idea, since nobody has managed to sell me the idea yet (especially if the streamer doesn't do anything special).
In this particular case, I guess the most "interesting" people to see sleeping on Twitch are the ones with restless sleep? I see this guy turning one way, then the other, muttering incomprehensible sentences in his sleep. Now that is something I might find funny.
Or (we're just talking here), do those who watch a streamer sleep on Twitch secretly wish they could see a dark figure with long, dirty hair magically emerge from the closet? Watching a paranormal activity live on Twitch must be chilling! I imagine the audience behind their screens screaming "Wake up!!! Wake up Steeve! There's a ghost in your room! "Hahaha!
Or seeing a sleepwalker on Twitch get up in the middle of the night! I imagine the person getting up eyes closed at 3 am, going to get a big bag of cookies and devouring the entire contents of the bag in bed, facing the camera, still in full sleep! Hahaha! Wow.
Come to think of it, if I had to live with someone who was into this type of broadcasting (sleeping on Twitch), I would definitely spend the night playing tricks on them! Flashing the light, throwing things at them, pulling off their blankets, or spraying them with a water gun from time to time! Hahaha! That would be fun as hell.
Anyway, what about you? Are you a customer-user of these Twitch "In Real Life" broadcasts? If so, who are you watching? The people who make money streaming their sleep on Twitch or the others?
