In an interview, drag queen Aria Addams tells us about her career and her opinion on Twitch as a streaming platform.
Thousands of channels go online every day on the Twitch streaming platform, where streamers entertain their viewers. The range of content now ranges from classic gaming, to artist and DJ streamers, to simple conversations in Just Chatting. One such streamer is drag queen Aria Addams.
Who is this? Aria Addams is the stage name of Milo Pochylski, who has been a full-time social media drag queen and content creator since 2019. The name is a combination of Aria Stark from the popular book series and TV series “Game of Thrones” and the Addams Family. On Twitch, she is mostly active in the Gaming and Just Chatting categories.
In an interview, we asked Aria how she sees Twitch as a drag queen and what the positive and negative sides of the streaming platform are.
Practice late into the night
MeinMMO: Hello Aria! For those readers who don’t know, please briefly explain what “drag” means and what it means specifically to you.
Aria: Drag used to mean something like “dressing up as girls”, so it stood for the classic man who dressed up as a woman for shows. Today, however, drag is a gender-independent art form that anyone can do.
I used to sit in my room until 3 a.m. and practice putting on my makeup until the makeup was the way I wanted it. The rest is gradually developing.
MyMMO: What got you into streaming?
Aria: As a drag queen, Corona took away more or less all forms of audience interaction from me. The pandemic also started right after my TV appearance on Queen of Drags. So the reach I had developed ebbed extremely quickly, due to the lockdown etc. So I thought about how I can now entertain people from home… And Twitch felt very good for me there.
I see streaming as part of my job and it’s definitely full time. Before I became self-employed in 2019, I was an apprentice in a travel agency. At the moment I’m live about 4 hours a day, 4 days a week. For a little over a year I have also called Twitch my home and in 2022 I am also a proud Twitch Ambassador.
Streamers who have a positive influence on the community become ambassadors on Twitch.
MeinMMO: Which games do you play in the streams and why?
Aria: Everything from A to Z. Indie games, horror, shooters, point’n’click adventures, etc. Everything that is fun for me and my community and provides good content.
At the moment, I’m really looking forward to this year’s Pokémon releases! The franchise just shaped my childhood too much, I guess I’ll hang on to it forever.
“I feel recognized by Twitch”
MeinMMO: In 2022 you became a Twitch Ambassador. What do you see as your tasks in the role and how would you like to approach them in the future?
Aria: I see myself a bit as a self-appointed diversity officer. This is of course not meant to be taken seriously, but I take it as an opportunity to spread a little more tolerance and openness on Twitch. I am very happy that Twitch supports queer creators like me and I believe that this visibility brings a lot.
MeinMMO: What are the biggest problems that Twitch should address from your perspective as a drag queen?
Aria: I think the biggest problem lies more with the consumers of the platform than with Twitch itself. A lot of things can only be influenced by raising awareness. Sometimes, of course, action has to be taken consistently and people have to experience consequences for what they say in the stream or in the chat.
MeinMMO: On the other hand, is there anything that you think Twitch does really well?
Aria: I feel very “recognized” by Twitch and feel like there is great support for queer people throughout the year and not just for Pride Month. Twitch also does really well with appropriate moderation tools to prevent hatred.
MeinMMO: What is most important to you in your community? What do you value her for and what have you learned from her?
Aria: The most important thing for me is an open and friendly interaction in chat and Discord. If you are not an ass, then you are always welcome with us. I have a strict no bullshit policy (laughs). I really appreciate the support of my community and I’m glad that we have such a family atmosphere.
MeinMMO: Do you have any special goals or dreams that you would like to fulfill as a drag queen?
Aria: I would like to – and I don’t mean to sound conceited at all – to develop such a huge reach as the big players on social media today, especially in the gaming sector.
I look up to big YouTubers or streamers a lot and would love nothing more than to be the first drag queen to be mainstream on this scale. Because the more people I reach, the more I can influence people in a positive way.
MyMMO: What 3 pieces of advice would you give to someone who also wants to get into streaming?
Aria:
We would like to thank Aria for the interview and wish her and her community on Twitch lots of fun in the streams.
We also chatted to a teacher who streams on Twitch:
Teacher streams lessons on Twitch, now has hundreds of viewers: “Was initially only intended for my students”