Twitch streamers earn by responding to good content from others – A YouTuber claims his share

earthpressnews
Leksand extended the winning streak beat AIK

So-called reactions are a popular format: content creators react to the content of others on Twitch or YouTube and give their opinion on it. A YouTuber explained a year ago why this is problematic – and how it can be done better. What has changed since then?

Why are reactions so popular? Reactions are practical for content creators: compared to their own formats, they require little effort. It’s even worth it twice, because streamers first react live on Twitch and then upload the reaction again as a video on YouTube.

Reactions are popular with many viewers. In this way, they can consume the original content, exchange ideas with others in the chat or in the comments and learn the opinion of their favorite content creators at the same time.

Sometimes reactions are also useful to better understand different perspectives. Especially with controversial topics, the reactions of several people can clarify the different perspectives.

In practice, however, reactions often focus on content suitable for the masses. Many content creators react to each other, sometimes also to how others react to themselves. Others offer targeted content that is particularly suitable for reactions.

Sido leaks new song from Twitch streamer Tanzban – raps in a real language for the first time

YouTuber makes a loss with his video, others benefit from it

What does the YouTuber say? In an October 2021 video, YouTuber RobBubble promised to disclose earnings from his top-grossing videos. The bitter part: he made a loss with the videos while others made money from his content through their reactions.

To illustrate this, RobBubble cites his most elaborate video to date: it was in production for a year, costumes were bought, an expensive camera was used and those involved had to be paid.

RobBubble couldn’t say how expensive the video was because it was difficult to calculate the value of his own working time. However, he paid over €3,000 just for the editing and the cameraman.

How much did he earn from the video? The original video received 490,000 views at the time, which is a viral video by his standards. The feedback in the comments was also extremely positive. He earned €279.61, which is far less than the video cost.

It was similar with another video: It achieved almost 307,000 views and earned the YouTuber €962.67 – the reactions brought it to 1.45 million views.

We have included the video in which RobBubble spoke about the reaction stream business here:

Recommended Editorial Content

At this point you will find external content from YouTube that complements the article.

Show YouTube content

I consent to external content being displayed to me. Personal data can be transmitted to third-party platforms. Read more about our privacy policy.

Others make 16 times what the creator makes from the video

How did Reaction streamers benefit? Because RobBubble’s video was so well received, there were numerous reactions to it from streamers and YouTubers. The largest of these reactions totaled 1.1 million views, more than twice as many as the YouTuber himself.

The YouTuber calculates that others would have earned up to €4,500 with his video, almost 16 times as much as he did himself.

How can that be? RobBubble lists these criticisms of the reactions in his video:

  • Reactions are usually longer than the original videos. As a result, more advertising can be placed and the reaction videos are preferred by YouTube because of their length.
  • Bigger streamers and YouTubers would often have a higher RPM, which is revenue per 1,000 views. Even with the same number of views, they make more money that way.
  • In contrast to the original content creator, the Reacion streamers have no expenses and hardly any effort, so the income is almost pure profit.
  • Particularly annoying: if there is a placement in the original video, it is often cut out by the reaction streamers. The author does not even benefit from the increased views for his advertising customer. But they would be counted among the calls of the reaction streamer anyway.
  • Only a small portion of viewers go from the reaction to the original content

    • YouTuber says he loves reactions but they need to change

    So should Reactions stop? No, at least not according to RobBubble. The YouTuber says he loves Reactions and also appreciates many of the colleagues who produce them. In fact, he even likes to see how others react to his videos.

    Good reaction streamers can classify the content they see and even enhance it with their insights.

    Then what does he want? The YouTuber has some suggestions on how to make the Reactions concept fairer. So he did 90% of the work and 100% of the expenses for a fraction of the profit and subscribers.

    This is a problem and would harm everyone in the long run: The content creators themselves, for whom it is no longer worth producing complex videos. But also the viewers, who then have less content to watch, YouTube as a platform and in the end even the reaction streamers who have less material for their reactions:

  • RobBubble therefore demands a reaction split: So far, there has only been the option of fully claiming a video. Then you would demand all income from the reaction, which is also not fair.
  • Instead, YouTube should include an option for a 50/50 split for AdSense. The advertising revenue from the reaction videos would then be shared, and the streamer would be allowed to keep all the revenue “around it”.

    • What is the status in 2023?

    What has happened since RobBubble’s video? Not much. There were some reactions to the video, according to the comments, even some viewers came to RobBubble from the reaction. Some streamers followed the YouTuber’s call to indicate how much they had earned from the reactions to the video.

    However, there was no reaction from YouTube, because the proposed split has not been introduced to date. The success of reaction streams and videos will probably not change for the time being.

    Streamers like Max “Trymacs” Stemmler and Simon “Unge” Wiefels even have their own channel or format for their reactions with “TryReact” and “unclicked”. However, this can also backfire, as Trymacs recently discovered:

    Twitch streamer Trymacs wants to have fun at the expense of others – but suddenly it’s about himself

    mmod-game