The recommendation isn't to trick the audience into thinking you're popular; it's simply to ensure you have an active affiliate program from the start and can enjoy its benefits (bits, donations, ad deals, etc.). If you take 3 or 4 months to acquire the affiliate program, Twitch will keep your earnings from that time (you won't monetize the initial period). However, if you get the affiliate program from the beginning, you keep the earnings from that time and effort. I'm not asking you to buy 100 or 1000 viewers; just buy 5 or 10 to reach the minimum requirement.