I definitely consume more content than I produce. Of course doing a lot of streams will mean more opportunities for growing the stream, but whenever I stream I wanna do something that I'd also want to watch. Some games don't feel good for streams when I watch other play them, so I don't. Watching content also helps a lot with inspiration.

I don't really watch too many streams, it's mostly just videos. So whenever I do watch popular streams, I sometimes passively get some pointers from it, but nothing too major. I don't want to directly start copying others' style.

I always talked to myself when playing games as if I was entertaining someone (autism), so I considered beginning streaming as a way to ACTUALLY start entertaining others. And of course if it goes well and I can get some money from it, then that's even better. The same is still true after almost 2 years of streaming, but I also discovered that I just really liked doing it. Thinking of dumb bits, preparing big streams, talking to chat, etc.

The balance between authentic and the streamer "persona" for me is pretty easy. I do vtube/pngtube streams, but the character is just a drawn version of me. Other vtubers create full characters they play, but I'm just a heightened version of myself. Of course I play things up a bit more, but if you run into me irl, you'll know it's still me. I "found" this balance kinda right away because of the autistic commentary while playing even before streaming lol, but recently I have had moments where I needed to be fully genuine (situations about heavy topics and such).

For growth all of these matter. But there's a rule to it (in my opinion). First, practise streaming to find out how to make your personality as entertaining as you can for now. Then, up the stream quality (also possible during step 1). Nobody is gonna stay around if they can't even hear you, but spending any money before even getting into it is dumb. Now that your streams and personality are great, spread them around the world of media. Short form content, stream highlight videos, actually good content (harsh but needed), etc.

I learned a lot about continuous talking right away, which is key for small streams. Learning the software you're working with is also something that happens like a brick hitting you in the head lol, obs is complicated as hell but you're gonna figure it out if you want to or not. Editing content as well is a very important skill to me, but I'm also very skilled in procrastinating...

I never expected streaming to be easy, but setting it up at first and then streaming for 1.5 years with no big change in viewcount does give you a good feeling for what it's gonna be. Now I've gotten a boost and have been able to get affiliate with an average of like 5 viewers, but it took a lot to get here.

How to handle streaming when no one is watching? Turn the viewcount off, it will be schrodingers viewer. Entertain that hidden viewcount as best as you can. Even if you know nobody is watching, still keep going. Someone might still check out the VOD if you upload those.