[Farow]

A streamer has to compete with every other streamer for viewers/income. They're basically trying to sell their personality / themselves to the audience. As other comments mention, the vast majority of streamers cannot do that as they have literally no viewers.

The take that it's an easy job seems very weird to me. If it's so easy, why don't you quit your job and start streaming instead?

[BlargMcLarg]

Because whether it is easy is entirely dependent on who you are and what perspective you look at it from.

If you're a nobody with average skills, see you in a few years with sub 10 viewers, maybe. A nobody with some particular skills, still going to take a while. Exploiting a niche as a particularly charismatic nobody, you'll break through maybe in a few months. Happen to strike rich with a few clips, there is your momentum to make it happen. The vast, vast majority falls in the first category.

Oh, you're already a somebody (500+)? Yeah just play the meta, sellout a few times a year and do what you want mostly. At that point you can do the bare minimum and make it work, as long as you don't self-destruct entirely. Or actually try and make it even more difficult for newer streamers while working to 7 figures. Bonus points, all the positivity will reinforce you to do special things. Almost any problem has a solution in the form of hiring a third party, drowning it out or ignoring it at this point.

Looking at the top makes it seem like the easiest job ever, and to a degree, that is true. Looking at it from the bottom, even retail seems better.