I don't have a Twitch account (nor do I want one), so let's say I believe you.
You don't need to be a streamer to understand the business model. And many streamers will tell you anyhow if you listen to them long enough because it usually comes up in conversation. And you don't need a Twitch account to watch a stream.
Twitch isn't any different than other social media platforms (YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, whatever). Profitability is limited to an extremely small segment of the participants. In the same way, most people who play football don't make any money from it. The Bales, Kanes, Rashfords, etc. are part of an extreme minority.
I know nothing about affluent white USA. I only know that Facebook was the first real global social media and chat platform available to all, that's why it got traction. A lot of people (myself included) registered due to peer pressure. I didn't need it back then, and if my friends ever bothered picking up the damn phone, or replying to my damn text messages during the heydays of Facebook, then I wouldn't have created an account until years later when I moved countries. Nowadays, I find Messenger useful to connect with my family and far-away friends. It's a lot easier than calling and texting. I don't use Facebook per-se.
Like I said, Facebook most definitely was NOT the first globally available social media network. It's just the first one
YOU remember because of your age and your particular exposure to Internet services. And again, you are ignoring Facebook's history as an exclusive student "club" before it opened up to graduates and "regular people". You signed up for Facebook like many because you were pressured into it.
Originally Facebook REQUIRED registrants to sign up from an educational e-mail account, one issued by a learning institution like
janejones@harvard.edu not
catluver26@gmail.com. Facebook was very, Very, VERY exclusive at the beginning. When Facebook opened up to the general public, people stampeded the login screens because it gave online access to teachers, parents, relatives to young adults (many of whom were living away from home). It also provided companies access to one of the most desirable target audiences, the affluent 18-24 college educated with access to computers.
Other social media platforms have no appeal to me. A friend tried his best to get me onto Twitter, but he kind of demonstrated it to me as a picture sharing and searching platform, which I'm not interested in. Other than that, I see absolutely no point in registering for a similar service than one that I'm already registered for, and I don't think I'm the only one. I think this is why Facebook is still alive and well.
No one is expected to use and love every single Internet service. Facebook is alive and well because IT MAKES MONEY. But don't take my word for it, feel free to download their SEC filings and financial reports.
As stated, Facebook has been around one generation in connecting young adults to older people (teachers, family/relatives, employers, etc.).
I actually have a Twitter account because it came before Facebook (and yes, I have a MySpace account); I still use it nearly twenty years later because it has some functionality.
It's not the same. When you're out there with friends, actively, physically enjoying yourself, that's fun, educational, social and it keeps you fit. Even if you're just having a beer and a chat, or you're exchanging posts on an online forum, you're exchanging ideas and debating skills that you learn from. When you join a game with badass_gamer3583675 and sexychick_921, you're deluding yourself into "socialising", but you don't even know who you're playing with! That's not socialising! Random faceless avatars shooting random faceless avatars. They're no different from NPCs, except that they talk, and the AI seems to be a bit better. If the game doesn't offer something extra, something to keep you entertained and focused while playing, then I'm sorry, but I'll have to pass a value judgement on it and call it a bad game and a waste of time.
Most people play games with their friends not random schmucks on the Internet (there are plenty of the latter). When the question "what (co-op) game should I play?" comes up the standard response is "play what your friends play". No one is telling people to play random co-ops to for online acquaintances.
You have a curiously limited understanding of online gaming.
In the times of UT, gaming wasn't nearly as mainstream as it is today. You had PC magazines at the newsagent that a handful of people bought, some startup gaming websites and tiny online communities, but nothing like today. You didn't have Fortnite adverts flowing through every orifice (even Youtube). Before my first magazine subscription in the early 2000s, my only way of learning about new games was through my friends. I didn't even hear about the existence of many of my favourite games until years after they released. Today's gaming world is fundamentally different.
Yes, and that last sentence is a fundamental reason why Epic Games has pivoted to Fortnite. It addresses a changing gaming audience and marketplace. And twenty years from now, it'll be a different game. And people on a site similar to TPU will be bemoaning the demise of Fortnite.
Should Person X be infuriated that Nintendo isn't authoring new titles for Super NES? Or Person Y complain about lack of new titles for PlayStation 3?
Don't like Fortnite? There are plenty of other games to play, some which your friends might be playing. No one is forced to only do one thing or play only one game. You can still play Animal Crossing on Switch now and join your mates at the pub later for a pint. Or you could play Fortnite with your friends and meet them another day for pints.
