Welcome to Streamers on the Rise, where we find streamers who are growing their channels, content, and audiences in extraordinary ways. Each week we’ll talk with a creator about what goes into livestreaming–both on and off camera.
If you’re a lurker, and you’re also looking to get some work done, Sheilur‘s streams might be for you.
She makes sure people know the second they start watching: There will probably be long silences in stream, and people shouldn’t feel pressure to chat.
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Especially because, most times, she and many of her viewers are working.
Like plenty of other Twitch streamers, Sheilur–who grew up in West Africa and now lives in Canada after moving there to attend college for neuroscience–first got on the platform because she likes video games. Growing up, she wasn’t much of a gamer, but then, during COVID, her sister started playing Animal Crossing, and she knew instantly that the game was something special.
So, she bought her own Nintendo Switch, got the game, and made an island. Playing it “healed my soul,” she says. Her love for it led her to Twitch.
“I wanted to do parallel play with some streamers,” she says. “Then I was like, ‘Oh my god, community. It’s so fun.’ I like chatting with people and talking about my little Animal Crossing interests. Then I decided, oh, I could do this too maybe, as a pastime.”
She launched her own channel in 2021, and though she hadn’t intended for streaming to become a full-time pursuit, it became one pretty quickly. “I never stopped,” she says. “Every stream was so exciting. Every stream felt like a new opportunity to connect with new people and make memories.”
Her early growth came from Animal Crossing, and she grew to a point of having around 50 viewers consistently. But her biggest jump in audience came when she diversified and started doing coworking streams: “I was still finishing up university. I was trying to problem solve, like finding time to study and time to stream, and so I was like, ‘You know what, let me just study on stream.'”
Shortly after she started doing coworking streams, she made partner. Now, coworking streams and cozy games have equal billing on her channel, where she strives to make things as lurker-friendly, low-pressure, and parallel play-able as possible. She’s fast approaching 10,000 followers, and is nominated for LGBTQ Streamer of the Year at the upcoming 2024 Gayming Awards.
Check out our chat with her below.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Tubefilter: Nice to meet you! We’ve been doing this series for about a year now, and I’ve talked to a lot of FPS gamers, but you’re one of the first cozy gamers we’ve gotten to feature. I’d like to start with, for anybody who’s reading this and isn’t familiar with you, give me a little bit of background about you, where you’re from, and what you did before getting on Twitch.
Sheilur: My name is Sheila and I’m from Canada, currently live in Canada right now, but I am also West African and I grew up in Africa. I went to high school there. Anyway, before moving to Twitch, I was just a college student in Canada studying behavioral neuroscience. Then during the pandemic, oh my gosh, I had so many research plans and activities and things to put on my CV. I was a neuroscience researcher, but then COVID happened and all those opportunities fell through and I felt really lost and confused. Then Animal Crossing came out and that healed my soul.
I was completely obsessed with this game and it’s actually what made me get on Discord so I could trade with people online. It started, I don’t know, I was seeking community in gaming, in cozy gaming. I also was new to games before then. I wasn’t really a big gamer. I think I would just play like Mario Kart with my sister. I would just watch my sister play games, honestly, because she had a Switch and she had the game Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
I saved up to get my own Switch because I wanted to have my own island. Then I went on Twitch because I wanted to do parallel play with some streamers. Then I was like, “Oh my god, community. It’s so fun.” I like chatting with people and talking about my little Animal Crossing interests. Then I decided, oh, I could do this too maybe, as a pastime. I had no projects I was working on at the time because they all fell through, like I had mentioned.
Then I started streaming in 2021. It was about a year, I feel like, since the game came out and everything. I finally got the confidence to get on Twitch. Then, I don’t know, I never stopped. It was every stream was so exciting. Every stream felt like a new opportunity to connect with new people and make memories. I don’t know. Then I got into more games and branched out a little bit. While still in the cozy category. I play like farming sims like Stardew, The Sims, also Breath of the Wild. They’re still cute, cozy games, not FPS so much.
Tubefilter: I’m actually really curious. I’m a big gamer, but I don’t play very many cozy games. I saw a game called Lake on your recent stream that has a cool cover. What’s Lake about?
Sheilur: Oh my gosh, Lake is so fun. It’s like, you’re roleplaying a postman and you drive your truck. I play a DLC where you play as this old man and you’re in an old town and you drive your truck and there’s music and a radio playing and you go and deliver mail and then you get to gossip with the people in the town. There’s a story that develops the more you play and the more people you talk to and meet. Also it’s all voice acted, which I really liked in terms of streaming because I didn’t have to read every voice line. It was just super cozy because it felt like you’re just in Gilmore Girls, if you know that.
Tubefilter: Oh yes.
Sheilur: Definitely gives those vibes.
Tubefilter: The art style looked really interesting. You said you had some research plans. What was your end career goal with neuroscience?
Sheilur: They were still pretty up in the air, but I was super interested in drug addiction. I was thinking I would probably go in that field. Then I had this internship where I was working with rats and looking at female rat orgasms, what that looks like, because a lot of studies only use male rats. That study was fun. It was interesting. I was super interested in it, but I didn’t get to do it, sadly.
Tubefilter: That sucks, that COVID derailed your plans. But clearly Twitch is working out for you. When did you know that streaming was something you were going to continue doing?
Sheilur: I think it’s that feeling I got like my first few streams, like just every time I stream, at least at the beginning, it was so exhilarating and fun. I always thought about content creation, in a way, but Twitch felt like something I could actually invest time in and I was excited to invest time in.
I don’t know why I felt so connected to that platform. I think it was mostly also the friendships I was developing, people I was meeting. The community feeling of like–yes, as a streamer, you have your own community to develop, but you’re also involved in others’. I think I was super lonely. I think that’s definitely what kept me on Twitch was the connections I made on the platform.
Twitch is like a big platform and I feel like previously I would only see bigger creators. I also was interested in watching people play Valorant. I would watch lots of Valorant players, though I don’t really play Valorant. It’s just like a different type of stream that I still enjoy, but it was different. Then when I was actually looking for Animal Crossing streamers, I felt like the vibe of the stream was so much different than what I’d previously been accustomed to. Like when the streamers were reading my messages, I was like, “What? Not you reading my message? Hello?” I’m like, “Okay, let me see another one. Oh my god.” I don’t know. It just felt so, I don’t know, the draw of those smaller little cozy communities. I think that’s what kept me on Twitch.
Tubefilter: I know Twitch can be difficult to build an audience on. I’m curious how you’ve been able to build your audience. If there’s anything that you’ve noticed that’s really drawn people in, or if there’s anything you’ve done to help grow your viewership.
Sheilur: I feel like a big– honestly, it was difficult for me also to grow my audience because I think I’m a bit shy. I’m pretty shy, I would say. Yes, I think also just like being a female on Twitch, I just feel like, yes Twitch doesn’t do a great job at promoting their streamers to the right audience.
For me I would say my biggest tip is connecting with people and networking, which is a bit dicey because on one hand, you don’t want to be making fake friendships and only supporting someone for your own interests, but it’s so key to make friends and have connections and make connections. I don’t know if you’re able to find other communities that you really fit in and having them support you. I think that’s what helped.
Honestly, like I said, I was really shy. I’m still pretty shy. I feel like it took a long time for me to break out. It just takes time and dedication and really once you have those people in your chat, you’ve got to build that feeling of connection and community for them to stay and come back. Because if that’s not there, it’s just less likely for them to stick around, and you want those people that really like you and like your space to come back.
For me, I feel like, for my numbers, I feel like I was stuck at 50 viewers for so many months and I was craving to boost them to get partner numbers. Then at the end of 2022, I met up with a Twitch friend and it was nice to see this person in real life and connect, talk about Twitch offline. Anyway, after that, I became really close with her. I think having her support and the support of her community, that really helped. And then in the year 2023, I feel like I saw an increase in my numbers, but also, I don’t know, because it’s different. I don’t know if I could attribute it to that. I think it’s about being unique and different also. I’m sorry. I’m rambling a lot.
Tubefilter: No, you’re doing great.
Sheilur: I also wanted to say, I think because like, yes, I was in the cozy community playing the same games as everyone like Stardew, whatever. Then I think the big difference is that suddenly my numbers increased because I changed. I decided to change my content and I started doing coworking streams because I was still finishing up university. I was trying to problem solve, like finding time to study and time to stream, and so I was like, “You know what, let me just study on stream.”
For the first quarter of 2023, for those four months, I was just coworking. I switched everything. It was just cowworking. I feel like that was new for people in my circle. I feel like that really boosted my numbers and stuff. I was able to apply for a partnership on Twitch. Now there’s so many more coworkers on, at least in my communities, and that doesn’t mean that suddenly your numbers will increase. There’s so many factors because other people they could see now, like now they’re more accustomed to the idea of coworkers.
Tubefilter: Yes, that was actually going to be my next question. I saw that you do coworking streams, and you mentioned parallel play earlier, so it sounds like this collaborative atmosphere is very important for you and your viewers.
Sheilur: I think it’s definitely 50% or more of my viewers I think really enjoy parallel play and coworking, like body doubling. It makes it feel like you’re with someone when you’re working. It makes you feel like you’re working with someone and that makes you more productive, more motivated. At least for me also, it’s like in real life, when you go study with your friend, I feel more, “Yes, we’re in this together right now. We’re doing this task together. I’m going to focus, not be distracted.” That’s offering this sort of feeling for people online.
Then we have breaks, you chat with your friends. We also chat. Sometimes I’ll chat for a long time and go off because we have timers, we follow the Pomodoro method of working for a set amount of time, but then taking a little break and then repeating that for how many cycles you want. Usually I do five cycles of 50 minutes of work and then a 10-minute break and those 10 minutes breaks usually go on a long time. [laughs]
Tubefilter: Classic.
Sheilur: Yes. Anyway, it’s been nice. Also with coworking, lots of my viewers are at work when they watch me.
Tubefilter: Oh really?
Sheilur: Yes. Really. They just put me on, they like to lurk. That’s what I mean. That’s why I feel like a lot of them probably really enjoy parallel play and coworking because they tend to lurk and just listen to me chat in the background. Then, sorry, that might make it seem like, “Wow, your chat is slow. Your chat is dead. Oh my god.”
That may seem like a negative, which for me, I’m like, it is so fun when my chat is active. When we’re super unhinged together. But I also don’t want to pressure anyone to chat. I understand that my content I feel like is very lurk-friendly and I think it’s good to normalize that a slow chat does not mean an unsuccessful stream–for me, at least, and my content.
Tubefilter: That’s good! I do feel like for a lot of streamers, there can be pressure to fill space. There can’t be any silence in chat or in stream. I feel like that’s an interesting approach you take to not have that pressure.
Sheilur: Yes. I don’t know. To each their own, I feel like also, because I feel like I was talking to someone and they really want the chat to talk to them. I think that’s so valid for a streamer, if that’s how you enjoy streaming, talking with your chat, finding ways to make your chat more interactive. I think that’s so valid. For me, I’m like, “You guys don’t have to talk. It’s really fine. I’m cool with that.” I’m taking that approach.
Tubefilter: What has been your favorite part of this whole being online experience?
Sheilur: I feel like I’m like a broken record, but I really love the friendships I’ve made. I actually found my partner online.
Tubefilter: Aw, that’s awessome.
Sheilur: Yes. Now we live together. That’s definitely a big highlight. And I just met some really amazing friends. As someone that’s really shy and struggles sometimes to connect with people in real life, finding these people online and connecting with them has been really the best part. Also, again, as a shy person, I don’t really speak up in big groups. For me, my stream, it’s like my platform. This is the place where I can talk and people can listen. I just feel like…freedom.
Tubefilter: Especially during the pandemic, online communities, niche communities in particular, have been so much more important, I think.
Sheilur: Like I said, I met my partner online and, I’m also in like a very queer space on Twitch. Actually last year I came out as bisexual. I was super obnoxious on socials about my partner. Then this year I got nominated for LGBTQ streamer of the year by Gayming Magazine. I’m so honored.
Tubefilter: That’s amazing. Congratulations.
Sheilur: Thank you. It’s all thanks to them and me being obnoxious online. It’s cool being recognized.
Tubefilter: Yes! Does your partner also stream, or what do they do?
Sheilur: They also stream. They’re an artist. That’s how we met.
Tubefilter: Do you guys ever co-stream?
Sheilur: We do. We play Stardew together. I’m hoping to co-stream more. They recently got a new GPU because previously they didn’t have one, so they couldn’t stream games or play games. Anyway, I’m excited to play games with them. It was their birthday recently. We got that for them.
Tubefilter: Very, very cool. Do you have any other plans or goals for the next year or so?
Sheilur: I recently became co-founder of a stream team called the Gremlin Grove. I guess that’s in my plans this year, wanting to grow the team and host events with the team and just invest more time in the team this year.
More personally, I definitely want to tap into some YouTube content. I do vlogs as well, I have a gaming channel. I am a full-time content creator and it’s good. It’s always good to diversify your content. That’s definitely an intention I have this year along with growing my little Gremlin Grove. We’re a bunch of like gremlins. We’re kind of chaotic a little bit, but also cute and cozy. I don’t know. We show our gremlin sides in different ways.
Tubefilter: Is there anything else you want people to know about you? Anything else you wanted to talk about that’s important to you?
Sheilur: I guess I just want to say, I’m seeing more and more girlypops on Twitch playing cute, cozy games, coworking, just lifestyle content. I have a friend who, in her coworking, she’ll read a book, and she’s super into BookTok and she has a book club. Her streams are just, we read books together, or co-work, wecould do whatever you want.
Anyway, what is my point? My point is I’m excited to see more people tap into our cozy gaming and just to see that category on Twitch grow. Hopefully it becomes a bit more mainstream for Twitch. I’m excited to see that. I’m hoping it happens. I’m very grateful to be one of the first people you interview that is in that category of things of Twitch.
