The atmosphere of Halo’s arid planet Sanghelios or the science of Valorant’s Alpha Earth aren’t the only explorations of space you’ll find on Twitch. The livestreaming platform is best known as a hub for games like League of Legends, Valorant, or Minecraft, but today, it’s also a place for people to learn: about science, space, and the planet we live on. Science and technology have their very own category on Twitch, which hosts everything from NASA livestreaming a total solar eclipse to a group of enthusiasts monitoring seismic waves.
It’s also where you’ll find Twitch partner and space, science, and astrobiology communicator Moohoodles, who shares space news, like the first images from the Euclid space telescope or watching the Odyssey spacecraft land on the moon, and plays video games while chatting about science to her viewers.
Ahead of TwitchCon, Polygon emailed with Moohoodles (who asked Polygon to use her handle for privacy) about her long career on Twitch, science’s place on the platform, and building an engaged community.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Polygon: Can you introduce yourself? What’s your niche on Twitch?
Moohoodles: I’m a pioneer of science communication on Twitch, covering astrobiology while serving up engaging and animated reactions to the latest news about outer space. Imagine Ms. Frizzle crossed with Carl Sagan, contagiously snort laughing. My community loves our fun and safe corner of the internet where we can nerd out about astronomy and increase our scientific literacy. When I’m not gushing about space, sharks, conservation, or programming, you can find me gaming everything from retro to new releases. My content is informed by a decade of live-streaming experience and energized by my passion for encouraging and uplifting women in STEM.
What brought you to Twitch? How long have you been streaming?
I have been streaming since May of 2014! Twitch was very different over a decade ago, and to be honest I started streaming because I thought I was funny and had good reactions to video games! I never would have imagined back then what my stream would turn into and how impactful it could be. As far as I remember, Twitch didn’t have any non-gaming categories in 2014, so I would just talk about all my passions and interests while I played video games. In 2015 while I played Fallout 3, I remember my community was really excited to talk about the future where humans could land on Mars, and also talk about the possibility of life out there in the universe. To keep a long story short, after non-gaming categories were added I would bring more lecture based materials (with powerpoints I created for talks to my college’s Astronomy Club that I ran) and do deep dives into specific Astrobiology topics on my stream.
In 2018, Twitch created the Science & Technology category and it was a huge win for all of the science communication streamers! I was so happy to pave the way for that category to be created, and it’s the main category I stream in now as I cover current news in outer space and astrobiology, plus rocket launches! Of course, I still do a bunch of variety gaming, and I love bringing in new viewers to the educational side of Twitch through space themed games!
Is streaming your full-time job?
Yes!
I saw you’re doing a panel on burnout — how have you found ways to stream in a way that ensures your own well-being?
Streaming full time can definitely lead to burn out since if we’re not working, we’re not seeking new opportunities and new sources of income. I’m all about setting strong boundaries and listening to my mental and physical health. Clear boundaries can also just be for yourself to make sure you stop working at a certain time and are able to spend time doing something else you enjoy. Some of my best advice would be when you take days off, try to do things you don’t normally do so it feels like you’ve had a break. As a streamer, it’s so important to make time to do things you enjoy outside of streaming, and to create balance in your life. You can do this by setting and honoring your boundaries – it’s okay to reply to emails later, it’s okay to say no to collaborations or some opportunities if you’re feeling overwhelmed or not interested, and it’s okay to take time for yourself (in fact it’s not just okay, it’s necessary). There’s always a never ending list of work that needs to be done, and especially with my ADHD it feels like everything is so urgent. I try to prioritize what is most important or what is due first, and remind myself I don’t have to do everything at once, and that no one can! Speak to yourself kindly and give yourself some grace with mistakes and not getting enough done. A lot of streaming is out of your control, and it’s really easy to internalize not just “failures” but not feeling good enough, or having a certain viewer count, or landing a sponsorship, etc. That is not reflective of your content quality or your worth!
I will also be hosting other panels for TwitchCon, and I am most excited about these two which I submitted.
I had to write a formal pitch to NASA to ask them to join my panel talking all about space on Twitch, and I’m thrilled that Twitch was interested in this panel as well. After streaming about space for over a decade it’s a huge win for me!
I am also really excited about my TwitchCon Creator Camp on Designing Education on Twitch, because I firmly believe that every streamer can bring educational content and knowledge sharing into their streams, and not only benefit others but find success for their streams through it. I hope this Creator Camp panel will inspire others to share their knowledge, which truly makes the world a better, more informed, and more positive place.
These two panels feel like a culmination of my decade on this platform trying to promote education, knowledge sharing, and science communication on space and astrobiology. I’ve worked hard to share my passions and I’m thrilled I have the opportunity to do it on these panels at TwitchCon!
What have you learned in the years you’ve been streaming about finding that niche and community? How do you sustain that support you’ve found?
Twitch has definitely changed over time and everyone has a different story. For me being a variety streamer, I believe it took me a while to build a community because I was playing a lot of different games, and doing niche educational content before a category existed or people even knew that science communication content was on Twitch. I think building a community happens with time and consistency. I still have people from 2014, 2015, and onwards coming into my stream and that’s so humbling and awesome to me.
I try to bring the best content forward while being energetic and maintaining a consistent schedule so people know what they will get and when. I’ve been told my passion is contagious, and my excited reactions to space news and games are entertaining. I love to keep things fresh by adding new alerts, continuing to play a variety of games, and having discussions about whatever topics enter my brain. We always have new content through unprecedented developments in space news, and general shared excitement over upcoming events as well.
A lot of people who initially join my stream don’t know what astrobiology is, or that it’s a multidisciplinary field of science that attempts to answer one of the most profound human questions of “are we alone in the universe?”! I also bring these educational discussions into the games I play so people can passively learn while watching their favorite titles. By clarifying and explaining information in a way that is digestible for all, I hope to not only get people excited about STEM, but further increase scientific and media literacy to combat misinformation.
I’m a space nerd who always aims to keep her streams approachable and relatable for all viewers. I pride myself on my unique streaming approach, fostering inclusivity as we learn together and share our knowledge. Viewers are not shunned for asking questions, they are encouraged; no one knows everything. That’s how we learn!
Do you have any favorite space moments that you’ve been able to stream live?
There’s been so many cool space moments we’ve been able to stream! A noteworthy moment was watching the Odysseus lander become the first commercial lunar lander, as well as the first time the US landed on the moon in over 50 years! We watched the 4 astronauts of the Polaris Dawn mission launch, as well as several ISS dockings, and other rocket launches. I hope to stream the Europa Clipper launch in person in October as well! Along with educating about Jupiter’s icy moon Europa, I LOVE to talk about Saturn’s moon Enceladus and any news or astrobiology updates we receive about what is, in my opinion, the best place outside of Earth in our solar system to look for life.
My favorite space moments to share are the beautiful images we continuously receive from telescopes, such as the James Webb Space Telescope. Seeing the first images from that on stream was amazing, and viewers are frequently curious about the recent news involving images of the oldest galaxies in the universe seen for the first time. We got to see the first two image releases from ESA’s Euclid Space Telescope, which I also love! I get SO excited to look at new images and see the ethereal beauty of all the background galaxies, it makes me bounce around in my chair on stream! We get to follow science as it’s happening in real time, and see the first glimpses of distant objects in space no one has ever seen before, as well as break news before other places do! What human hasn’t looked up into the sky with curiosity and a sense of wonder?
Space truly unites humanity. I am extremely grateful for my community and express that every stream; I would not be here without them. I’m really proud and excited that I’ve built a community full of space nerds where we can all feel accepted, seen, and bond over our mutual love of the universe. A lot of us don’t have this type of community in real life, and we seek it out on Twitch and are now a part of something greater, which truly means the world to me.
Collectively we have the power to change the world. Each one of us can make a difference which can ripple out and create a much larger impact. I am so grateful to be in a position with my stream where my impact is felt in lives all over the world, and it amazes me to think that those people are inspiring change within their local communities.
What else should people know about you or your career on Twitch?
Not only are two NASA representatives coming to TwitchCon this year to be on my panel, but I’ve also collaborated with PBS NOVA, and The Planetary Society in the past. I love sharing my passion, knowledge, and platform to promote what I care about.
A typical stream for me starts in the Science & Technology category to catch up on current space and astrobiology news while occasionally doing a deep dive into a specific topic. Later in my streams you’ll see variety gaming with a heavy focus on space games, to which I can apply my knowledge of science, in order to inform and educate. My community has told me that my passion is contagious and inspires them to care about topics they might not have known or cared about otherwise. I have fantastic and funny reactions; I often exhibit a childlike excitement, and plenty of snort-laughs that my community loves! I’m a chat-focused streamer with ADHD who enjoys doing voice overs during games, randomly doing silly voices, complimenting my computer, and occasionally “beak bawkxing” (chicken beatboxing).
Conservation is highlighted in my stream with frequent mentions of sharks, my favorite animal and stream mascot. It’s continually sprinkled throughout my streams in hopes of reflecting the change I would like to see in our world and supporting others to do the same. Along with talking about sharks and conservation, we frequently talk about computer science, highlighting programming and its applications to astronomy and the development of the games we love.
I’ve loved video games my whole life and while I enjoy sharing my passion and educational tid bits while playing space themed games like Star Citizen and No Man’s Sky, I love a whole variety of games including retro ones. Subnautica is one of my all time favorite games because it combines my love for great single player story driven games, oceans, and astrobiology. I’m currently playing through System Shock for the first time and will be doing first playthroughs of some Metroid and Castlevania games soon too.
As a streamer in a male-dominated category, I take it very seriously that I could be a role model for other marginalized streamers or anyone with interest and passion for STEM. I’m a proud member of the Twitch Women’s Guild, and am grateful to be surrounded by so many inspiring and uplifting femme creators, and we all aspire to make the areas of the internet we hang out in safer for marginalized genders. Through my own story, I hope to empower people in my community to achieve their goals and aspirations; whether that’s a degree in STEM, streaming on Twitch, or anything that brings them happiness.
It is the most incredible feeling for me when my stream can make someone’s day, make them laugh, or teach them something new — to me that is the wonder of streaming.
The post How a Twitch streamer helped bring NASA to the livestreaming community appeared first on Polygon.
