Steve Bonnell Made Big Bucks Following a Simple Plan: Play Video Games. Troll Your Fans. Fight the Online Right.

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Steven Bonel took a deep breath. "You're a batch-stupid," said a woman from his computer. "You're stupid," he continued.

Bonnel, who broadcasts his life directly under the pseudonym Destiny, was at the center of the debate that was incapacitated. A no n-conservative woman who was not a celebrity online went to talk to him about police atrocities, but she was angry at calling her "ant i-vaccine", and the plan was. It was canceled.

While she was insulting, the bonnel hardly speaked. "Have you ever discussed with a smart conservative," he told me, and as she continued to monologue, she knew her disappointment.

Bonnel is a professional video game streamer, almost always making a living by broadcasting his own notes, mainly talking about politics, playing video games, discussing with people, and combining these three. I'm doing it.

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In the world of politics, the games mate has become popular as the righ t-wing online culture emerges. The most famous example is the gamer, an excessive reaction accusation campaign, which began with an attack on women working in the game industry, spurred by the diversification of women in the game industry and the diversification of their products. Gate. Like other vandalism, Bonel also liked discussions, and his righ t-wing battle on the Internet brought him hundreds of thousands of dollars. He regularly spends up to 16 hours a day, defends the lef t-wing position, and always spend thousands of viewers. The streaming video game is a new public square, and Bonel has built one of the biggest soaps.

Bonnel warns that "game politics" affects conversation on the Internet. It is the same for him.

When I visited him in an apartment in Glendail, California, a 3 1-yea r-old man who had a beard and had a style like Edward Snowden was a hot chocolate in a nearby Starbucks before starting a strip around noon. I got up at the right time to drink. Occasionally, I finished my work early in the morning the next day, often had little break, and often did not eat one meal in the process.

The video was broadcast on Twitch, the most popular platform for game broadcasting, where many have made profitable careers. It is one of the top 50 most visited platforms in the world, and Amazon acquired it in 2014 for $970 million. More than 2 million people stream broadcasts every month, and 15 million people watch every day, making it one of the largest online spaces that most people over 30 have never heard of.

During the coronavirus shutdown, many streamers have lost their way and are stuck at home with nothing to do, which has led to an increase in the number of viewers and fans, according to Twitch analytics site Sullygnome. While most streamers' individual metrics grew to viral, views in April increased by about 71% across the platform compared to February, according to TwitchTracker. In addition, Twitch streamers started broadcasting more: from February to March, the number of hours by users on the platform increased from 37 million to 49 million.

For those who don't, twitch is sensory chaos. Chat scrolls through the stream, random sounds accompany spontaneous graphic announcements of new premium subscriptions. Twitch streamers often tout the ability to interrupt their broadcasts with pop-up text or voice messages. If a streamer plays a game and then leaves at the same time, they share their screen or post a picture of what's going on. When a streamer invites a colleague, the situation becomes even more confusing.

Twitch's special Bonnell a-niche- maintains mostly progressive positions, debating conservative Internet personalities. This makes Bonnella an exception on the platform, and more broadly, in the gaming world, where people generally lean toward libertarianism. Such gamers have become recruits for the right, but Bonnella's activism has carved out another path.

"It's unfair to pull the entire site roughly in terms of political beliefs, but overall chat will be a little right, and even in video games, most of the main streaming content. Bonnels usually describe this as a "game fraternity policy." They say, "In the United States, it may be a natural class of whit e-class whit e-class whites that claims to be liberal and the Democratic Party, but I don't want to see black people in video games ... just as feminism destroys the media. However, they sometimes have a prejudice and are ignorant of the difficulties facing women, religious, ethnic and racial minorities. It is also influenced by the famous net right wing.

It is an intentional educational culture to repeat the rhetarian and conservative characteristics of passionate livatarian and conservatives without worrying about anyone's opinion on your opinion, without worrying about what you can say. Bonella's seriousness is probably part of his popularity. His ability to speak Gamergate's language is formed under his influence and deeply into the ecosystem that forms himself.

In 2017, he raised its authority and discussed with Lauren Sorcer, a wel l-known white nationalist. Sousan has mentioned a closing border and studied research on the Immigrant at Harvard University and the American labor market, but Bonnell was armed in a study that the professor did not agree to her conclusion. When Southoon's business began to go wrong, she made a lot of twisting about the economy, instead warns the "changing national culture" and "people who create a Sharia Zone."

"I don't know what a cultural problem refers to. I hear strange remarks such as immigrants more than us." I claimed that it was normal. Southern residents have been rejected to exhale the social security system and hit the economy. Bonnel pointed out an example of German, which had maintained the growth of GDP for five years since Syrian refugees arrived, and pointed out that many of them would like to return as soon as they became safe.

"They do not do that. Why do they need to return to the Middle East if they live in Germany, but they asked," South asked?

The bonnel was so great. Do you understand that "life work does not exist to make a profit"? He claimed. "In fact, they are human and have your own dreams and ambitions."

When the bonnel started broadcasting in 2011, he thought he was a Libertarian with lega l-oriented social beliefs. He also spent time on discussions on a wide range of themes, not only in games, but also on philosophy, science, and politicians. I noticed a revolutionary reaction when a friend and a couple found a bullying she met during the game, heard that a friend used an antigen expression, and when a player who was not a student appeared in FIFA soccer video games. What it was. When Donald Trump began to be in the Republican Preliminary Election in 2016, Bonel has completely changed. He completely focused on the fact of applying personal streams for the "best conversation on politics" and at the same time tilted the game discourse.

Currently, Destini calls himself a "very large social democracy", but is also a capitalist. (Destini also claims to be a "very big social democracy" and at the same time as a "capitalist" (the latter shor t-circuit expression is a common technique in this network. He argues that there is a structural racism, which is actually ignored and has not received services given. A significant number of refugees and immigrants is in the footprints, and some mercenaries are explained in the language they use, causing the politicians to be damaged. He was actually attracting attention from most of the left, with the support of the "Special Paradigm" and came to his own position.

"I try to achieve the best results for everyone. From this standpoint, I guarantee that I am a common healthcare, people's food, housing, and many others, and LGBT dilemma. I care about the racial dilemma and everything else, but in my own essence, I talk about Bonnels that are not attached to this. Explain the arguments of the argumen t-it is absolutely rational, in fact,, for example,, for example, long ago, he identified himself.

Although it is almost unknown in the mainstream, Bonel succeeded in gathering unusual high people and became one of the most notable Muscle Pure: his channel registrants were more than 500. 000 and the number of viewers was large. More than 10. 000, he is one of the most popular Twitch streakers. The controversy with the righ t-wing comic with a small number of subscribers has made it possible to compete with more and more valuable opponents, such as white nationalists and Nick Fentes, such as Southoon.

Except for the hig h-performance Ford Focus RS of his favorite car, Bonel rarely spends his money on streams. It can be confirmed from the rarity of his apartment and the fact that most of the day is spending on the network. The Spart a-style lifestyle has gained the impression that he is thinking about his work first. "I like the struggle. I like discussing with people, and I like being hated by people," says Bonnel.

Even if money or luxury is not his interest, he will not leave his head. "Bonnel remembered that he grew up in an indoor pool with an indoor pool in Omaha, Nebraska, and told me. It lasted almost until adolescence, but the mother's care at home, the mother's profit, broke down.

Later, his family returned to the house and broke up along Omaha. "I was a representative of the Upper Middle class, so he said. From this experience he said he was" very cautious. " He said that he realized what he had to endure just by gaining economic stability, and said, "I know how difficult this fight is until I get out of the United States. I didn't. "

"I'm enjoying the struggle. I like discussing with people, and I like being hated by people.

Until he started streaming, he had never practiced as a debutor, but Bonel has been on a traditional path to success. He said he studied under the Workstadi Program at the prestigious secondary school Clayton Prep, the Advanced Plating Program, and adopted the act of acting. Later, I entered Nepobla University Omaha in Omaha and studied music. However, the work of a night manager in the casino surpassed the university and dropped out to meet the conditions.

He was eventually fired and, after spending his savings, he took a job cleaning carpets and enjoyed streaming the popular real-time strategy game Starcraft. Eventually, he did the math and realized he could make more money streaming games than steaming carpets. In 2011, his first year focusing on the game, he estimates he made $100, 000.

Around this time, Bornell and his partner had a child. As a result, the two broke up, but the affair didn't escalate to violence on both sides. (Emails from both parties indicate that they are now on good terms, and Bornell is still pictured with his son). Not long ago, while defending another streamer accused of domestic violence, Destiny told his own personal story. The clip in which he says "I don't trust you more than anyone else, and yes, I did happen to choke her a few times" was removed from YouTube, and then we asked him about it due to copyright claims by Voddity, the streaming company that employs Destiny. He even went so far as to call it "exaggeration" in the video, but added that he's "much calmer now than when I was 22." "My life is devastatingly simple. I have no reason to resort to violence or encounter violence. When you're poor, everything is devastatingly difficult. You have no other place to go."

Feeling that he saw "more opportunity" among the crowd of streamers and gamers in Los Angeles, Bornell moved to Glendale in December 2018 and set up a workspace in the middle of the living room of his two-story house overlooking the Santa Monica Mountains facing west. He films himself with a video camera set up on one of the two monitors. A gaming mouse, keyboard, and professional microphone are placed on a desk lit by a picture light. Behind him is a sofa, and in the corner is a painting by his girlfriend Melina Göransson. Clothes, cushions, and other household items are scattered around, and there is no noticeable living space. An electric guitar and keyboard sit beside his streaming system, but he says music is just a hobby and admits he hasn't performed in months, hoping to attract new visitors and subscribers.

In fact, during the few days we were together, he didn't do much outside of streaming. Except for one trip to see Göransson and a friend he'd met on Twitch, Bonnell never went beyond Starbucks or the ramen shop across the street. He didn't go that far. On a Saturday night, when he wanted to get something to eat, he went to a pizza place in his apartment.

After sitting like him for about seven hours, when I finally got up to eat, my groin hurt in a way I only get during long car rides. Bonnell hadn't eaten or drunk more than a bottle of water all day, and had only gone to the bathroom once. Everything felt heavy and unhealthy.

"I don't know. I don't think I need to go to the bathroom that often..." he said, unashamedly. "I try to only eat once or twice a day, so I don't put on much weight. I don't move much, so I burn very few calories each day. It seems to be working. He's about 6'11" and, despite his sedentary lifestyle, is pretty slim.

Right now we're at 5, 500," Bonnell says as we sit down to the table. In the 10 minutes that he went off to eat, the viewership dropped by at least 2, 000. Fewer viewers means fewer people watching ads, and therefore less revenue. There's also a snowball effect, Bonnell says. "When you get more viewers, people want to get more viewers. When you get less viewers, people lose interest.

That's why streamers feel pressured to stay online as long as possible. Every second of downtime means a loss, so Bornell doesn't want to travel, go out, or even write.

He compares his stamina to the giant arms of swimmer Michael Phelps, who can move underwater, and former NFL quarterback Johnny Manziel, who had six-inch legs and was an elusive pusher, and says he's "physically lucky." "Nothing hurts. I've never had RSI," he says, as if he's at least considered the risks.

Destiny compares his stamina to the giant arms of swimmer Michael Phelps, and says he's "physically lucky."

In addition to physical advantage, Bonel has a fast speaking speed and thinking ability. On Twitch, there is a sense of high school students practicing political discussions, the speed of the tempo, and the sense of superiority that gives the impression of always being dominant and ignored.

"Destiny is a very competent speaker." Says advanced streamer, Hassan Picker.

Criticism of discussions on distant people on the Internet warns that the ideology of hatred is planted in his head and the ability to change consciousness is questioned. Charlie Kirk, Stephen Morinyu, and Ben Shapiro have used this format to give their righ t-wing ideologies the best types to use strategically used confident rhetorics. All of these three have experienced fighting students who want to do their best but do not match and have little experience.

"There is a question about the effects of the debate. According to general opinions, debates are now bloody sports and are deciding.

The bonnel acknowledges that this format helped to create his place. He said he was seriously working on political discussions, but he sometimes gave his opinion on this platform a few years later on Twitch on Twitch, "To attract people in the facts." "It looks like a scream in the void" that admits to express.

Unlike the main viewers, most of the Bonnella viewers probably already know the most famous racist in the Internet. But this is also a good thing. "All discussions are a chance to appear in front of a new viewer. I don't know who will be the next subscriber or who will be a big sponsor," he explains. According to the bonnel, twitch, goods, donations, and other income sources make $ 300. 000 from $ 400. 000 per year.

In the wild horses, his debate may be the first case to see the right thoughts on the right test. Bonnel says that despite the dissatisfaction, he feels that his evaluation is at least slightly changing the roadside. < SPAN> In addition to physical advantage, Bonel has a fast speaking speed and thinking ability. On Twitch, there is a sense of high school students practicing political discussions, the speed of the tempo, and the sense of superiority that gives the impression of always being dominant and ignored.

"Destiny is a very competent speaker." Says advanced streamer, Hassan Picker.

Criticism of discussions on distant people on the Internet warns that the ideology of hatred is planted in his head and the ability to change consciousness is questioned. Charlie Kirk, Stephen Morinyu, and Ben Shapiro have used this format to give their righ t-wing ideologies the best types to use strategically used confident rhetorics. All of these three have experienced fighting students who want to do their best but do not match and have little experience.

"There is a question about the effects of the debate. According to general opinions, debates are now bloody sports and are deciding.

The bonnel acknowledges that this format helped to create his place. He said he was seriously working on political discussions, but he sometimes gave his opinion on this platform a few years later on Twitch on Twitch, "To attract people in the facts." "It looks like a scream in the void" that admits to express.

Unlike the main viewers, most of the Bonnella viewers probably already know the most famous racist in the Internet. But this is also a good thing. "All discussions are a chance to appear in front of a new viewer. I don't know who will be the next subscriber or who will be a big sponsor," he explains. According to the bonnel, twitch, goods, donations, and other income sources make $ 300. 000 from $ 400. 000 per year.

In the wild horses, his debate may be the first case to see the right thoughts on the right test. Bonnel says that despite the dissatisfaction, he feels that his evaluation is at least slightly changing the roadside. In addition to physical advantage, Bonel has a fast speaking speed and thinking ability. On Twitch, there is a sense of high school students practicing political discussions, the speed of the tempo, and the sense of superiority that gives the impression of always being dominant and ignored.

"Destiny is a very competent speaker." Says advanced streamer, Hassan Picker.

Criticism of discussions on distant people on the Internet warns that the ideology of hatred is planted in his head and the ability to change consciousness is questioned. Charlie Kirk, Stephen Morinyu, and Ben Shapiro have used this format to give their righ t-wing ideologies the best types to use strategically used confident rhetorics. All of these three have experienced fighting students who want to do their best but do not match and have little experience.

"There is a question about the effects of the debate. According to general opinions, debates are now bloody sports and are deciding.

The bonnel acknowledges that this format helped to create his place. He said he was seriously working on political discussions, but he sometimes gave his opinion on this platform a few years later on Twitch on Twitch, "To attract people in the facts." "It looks like a scream in the void" that admits to express.

Unlike the main viewers, most of the Bonnella viewers probably already know the most famous racist in the Internet. But this is also a good thing. "All discussions are a chance to appear in front of a new viewer. I don't know who will be the next subscriber or who will be a big sponsor," he explains. According to the bonnel, twitch, goods, donations, and other income sources make $ 300. 000 from $ 400. 000 per year.

In the wild horses, his debate may be the first case to see the right thoughts on the right test. Bonnel says that despite the dissatisfaction, he feels that his evaluation is at least slightly changing the roadside.

At the same time, this is really true in some cases. Scholars and correspondents have criticized the technique of videos proposed on YouTube in terms of promoting radicalization. A user who starts watching relatively tame content of right-wing phrases will soon receive a white nationalist video discussing snow-immigration. Citarella says that in fact the Bonella-archive discussions on YouTube with these parties have every chance of getting into the list of videos offered to these visitors, providing a contragewe weight that somewhat mitigates the latest treetent tendencies. "The real practicality lies in the fact that the cross-pollination of the country is compensated by the way it points a certain degree to the left," he says.

"The fate was essentially that one revolutive and neoliberal person was going to put things in this society in a rather long direction," Picker told me when I visited him in his West Hollywood living room. "That's why I first pledged allegiance to him. It definitely helped me with my stature.

Like almost all people who try to make a living on the net, Piker also wears several hats: Twitch politician, commentator Young Turks, Instagram user. During that time, we talked, and his big pisal, collared on a silver chain, wandered around our feet. We saw what was in front of us. As is the rule when communicating with Bonnell, my interview with Piker was like he was interviewing me in front of my Twitch viewers. I even suspected that one of them tried to hook me up with the show not only as a chance to get some payper content, but also as a courtesy.

One of the tasks of exposing your life on some vain watch and direction 8 is that you actually provide a lot of material for your own opponents. Thanks to your own profile outside of Twitch, Piker loses a little more than most streamers in similar negligence accusations, but all this contradiction is overcome. 6 In February, after Piker criticized centrist Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, people responded to his chats accusing him of sexism. Sensing bummer and sarcastic at the same time, Piker joked, "Oh, I hate women. How's that for you?", which prompted him to share a story about the descendants of Brazilian President Gira Bolsonaro.

"The splendor of being able to talk about my own worldview for hours is that people around me literally understand my transactions, and they are also faithful," Pyer says. "But in the long run, this is terrible for the cognition of the mainstream, they just notice the clip."

Of course, streamer often makes the situation difficult by advertising and saying unfair luggage that makes people sad. Bonnel critics gathered some of his bad elements from streams and spread to YouTube and Twitter. The clip that negotiated for aggressive behavior with his child's mother was one of them after I was in the bonnel.

During my visit, he again experienced sel f-employed obstacles. In 2018, Michael Ramon Jefferson, known for the name of TRIHEX and a professional consciousness as a speed runner (a person who clears a video game as soon as possible), appeared on a podcast with the bonnel. Jefferson and Bonnel, one of the most popular black political creators on Twitch, deepened their bonds through Black Live's Matter and made friendships. Later, they launched a personal podcast and became a joint host, and regularly distributed it. However, in October last year, the business of the two did not go well, and after that, Bonel had no problem with white people who pronounced "N" private. I began to quarrel with my friends.

Most of Destiny's fans say they never drink, opposed to using dirty words.

The situation escalated when I was a Bonel guest in the final round of Radi Royal, where the streamer Radi Patel is the moderator and nearly 10 streamer discusses various topics for 4 to 6 hours. Visitors have fallen one by one in each round, and only two people remain: Bonnel and Jefferson.

"I don't intend to lie for you, Destiny," Jefferson says, and if you're using "N" in your private life, you'll talk about your feelings when your friend claims that you do the same thing. Ta. "I wish I had a more fair attribution method, but only from an emotional perspective ... it wasn't cool for me."

Bonnell responded kindly at first, but quickly responded coldly. "I don't want to make the concession that every joke I say in private has to be appropriate for everyone," he replied. "If I go upstairs now and no one's listening and I say the N-word, I'm not hurting anybody."

The two men spoke tensely, and in the final minutes Jefferson apologized. "I'm really sorry. Maybe I caused these feelings," he said, lowering his eyes. Bonnell responded, "I'm sorry for what I did."

Bonnell and Patel declared Jefferson the winner without a popular vote. But Patel called a secret ballot anyway, and the result was that 80 percent of the public agreed that Jefferson had won.

But it didn't feel like he'd won. Watching their debate reminded me of debates I've had with white friends about race. I don't expect them to fully understand, but I do expect them to try. If they don't try, it's more disappointing than the blatant racism of bigots.

"I felt devalued as a friend. I was very emotional," Jefferson told me over the phone. "I didn't realize it until the next day, after I'd cried myself to sleep." After the altercation, Bornell and Jefferson took a break from the podcast. Piker also distanced himself from Bornell over the matter.

I was with Bonnell most of the time, staying out of his camera's sight when we spoke. But after the debate with Jefferson, when I asked him about it, he asked me to sit behind him on the couch, and our conversation effectively became another live debate.

Bornell has previously spoken about his ongoing struggle with the N-word, with clear and self-deprecating observations about the racism he, as a white man, ignores.

Now, he wasn't giving in. As I talked to him, I began to understand the appeal of going beyond money. It was very satisfying to confidently assert my opinion in front of an audience of nearly 10, 000 people. It was easy to forget that this power could be used to spread toxic ideas.

However, empathy is generally considered part of the public dilemma problem, and Bonnel can be seen as a humiliating ignorance to create something about someone else's standards. It is comparable to a specific sel f-centered transplant. When I asked him, he often gave him an advantage that he knew he had the advantage of accepting the role of a group wandering, and he thought he was an allied country. : "No, take the devil."

Citallella even says that the huge percentage in the streaming world prefers this way of discussion. "The people who have gained older materials are healthy, skeptical, and livataria n-like views.

He answered Bonnel's question, saying that it would be good to have a monotonous network on the net right.

"I have to accept more immigrants, as almost all liberal factions are doing. "I'm not involved in the same thing. I don't care that medical care is a human right," Bonnel said arrogantly. "The empirical data is told about the impact of immigrants on the economy." I am worried that there are people who are dead when they have the opportunity to support copper. He said this would suck our whole economy in hell. "

"People like Destini are regarded as immigrants from these communities. It looks like a confident, autonomous and healthy thinker.

The introduction of this game society is recorded from afar. The name "Destiny" is pronounced in a conditional manner for comparison with other games. This circle has special respect for Destini. He is abnormal. These are not rudimentary like him, "said Zita.

Dr. T. L. Taylor of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who is studying T. video games and game culture, is unfortunately unreasonable. "Destini has no people on Twitch, who oppose Trump and Ort Light's terrible political figures. Destini is on Twitch, which opposes terrible political figures such as Trump and Ort Light. Not alone, it is treated as an unusual thing.

He doesn't pay attention to the fact that Bonella's shocking trend is considered to be the most important concert in a video camera, and he has a chance to be smoother in his actual life. For the first time, when I left his living space, he had the idea that basically we should always play when we say goodbye, but he was a little unpleasant to see. 。 Holanson, as well, I really like it, but her boyfriend spreads her face as if he had thrown an F-bomb in her direction; She answered that he was called a female do g-she was actually more plain outside the broadcast.

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The overwhelming majority of Destini-Youth fans are 30 years old. Most are until 23 years old.