Mistake 5: Empty-Stream Starts. Going live with zero viewers, no chat, no warmup activity. The first 5-10 minutes feels like talking to an empty room.

The pattern: streamer hits "Go Live" and starts streaming. No pre-stream announcement. No Discord ping. No social post saying "live now." The first 10 minutes is monologue while the platform browse pages slowly discover the stream.

The cost:

• The first 30 seconds with zero CCV trains the algorithm that this stream has no demand
• 30-second retention metric is meaningless without viewers to measure retention against
• The streamer's energy drops from talking to an empty room — when viewers do arrive, they encounter low-energy content
• The algorithm reads the empty start as a low-quality signal and downranks for the rest of the broadcast

The fix: pre-stream announcement protocol. 30-60 minutes before going live: post on Discord, X, Instagram. 5-10 minutes before: pin a "going live in 5" post. The 5-15 viewers who show up immediately at start prevent the empty-stream problem.

The discipline: never go live without pre-warming. Even small audiences (5-15 viewers waiting at the start) prevent the empty-stream algorithmic penalty. Build the habit.