Re-Brand, Retiring the Blog & Website, Twitch Tweaks
After much pondering and reflection, I've decided to re-brand my Twitch stream from the ambiguous and nondescript “Newfangled_” to “PositiveNotes”. Here's the new link: https://twitch.tv/positivenotes
And I have more changes to share.
Re-Brand
First, a little explanation about the name change. From my first day of streaming, my mission has been to:
- Share my love of music
- Make meaningful connections with others
- Spread joy, hope, and positivity
There have been times where I haven't been as focused on this mission as I would like to be, and stretches where I have tried different formats and different content altogether, but I'd like to think that's the overall vibe I've had so far.
The name “Newfangled” was a hold-over from a different time in my life. It was originally a YouTube channel about technology. When I decided to try the Twitch thing, I figured I had already a logo and things built for “Newfangled” and that I would just re-purpose everything for Twitch.
Now that I've had time to experiment with Twitch – and these past six weeks, to really pause and reflect on whether I even want to continue on Twitch and, if so, what I want that to look like – I know now that I want to continue to play prerecorded music and give a greater and more formal emphasis on sharing positive, inspirational, and hopeful messages and stories.
I felt like a name change made sense. So I started brainstorming ideas. I toyed with several different names but eventually landed on Positive Notes as the new name of the stream and show, since the Twitch username “PositiveNotes” was still available.
I like the play on words – “notes” meaning musical notes as well as written-word notes. And it hearkens to the idiom “on a positive note.” That's something people usually say after delivering bad or uncomfortable news when there is good news to share, and is meant to cheer people up or give them some encouragement – to end on a positive note.
That's what I'm going for – the idea that no matter how dark or bleak things may seem out there in the world or within our own lives, good still exists, good things still happen, and we can take heart.
I'll no longer be referring to myself as “Newfangled”, but as myself, meaning my first given name: Dallin. So now I'm Dallin, host of the show Positive Notes. And I hope you'll join me and bear with me as I continue to refine the program!
Retiring the Blog & Website
The re-brand also shifts the focus away from “Newfangled” as a brand to “Positive Notes” as a Twitch program with me simply hosting it. And since I am no longer interested in “building a brand” or monetization or any of that, I think it makes sense to retire this blog and post all future updates over on my personal blog.
Here is my personal blog if you'd like to check it out: https://dallincrump.com
If you like, you're welcome to follow that blog like you've done this one – subscribe to email updates, add it to your RSS reader, etc.
There's also no longer a need for a dedicated website for the stream, so I have retired newfangled.live, as well. All info about the program can be found on Twitch or on my personal blog. I'm still trying to decide whether to keep my Mastodon social media account, and if so, whether to re-brand it or just start from scratch, there.
Twitch Tweaks
I have made more changes to the Twitch channel experience itself. For now I have removed the custom subscriber badge since it was the old Newfangled logo. Subscribers will see the default Twitch subscriber badge for now. I may add a different badge in the future.
I have also disabled bits tier badges, hype trains, and leaderboards (the things at the top of chat that show who has given the most gift subs or bits). Those changes all made sense since I'm not interested in the monetization thing.
Conclusion
I know I have made a lot of changes over the past six weeks. Most of my viewers don't even follow this blog, so when I return to streaming next week (4/22) I'm sure there will be some confusion and questions! But I feel really good about all the changes I've made and I'm hopeful they will result in a better and more meaningful experience for viewers and for me. See you over on the other blog!