The recent outrage toward Hasan Piker is misguided and based on information that was unfairly used out of context.
Piker, known online as HasanAbi, is a well-known left-wing Twitch streamer. On his channel, he often discusses modern news and politics from a socialist lens. He has also become one of the most-viewed creators on the platform.
Many people likely envy Piker’s position: at his job, he gets to sit at home, discuss whatever he feels like talking about to a passionate audience and occasionally play video games, all while making a killing, mind you.
Again, Piker is incredibly fortunate to not be required to complete mundane tasks in a 9-5 workplace context. It’s a privilege to have a career in which one gets paid to remain in the comfort of their own home and simply be themself.
Piker’s thoughts on the matter, however, are a bit more complicated.
On Feb. 24, a clip of HasanAbi went viral on X (formerly Twitter) in which the creator describes how working a “real job” is supposedly less gruelling than the day-to-day streaming he’s apparently forced to endure.
“Yes, a real job can be gruesome. A real job can make you very tired. But a real job doesn’t suck the soul out of you – you know what I mean? – in the same way that nine hours of streaming absolutely will,” Piker says in the clip, which was pulled from one of his Twitch streams.
All of Twitter – sorry, “X” – quickly jumped on the HasanAbi hate bandwagon. How could he possibly suggest that his work is more difficult than the gruelling labour completed by 9-5 workers? Many quickly bashed Piker for his comments after viewing the viral clip. After all, Piker is clearly incredibly fortunate; how could he be so ignorant of his position of privilege?
And it really would have been ignorant – if that’s what he had actually been saying.
Piker quickly responded with the full clip, which reveals the original video was used out of context. In reality, Piker wasn’t likening every aspect of his work to “real jobs”; rather, he was commenting on the effect long streams can have on his social battery.
“It is wild how this completely out of context clip made its way to Twitter [X] so fast,” Piker wrote in his response. “I was talking about how a 9-hour stream eats away at my social battery & how I can’t socialize after, comparing it to my sales job before. I recognize how fortunate I am every day!”
And despite what most of X will probably tell you, the truth is that he’s probably right.
While sitting in a comfy room playing Elden Ring for hours certainly doesn’t compare to many of the exhausting facets of regular jobs, there’s something to be said about how streaming requires a person to stay “on” for hours at a time. This is a sentiment shared by other entertainers, and it is an often unheard-of challenge that comes with work in entertainment. In other words, they have to be constantly entertaining and engaged with their audience for hours without much personal rest.
In the full clip, Piker acknowledges that certain “real jobs” are similar in this aspect. “People-pleasing jobs” such as retail or customer service, he says, are other examples of jobs that can drain one’s social battery. Despite what the shortened clip would have you believe, he’s not making himself out to be the biggest victim; he’s simply providing commentary on a difficult aspect of streaming.
In many factors, there’s not even a comparison between streaming and more traditional work. Piker is incredibly fortunate to have a luxurious job in which he simply gets paid to be himself, yet it’s totally reasonable to assume that he doesn’t have much energy to go out with friends or engage in personal conversations after a day of streaming.
Obviously, when the streaming job is observed as a whole, it’s still a largely comfortable, luxurious experience. As a whole, I believe it’s fair to say that the entirety of his job is much easier than the vast majority of “regular jobs,” and to suggest that Piker is somehow disadvantaged or less privileged because of his streaming job would reek of ignorance.
With that said, it’s also fair to point out the parts of streaming that especially weigh on an individual. It’s also completely immoral to use his statement out of context as a way of getting people to rally against him.
There’s no denying that Piker is incredibly fortunate, and this is something he recognized in his response to the situation. It’s okay to disagree with a person or dislike their views, but once you use their words out of context in hopes of incriminating them, you’ve revealed yourself to be more interested in blind hatred than legitimately critical conversation.