A few days ago, thousands of people tuned in to show their support for content creator Dripping_Honey on Blackout Tuesday during an Animal Crossing: New Horizons stream on Twitch. The endless positivity and joyful energy of both streamer Hailey S., the chat, and the community that rallied around it was a heartwarming moment that captured attention across the world.
Throughout the eight-hour-long stream, the chat was flooded with supportive messages, donations, and subs. The goal was to grow Dripping Honey's "familam" community to 100.
It reached just under 3,000 by the end of the stream.
"I’m still very much beyond words about how I feel. So many people came in to support yesterday! According to Twitch, that one stream got 16,208 unique viewers," Hailey tells me over email last night. "I saw at one point in my dashboard that there were about 1.3k people watching, but I was absolutely floored when I saw that. The outpouring of support, love, and positivity was and is something that I strive for when building my community. It means a lot to me to be able to not only entertain people, but give them a safe place to feel welcome."
Gary Whitta, who's been hosting an Animal Crossing talk show over recent months, shared a link to the stream on Twitter to amplify and highlight black creators, with other names showing their support and drawing more people to the stream. Hailey's joyful energy and personality instantly won the hearts of everyone watching, and with so many joining, Dripping Honey's handmade lipgloss store Drip by Honey quickly sold out.
"I can not even begin to express how emotional I felt when I saw my store had been completely sold out. I had no choice but to close my store because of the pandemic and I thought that I would never see it lift off the ground again," Hailey said. "So the fact that I was not only able to re-open it, but to also have so many people pledge to continue to buy from me meant the world. I don’t resell already made products, I made my lip gloss, logo, and website all by myself, so this really is a milestone for me."
Hailey also tells me over email about some of the personal highlights from the stream: "If I had to point out any highlights in the stream, it would definitely be getting to speak with Charlie Cleveland (the creator of Subnautica), realizing that THE Felicia Day was in my chat, and having T-Pain follow and sub to me. I grew up listening to his music, so that moment was very surreal for me."
The stream was a ray of light that brought so much joy to so many, and it's just one example of how we can come together in support and spread so much positivity. "I hate to be a broken record, but that stream meant the world to me and will be a moment I remember forever," Hailey added. "To any and everybody that retweeted and showed support, celebrity or not, thank you so much for giving me this opportunity."
If you're looking for ways to support, donate, and help, read Elle Osili-Wood's article on Black Lives Matter.
