Humans Of Chantilly: Dan Carita

Dan+Carita+pic

Dan Carita

Dan Carita shows off the signature Italian Flag mask he wears on stream.

Ryan Geary, Staff Writer

Getting his start eight months ago at the start of his junior year, Dan Carita is a Twitch streamer that goes by the name Blackhawk12 online. 

So, tell us a little bit about what it is you do, for those who might not be familiar with Twitch.

A few nights a week, I live stream while playing games with my friends, usually Minecraft or CS:GO, as they are really easy to set up for multiplayer games and are fun to play with others. 

So, why did you start streaming?
I think while I always wanted to do it, I’m not sure what set it off to be honest, though it’s probably related to feeling so bored and isolated for so long.

Was it difficult to get comfortable with it when you started out?
Oh, absolutely. Sitting in front of a camera knowing anyone could join at any moment was very odd at first. It made me feel like I had to be interesting to watch even when nobody was watching. I think that finding friends to stream with made it feel more natural and helped me to stop worrying about who was watching, because I think I can be entertaining without worrying about it.

How do you stay motivated to keep streaming?
Well it helps to enjoy it. I mean I think I’d struggle to maintain a consistent level of streaming if I felt burnt out. I think learning to set goals for your year, and then working down from there until you have goals for a weekly basis. At that point you just have to keep reaching those little goals until the big goal is done. For example, my goal is to break 200 subscribers by the end of summer break, and I plan to get there by continually advertising myself and by making content on a consistent level and content of consistent quality, and by improving that quality over time by seeing what engages my audience and what does not.
Where do you see yourself with this five years from now?
That’s a toughie, I mean it’s complicated right? The Twitch landscape is so volatile that it’s hard to say what will happen. In Boy Scouts I learned to be prepared for whatever may come, as no plan survives first contact with the enemy, the ‘enemy’ in this case being whatever may stand in the way of my goal. While I continue to work towards my primary goal, I try to make sure to have backup plans or other ways of achieving them should my current method prove unsuccessful.

Thank you for meeting with me today, I wish you the best of luck on this going forward.
Thank you. I think that talking with you has helped to remind me of what I need to be doing, and I’m all the more motivated to get there now.