There’s no one doing it like Amber “PaladinAmber” Wadham. The streamer regularly plays with local and international talents like Bajo and Julien Solomita, posts bite-sized moments of gaming brilliance on TikTok and was even nominated for best emerging talent in the Golden Joystick Awards in 2019. That’s not even mentioning how entertaining her streams are, or how charismatic she is as a host. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons her unique way of dealing with trolls has stuck with viewers.
See, PaladinAmber has a unique way of rooting out sexist behaviour in her streams. When a viewer says something inappropriate, she breaks into an infomercial or news segment to call them out and reinforce her boundaries.
In one of these segments, PaladinAmber reacts to a viewer who asked how much they needed to donate to her channel get “foot play”.
“Do you want to see foot play? I’ve got the solution for you,” she says, using multiple camera angles and intentionally cringey overlays. “Now for just a small fee of $19.95, plus shipping and handling, I’ma tell you to get fucked.”
The clip has hundreds of thousands of likes, with women in the comments cheering for the segment. As PaladinAmber said when we spoke, experiencing inappropriate behaviour is all too common for women online. Seeing this behaviour get called out in such a fun way can’t undo the pain people have been made to feel by trolls, but it can make them smile and feel a flicker of hope.
We spoke to PaladinAmber about her channel, how these segments came about and what advice she has for other women who want to get into streaming.
POPSUGAR Australia: Hello! Can you please tell us about your Twitch channel and what you like to stream?
PaladinAmber: I’ve been streaming for around three years now, and honestly when I started I was on a bean bag in my living room streaming from my PlayStation 4. I played a lot of multiplayers at the time, like Black Ops and Red Dead Redemption. Over time, it’s naturally evolved and I’ve played new releases this past year like Battlefield 2042 and even The Sims 4. The majority of the games I play are games that my community can really engage with, or even play with me. My channel is more about them than it is about me.
PS: You’re quite famous for how you deal with trolls in your streams. Can you please tell us about your unique method for dealing with this sort of behaviour?
PA: I think my approach can be looked at in two ways. One: I don’t let them live rent-free in my head, so for me, dealing with trolls is like free therapy — I get to tell someone who wants to hurt my feelings how they’ve been unsuccessful and then ban them. And two: it’s free content which my audience has come to love. My audience are my biggest cheerleaders when it comes to taking out the Twitch trash.
PS: How did this come about? Were you dealing with a lot of trolls in your streams?
PA: I would say everyone deals with trolls. If you’re on any of the current trending social media platforms, then for every 10 people who are interested in your content, you can also bank on there being 10 who are just hate-watching. I saw an opening to just stand my ground and set boundaries while also making content out of it. And it worked!
PS: What are some of the highlights of your streaming career so far?
PA: I would have to say there are two that stand out the most. I got to play with some of my favourite YouTubers in an Among Us lobby and that was such a surreal moment. I think you learn over time in this space that every content creator you work with is just a person doing what they love and that was a nice realisation for me.
The other moment was getting my own charm in Rainbow Six Siege. That game really got me back into playing competitive games and having something in the game that will always be there is an incredible feeling.
PS: What role has streaming played in your life in the last two years?
PA: It gave me a sense of normality and humour during what I think most of us can describe as the weirdest and wildest time to be alive. I think because things have been so chaotic, streaming or watching streams has been an outlet for many people — somewhere to be silly, childish and just forget about their stresses.
I would also say my community did that for me too — having people to regularly hang out with and to make jokes with was a real lifesaver.
PS: Are there any games you prefer playing off-stream?
PA: I really enjoy playing Fortnite in my downtime. I think because I take it less seriously, so I can just sit back and enjoy the gaming instead of worrying about whether it’s entertaining enough.
PS: Have you had any unpleasant experiences playing games or streaming as a girl? Have you noticed any change in this lately?
PA: If you could hear the laugh I let out reading this question! Absolutely. Generally speaking, I think most environments for women, including trans women and non-binary folk, will usually result in bad experiences online and in the physical world. I do think that conversations are being had more regularly, and they’re making online communities a much safer and more inclusive place, which I think is great.
PS: You’ve streamed with people like Julien Solomita and Bajo. How did these collaborations come about?
PA: You start to collaborate with people who you have a similar vibe with, and eventually you make friends with people who have been in the space a lot longer than you. It all comes down to your sense of humour and how you interact with others. Once I learned that other online creators are just humans doing what they love, and I was also doing what I loved, it made it much easier to make real friends in the space and work together.
PS: What advice do you have for people who want to get into streaming?
PA: Start — just start somewhere. Do your research, watch videos on how to get set up, figure out what you need and don’t need, set some goals and figure out what it is that you actually want in the space. Like, do you want to be more community-focused or do you want to be a speedrunner? Then once you’ve nailed that, click Go Live and figure the rest out along the way!
