Jasmin is known as Gnu and the largest gaming YouTuber in Germany. MeinMMO editor-in-chief Leya met her at the gamescom and talked to her in an interview about the reactions to Jasmin’s recently published book, in which she speaks for the first time about her eating disorder. But also, how she approaches her content on Twitch and YouTube.
At the gamescom, I meet a person for the first time whom I had only known from behind the monitor. In 2020, still in the early days of the Corona pandemic, I spoke digitally with Gnu about sexism in the gaming industry.
Back then, I didn’t know that the young woman had struggled with an eating disorder for years. She tells about it for the first time in her recently published book “You can’t do it”, which really touched me while reading.
This is enough reason for me to meet Jasmin at the gamescom and talk to her about her life after this soul striptease.
MeinMMO: How is it for you now in retrospect to have released the book and everyone knows that you struggled with an eating disorder?
Jasmin: I often said back then to my manager and to Lisa Ludwig (co-author) that I was unsure whether I should do it. I talked to her almost every day back then. What’s interesting is that I actually don’t have a problem with people reading it who don’t know me, as much as I do when, for example, my partner’s parents read it. That’s really strange.
But I believe that in today’s time, it is all the more important to address such things. That there are problems and that not everything is this perfect life that you present on social media. I just got fed up with that.
The trigger for the book was when someone told me that everything about me was always so perfect and so boring. And I just thought: If you only knew.
Then I got the offer for the book and told myself, why not. It’s a part of my life and this story brought me here. It gives people hope that, no matter how badly they are doing, they can still achieve something cool.
“I wanted to talk about the negative aspects of life”
MeinMMO: Why was now the right time for you to publish the book?
Jasmin: I used to always say I would never write a book. But now I have a certain distance from it. When the publisher approached me, I talked about wanting to talk about the negative aspects of life too.
This “You can’t do it” and the solutions I found for myself. This guide to my life, what I could have done better. That is something I would have wished for at 15.
Then I thought to myself, why not turn something negative into something positive. Now I’ve done this soul striptease and if it helps even just one person, it’s been worth it.
Leya: How were the general reactions to the book?
Jasmin: During the book tour, I was scared. On release day, I had already considered whether to retreat completely for a few days and not look at any reactions. In fact, there were already some positive comments during the book tour, which made me very happy.
Actually, it has remained generally positive. I haven’t received any negative comments about it. Of course, only people who know me read it now.
Many thought they were alone with their problems and thanked me for bringing it up. I met someone earlier who told me that I described her exact problem and now she sees a solution for herself on how to deal with it.
As content creators, we are all very dependent on the platforms and the algorithm: What gets suggested? What gets watched?
“The biggest problem of all platforms is that it’s about quantity and not quality”
MeinMMO: What responsibility do you see here for platforms like Twitch?
Jasmin: The biggest problem of all platforms is that it is primarily about quantity and not quality. For creators, it is simply more attractive to go with quantity and service the quick, low-quality content.
Especially when that brings more views, why should I then take more time and invest more money in a high-quality video? I believe that’s the problem: More content, more trends, faster, better, and the fixation on numbers. Is your video from yesterday better than today’s and why? It would be nice if that would somehow change. But honestly, I don’t believe that will happen.
MeinMMO: Would you like to conclude by telling us what projects you are currently working on?
Jasmin: As always gaming!
But my third channel is currently my new passion project, where I talk about things that are personally important to me.
Like a toxic self-perception thanks to social media or also sports and how to motivate oneself in a healthy way for reasons other than diets. I want to invest more time in this in the future and expand it further.
MeinMMO: Thank you very much for the conversation.
Jasmin is not the only gaming influencer who is now openly talking about the pressure in the job. More and more streamers are expressing their issues on platforms like Twitch: One of the largest Twitch streamers in the world explains why she wants to stream less
I asked my manager if this would be the end of my career. I also don’t want that stamp that if you’ve spoken out about problems, you keep getting confronted with them.
“Honestly, the perfect life bores me”
MeinMMO: Is there a shift happening in the entire industry? You describe in your book that on Instagram, influencers portray a perfect life. We all prefer to talk about successes, take the 100th selfie to see which angle is perfect and to make sure no pimple shows. Is there currently a counter-movement and do you see yourself as part of it?
Jasmin: I believe there is, yes. There are Instagram profiles like Dana Mercer, which I enjoy watching. She has lost a lot of weight and shows her body as it is. She has no problem showing that she has cellulite and that there are rolls on her stomach when she sits. She shows that it is completely normal for skin to live and move. I think the trend is increasingly going toward many people in public showing their naturalness and humanity.
I find that important and honestly, the perfect life bores me.
People want to have the Disney love and see it, but that simply doesn’t exist. The bigger the disappointment when the image of the perfect life is shattered. Now I’m glad I never built that up.
MeinMMO: If you switch on your stream, you can already see that you burp or fart.
Jasmin: (laughs shocked) How did you get to that?! Those are all just sound effects.
MeinMMO: So, all just played! Do you think that made it easier for you to publish such a book? That you gained understanding for yourself and your persona because you have always presented yourself as quite “normal”?
Jasmin: I believe so. The only topic that was really difficult for me was the eating disorder. That is something I even told my best friend, whom I have known for many years, only shortly before the publication of the book.
That’s why the topic was so important to me. I now recognize when others have such issues. There are many people, and no one talks about it.
Just my eating disorder is one where people often say the silence or secrecy, and I think that shouldn’t be secret.
“It always gets easier when it’s over”
MeinMMO: That is indeed a trend we are observing. More and more stories are coming up. Recently, Kalle Koschinski, who took a break due to mental issues. Is that a topic that, in your view, happens too much behind closed doors?
Jasmin: I believe that especially when it comes to burnout, more and more people are daring to come forward. I think it always gets easier when it’s over. My eating disorder is over. I believe I wouldn’t have written a book about it if I were still in the middle of it.
MeinMMO: Being a content creator is often associated with a lot of pressure. We have had stories of people,who died after marathon streams. What do you think about that?
Jasmin: I’ve been regularly uploading videos for years and keep telling myself that this video must still come. It just looks nice on the channel, and the community looks forward to a short video on Saturdays.
But in the end, you have to learn to tell yourself that the world doesn’t end if a video doesn’t come.
Leya: When you get to know you better, you know that you approach your work very analytically. How do you actually go about feeding the platforms’ algorithms?
Jasmin: That is difficult because it changes constantly. We also have regular meetings with my management and discuss what is currently trending, what can be made out of certain games? Above all, what unique things can we create from it? Games are researched, and ideas are developed for the community or initial ideas are collected for video titles and thumbnails.
Of course, when a hype game comes along, like Among Us recently, we look at: Okay, everyone is playing that right now. What can we do with it? What could be funny? How can I implement something that suits me? Thinking about such things is really fun for me.
That’s why we approach it so analytically, because you can never really assess the algorithm or other influences. We noticed this summer, for example, that it was the first summer where people could go out again without major restrictions, which also has an impact on views.
As content creators, we are all very dependent on the platforms and the algorithm: What gets suggested? What gets watched?
“The biggest problem of all platforms is that it’s about quantity and not quality”
MeinMMO: What responsibility do you see here for platforms like Twitch?
Jasmin: The biggest problem of all platforms is that it is primarily about quantity and not quality. For creators, it is simply more attractive to go with quantity and service the quick, low-quality content.
Especially when that brings more views, why should I then take more time and invest more money in a high-quality video? I believe that’s the problem: More content, more trends, faster, better, and the fixation on numbers. Is your video from yesterday better than today’s and why? It would be nice if that would somehow change. But honestly, I don’t believe that will happen.
MeinMMO: Would you like to conclude by telling us what projects you are currently working on?
Jasmin: As always gaming!
But my third channel is currently my new passion project, where I talk about things that are personally important to me.
Like a toxic self-perception thanks to social media or also sports and how to motivate oneself in a healthy way for reasons other than diets. I want to invest more time in this in the future and expand it further.
MeinMMO: Thank you very much for the conversation.
Jasmin is not the only gaming influencer who is now openly talking about the pressure in the job. More and more streamers are expressing their issues on platforms like Twitch: One of the largest Twitch streamers in the world explains why she wants to stream less
