Streams and Support: TinaMarie Lugo’s Twitch Channel

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Live Trinity action, discussion of campus topics, life advice for the everyday Bantam and even nightly runs of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3; from the first minute of an @TMLBanty stream to the last, TinaMarie Lugo’s Twitch channel is bringing Bantams together. 

Lugo began streaming in 2022 while at Queens College, using her platform to virtually interact with students and spread school spirit. “It was small back then,” Lugo told the Tripod, “I was mainly focused on seeing if we could bridge the gap between pre-COVID and virtual community. I felt like streaming was a great way to do that.”  

Lugo says she’s been watching others in the industry and wanted to jump in: “I’ve been subbed to Kai Cenat since he started streaming on Twitch in 2021. Dan and I used to watch his streams together back when he was President at Queens. We’ll still sometimes turn on his Bobby Shmurda stream every once in a while, it just means that much to us.” She continued on her streaming inspirations: “I’ve been getting into some different stuff recently, Jynxzi’s Clash content has been really good lately and of course HappyHappyGal’s Fortnite gameplay has been incredible to watch. They’re really inspiring me to branch deeper into the gaming world. I’ve started introducing Call of Duty into the streaming repertoire. I find it’s bringing in viewers who had never been watching the stream before.” 

Now Lugo has truly gained traction, peaking at 72,000 concurrent viewers in her recent stream from inside the Chapel: “The support we got for the organ concert live reaction jester-oriented stream was really just astounding. It’s been a true whirlwind, I just can’t believe the visibility we’ve gotten from the Trinity community and beyond.” When asked about her collaborations she was quick to highlight others in the Trinity community: “Our stream with the Mather staff was really successful, too. They really brought a new dynamic to the channel. I think giving students a true behind-the-scenes look into how their food is made was really rewarding. The stream I did with the archive librarians was less viewed, but our chat was going absolutely insane. Our student scholars truly know how to bring the spirit when it comes to exploring mid-13th-century illumination books.”  

Viewers were also excited as she took the stream international while in Europe, doing a full vacation streamathon that united the Trinity community with students studying abroad in the continent. From London to Rome, Lugo featured the lives and stories of Trinity students, using her Meta glasses to capture real-time content. “It was really Speed’s trip to China that motivated me. I saw the content he was doing and I thought I could really push the envelope, pairing higher education with the type of excitement he generates. I’m so glad I got to platform Trinity’s wonderful students on the world stage.” 

“Of course streaming isn’t always easy,” said Lugo, “but that’s not why I do it. I do it for my viewers, the wonderful Trinity community members who chat with me nightly. I hope that my streams have made midterms more enjoyable and have given our community something to talk about. A first-year walked up to me on the Long Walk the other day and told me that she and her friends love doing a nightly routine of what they called ‘Titos and TinaMarie.’ It’s that kind of true community building that I aspire to.” 

When asked what’s next for the streams Lugo played her cards close to the chest, “Well I can’t just tell you, you need to watch! What I can say is I have another big collaboration planned for the future; and not to spoil anything, but I’m really looking forward to our campus’s Spring Weekend Concert.” 

For more of TinaMarie Lugo’s streams and antics, subscribe to her on Twitch @TMLBanty.