With 93.5k followers on Twitter and 227, 287 subscribers on YouTube, Natalie Casanova is the gaming YouTuber you need on your feed this year. Natalie started streaming as The Zombi Unicorn back in 2012 on Twitch and Youtube and has some exciting new things in the pipeline. We caught up with Natalie to get her perspective on gaming, cyberbullying and dealing with internet trolls…
DTL: Hi Natalie! Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Natalie: I’m a Cuban-American gamer, content creator, voice actor and host. I’ve been streaming on Twitch for about 5 years and love making all types of content for the platform, not just gaming, but creative, beauty and music as well!
DTL: What do you love most about gaming?
Natalie: I love how some games can really suck me into a story and make exploring virtual worlds so captivating and fun.
DTL: Do you feel that female gamers are overlooked in the industry? Is there anything you think needs to change in terms of gender representation/attitudes towards gender in the industry?
Natalie: I definitely feel female gamers are overlooked in the industry, a lot of viewers will often judge a female gamer simply by how she looks without even consuming any of their content. Male gamers are more often judged based on how well they play the game and less on their personality.
DTL: Have you ever experienced bullying/cyberbullying/trolling? If so can you tell us what happened?
Natalie: I have experienced bullying/cyberbullying before and experience trolling very often. Trolls come to my chat often to say nasty things to make me feel bad. However, over the years I’ve grown thick skin and it doesn’t affect me anymore. I used to get upset and sometimes end my stream early, later I tried just timing them out and ignoring them. After a while I got fed up and would insult the trolls occasionally, but now I have a policy to accept the trolls into my community and treat them as if they’re a normal viewer.
“People who troll maliciously usually have their own issues and don’t know how to deal with them so we give them an outlet to take it out on me, whilst still making them feel welcome.”
I either joke and deflect their harsh words, ignore them or agree with them in a silly way. I make it clear in my streams that I’d rather have trolls in my own chat than someone else’s. People who troll maliciously usually have their own issues and don’t know how to deal with them so we give them an outlet to take it out on me and still make them feel welcome. We’ve converted a lot of trolls into regular and respectful viewers with this attitude towards them.
[full-width-figure image=”https://dtl-staging.org/2020/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Zombiimage-1024×578.jpg” alt=”Zombi Unicorn YouTuber”]
DTL: What advice would you give to those who might be experiencing bullying/cyberbullying/trolling?
Natalie: My advice would be to remember at the end of the day, no matter how personal they try to make their attacks seem – they don’t know you at all. They are only saying things they think will get under your skin, so the best thing to do is acknowledge that and ignore it. Don’t dwell on anything any troll says, just remember those who DO know you care about you and wouldn’t say anything nasty like that to you ever.
DTL: If you could go back in time, what one thing would you tell your younger self?
Natalie: One thing I would tell my younger self is to not forget where my parents packed up my SNES and old games. I really wish I could do a nostalgic stream of that stuff, but I can’t find them anywhere! Otherwise I wouldn’t change a thing because I might end up somewhere else and I love where I’m at in life right now.
DTL: What motto do you live by?
Natalie: It’s trashCAN not trashCAN’T! Since I’m “literaltrash” at a lot of games, it’s the best motivation to still have fun and keep trying to achieve my goals.
“As hard as it may seem sometimes, believe in yourself! You’re more capable than you imagine”
DTL: What are the best and worst things about being a YouTuber?
Natalie: The best and worst thing about being a YouTuber/Twitch streamer is that I get to share my life with my audience and it helps them connect to me as a person. It also means I have less privacy than the average person.
DTL: What does the future hold for Zombi Unicorn?
Natalie: The future holds some major TV appearances, some more voice acting, streaming and YouTube videos and of course – more gaming!
DTL: Is there anything you would like to add?
Natalie: As hard as it may seem sometimes, believe in yourself! You’re more capable than you imagine 🙂
If you’ve been affected by any of the topics included in this interview, you can get help by joining our Community or for advice on any form of bullying – click here and ask us anything!
