diff --git a/mastodon/Mastodon.py b/mastodon/Mastodon.py
index b4d4aa3..ab0071b 100644
--- a/mastodon/Mastodon.py
+++ b/mastodon/Mastodon.py
@@ -1083,8 +1083,8 @@ class Mastodon:
 
         return (date_time_utc - epoch_utc).total_seconds()
 
-
-    def __json_date_parse(self, json_object):
+    @staticmethod
+    def __json_date_parse(json_object):
         """
         Parse dates in certain known json fields, if possible.
         """
@@ -1100,7 +1100,8 @@ class Mastodon:
                     raise MastodonAPIError('Encountered invalid date.')
         return json_object
 
-    def __json_id_to_bignum(self, json_object):
+    @staticmethod
+    def __json_id_to_bignum(json_object):
         """
         Converts json string IDs to native python bignums.
         """
@@ -1117,10 +1118,11 @@ class Mastodon:
                 pass
 
         return json_object
-
-    def __json_hooks(self, json_object):
-        json_object = self.__json_date_parse(json_object)
-        json_object = self.__json_id_to_bignum(json_object)
+    
+    @staticmethod
+    def __json_hooks(json_object):
+        json_object = Mastodon.__json_date_parse(json_object)
+        json_object = Mastodon.__json_id_to_bignum(json_object)
         return json_object
 
     def __api_request(self, method, endpoint, params={}, files={}, do_ratelimiting=True):
diff --git a/mastodon/streaming.py b/mastodon/streaming.py
index 290ed44..c202ff6 100644
--- a/mastodon/streaming.py
+++ b/mastodon/streaming.py
@@ -6,11 +6,10 @@ https://github.com/tootsuite/mastodon/blob/master/docs/Using-the-API/Streaming-A
 import json
 import logging
 import six
-
+from mastodon import Mastodon
 
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
-
 class MalformedEventError(Exception):
     """Raised when the server-sent event stream is malformed."""
     pass
@@ -24,7 +23,7 @@ class StreamListener(object):
 
     def on_update(self, status):
         """A new status has appeared! 'status' is the parsed JSON dictionary
-describing the status."""
+        describing the status."""
         pass
 
     def on_notification(self, notification):
@@ -40,7 +39,8 @@ describing the status."""
         """The server has sent us a keep-alive message. This callback may be
         useful to carry out periodic housekeeping tasks, or just to confirm
         that the connection is still open."""
-
+        pass
+    
     def handle_stream(self, lines):
         """
         Handles a stream of events from the Mastodon server. When each event
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ describing the status."""
                 self.handle_heartbeat()
             elif line == '':
                 # end of event
-                self._despatch(event)
+                self._dispatch(event)
                 event = {}
             else:
                 key, value = line.split(': ', 1)
@@ -78,24 +78,24 @@ describing the status."""
         if event:
             log.warn("outstanding partial event at end of stream: %s", event)
 
-    def _despatch(self, event):
+    def _dispatch(self, event):
         try:
             name = event['event']
             data = event['data']
-            payload = json.loads(data)
+            payload = json.loads(data, object_hook = Mastodon._Mastodon__json_hooks)
         except KeyError as err:
-            six.raise_from(
-                MalformedEventError('Missing field', err.args[0], event),
-                err
-            )
+           six.raise_from(
+               MalformedEventError('Missing field', err.args[0], event),
+               err
+           )
         except ValueError as err:
-            # py2: plain ValueError
-            # py3: json.JSONDecodeError, a subclass of ValueError
-            six.raise_from(
-                MalformedEventError('Bad JSON', data),
-                err
-            )
-
+           # py2: plain ValueError
+           # py3: json.JSONDecodeError, a subclass of ValueError
+           six.raise_from(
+               MalformedEventError('Bad JSON', data),
+               err
+           )
+           
         handler_name = 'on_' + name
         try:
             handler = getattr(self, handler_name)