If you’ve in the gaming world, you’ve heard of Twitch. At this juncture, Twitch runs synonymous with streaming in the gaming world. In fact, Twitch is responsible for making many gamers rich and famous.
But there’s a lot behind the curtain when it comes to Twitch. How it evolved into what it is today likely gives us a perspective on where its going.
Let’s explore one of gaming’s biggest platforms, Twitch.
What is Twitch?
Twitch is a live streaming platform that primarily focuses on the video gaming industry.
It’s simple: Twitch allows gamers to broadcast the games they play in real-time.
These lives streams allow others to watch and interact via chat functions. Twitch allows gamers to utilize subscription and donation models.
Twitch was born in 2011 and was an immediate success. Today, Twitch allows a greater variety of streams, including those in art, music, and talk shows.
Twitch has placed itself as a centerpiece in community building where people who share specific interest can connect and engage.
The Launch of Twitch
Twitch was born in 2011. It was a spin-off the Justin.tv, which was a popular service at the time. Justin.tv had been going decently strong since 2007 and it is largely considered the pioneer of the streaming space. While Justin.tv was a general streaming platform, Twitch set out to be gaming specific.
And it couldn’t have come at a more opportune time with the gaming industry experiencing massive growth. There was a large untapped demand for watching gamers stream their play live.
The name “Twitch” was chosen for its association with “twitch gameplay,” a type of video game that tests players’ reaction time.
This dedicated space for gamers quickly erupted and carved out its unique identity as a major gaming brand.
Twitch introduced the new era of gamer live streaming. It put on display that gamers not only enjoy gaming, but they love doing it live with others watching. It also showed that there were many gamers out there who wanted to watch other gamers slay and conquer and solve.
What Makes Twitch Unique
Twitch relies on three core pillars:
Community Interaction
Twitch allows viewers to interact with the streamers via a real-time chat. This helps create engaging experiences.
Diverse Content
Although it began gamer-centric, Twitch now supports a variety of content including music and cooking channels and beyond. It’s a go-to place for learning and engaging with unique creators.
Community Building
Twitch has fostered strong communities around interest, most notably, gaming, but as mentioned earlier, many other arts.
Challenges and Controversies
Twitch is big. Like, really big. So obviously, with all that fame and reach comes obstacles.
Content moderation is undoubtedly Twitch’s most notable challenge. Twitch tries to address all controversial content and balance that with free speech and an embrace of diverse views. But that’s easier said than done.
Many of these controversies have revolved around hate speech, harassment, copyright infringement, and general inappropriate content.
For Twitch, enforcing and policing their content is rough stuff and often leads to people feeling they inconsistently ban. This makes every enforcement or non-enforcement controversial in its own right.
One notable controversy for Twitch has been swatting, or making hoax calls to the police was a way to send enforcement to a gamer’s home. Doxxing, or publishing people’s private information, is another issue.
In 2018, Dr DisRespect (Guy Beahm) was swatted live during one of his streams. He abruptly left his desk after learning his home was targeted. The incident brought a lot of attention to the dangers of swatting and created questions regarding gamer safety.
Watch here as Dr DisRespect is shot at during his live stream.
Conclusion
Twitch is a massive gaming streamer network that helps gamers learn from, and connect with, popular gamers. Twitch has evolved beyond only gaming to offer streaming for other arts and talk shows.