Explain twitch to me, please
4Ok twitch is being used by woot and other companies as ad areas and I think it is used by gamers.
I don’t understand why I would want to watch a twitch feed or really how or why to use it.
Do you use twitch? Why? Why is it better then another live stream or.video chat?
- 12 comments, 19 replies
- Comment
I had a twitch once…got better
I don’t understand it at all either
@moonhat ditto
For the TL;DR crowd:
Twitch is the YouTube of live content.
If you remember the video blogging /vlogging thing from the mid 2000’s or so on YouTube, this is an extension and evolution of that.
I watch Twitch a lot, and it provides some great content and entertainment- I mostly watch tabletop RPG shows and some smaller variety/gaming streamers.
My guess for why people watch Twitch would break down to one of three reasons:
They like the person streaming (personality)
They like the game (fans or super-fans of a game)
They enjoy being part of a community (which is probably the key one, and nicely fits with points one and two).
Twitch long ago started as an off-shoot of Justin.tv, which was people just streaming things they were doing, and then folks started streaming gaming content, and that blew up in popularity. Twitch then decided to fold in the Justin.tv assets into the new company which focused on streaming games.
All sorts of things are on Twitch now- streaming games of all kinds is still a main focus of the site. You’ll almost any game being broadcast on the site, including many you’d likely never see or hear of otherwise.
As to why a company would be on there, it’s another component of your social marketing/community management/brand awareness strategy. There’s lots of people on it, you can showcase whatever you want, and you can connect directly with your fans (and people who will hopefully become fans & customers).
On how to watch, go to Twitch.tv.
You don’t need to an account to watch (except for a few exclusive events like some eSporting events), just to comment.
You may or may not like any of the things on the front page- otherwise, type in something you’re interested in, or choose from the categories at the bottom of the page.
Some of my favorite channels:
HyperRPG- twitch.tv/hyperrpg
Live, interactive shows M-F (lots of RPGs & improv, with some gaming content)
Zombie Orpheus Entertainment- twitch.tv/zombieorpheus
Tabletop RPG madness, Battletech
Perception Studio- twitch.tv/perceptionstudio
Puppets, talk shows, and RPGs
GamesDoneQuick- twitch.tv/gamesdonequick
Speedruns of every imaginable game, with regular charity drives to raise money
@dashcloud This is the first time I’ve seen someone having the courtesy to put the TL;DR at the BEGINNING of a TL post! Thanks!
@dashcloud Nice break down! I’d also add that there is a certain allure for people because they really can “make it big” and become well known or famous so there is that for some people as well.
@dashcloud Cool thanks.
So… is there any porn?
@baqui63 Occasionally, but Twitch takes a very dim view of it and bans pretty quickly.
Happened a lot more when the PS4 launched w/ Twitch integration- people used the share feature to do cam shows.
There was also the Artifact debacle where people streamed content under the mostly-defunct Valve game that wasn’t the game.
@FeralRants can probably help since he streams and he’s been on our streams. @Brandom he streams as well and you’ve heard him on ours. Of course @ThomasF has run the Meh Jackbox and other game nights on Sundays. Also @Kawa has streamed in the past I don’t know if she’s still doing it these days. @HiDefStatic streams his Overwatch games. These people have experience as streamers so would be a good source for info as to why a person might stream. There are probably others here that stream as well that I am unaware of and they can share what or why they stream.
It’s not just gamers on Twitch but a majority of people streaming on Twitch are gamers. That isn’t all there is, however. Some people talk about their lives, or stream themselves drawing pictures or learning guitar, cooking etc. As a watcher I’ve “studied” with another person studying on Twitch, or watched someone assembling and displaying their costume for an event among other things. I occasionally drop in on some of the previously mentioned people to watch them because why not?
Really, it’s not a ton different than watching live TV. But rather than watching big celebs or something, you would be watching someone else doing something that interests you. Generally, you can converse or “hang out” with this person and have that small connection or even a conversation with this person that you enjoy watching.
I hope that helps.
As an add on to this the barrier of entry is fairly low so it’s “easy” for people to get into. You generally just need a microphone of some sort and a webcam or something capable of taking live video like a smartphone even and you can share your content. After that it gets more involved but the first step is fairly easy.
@Targaryen @dashcloud Seems to have summed this up much better than I would have.
https://meh.com/forum/topics/explain-twitch-to-me-please#5d8381c9308fc907f88577d7
@dashcloud @FeralRants @Targaryen Sorry, TL;DR
@dashcloud @FeralRants @therealjrn TL;DR Uh… We have some streamers in our community. Streaming is more than just gaming. It like TV but the person you’re watching is more acessible.
@dashcloud @FeralRants @Targaryen
Oh yeah, I’ve seen those, how many clothes do they take off?
@dashcloud @FeralRants @Targaryen @therealjrn Depends on how much you pay.
You can do stuff like watch this asshole build a birdhouse for a crowd of persnickety weirdos
I just want to remind everyone that Twitch Plays Pokemon happened.
@Thumperchick And on the 11th day, our Lord was born.
@FeralRants all hail the helix
Woot uses the comment feature since Wooters are chatty. That’s fun.
Twitch is Amazon’s foray into competing with YouTube, but with a focus on livestreaming and most importantly for the streamers, an easy way to monetize your streams. People can buy tokens (e.g. in-game currency, called ‘bits’) and then give/pay streamers (aka “content producers”) in them, like tipping.
The streamers set whatever rules they want to pimp themselves upon the public to convince people to pay them directly for what they put out.
As opposed to YouTube where the streamers revenue depends on Google/YouTube’s ad revenue sharing model, or subscriptions to YouTube Red (not to be confused with your subscription to RedTube).
Or as opposed to Facebook and Instagram ad-based revenue programs.
It is a more direct way to interact with fans and for fans to directly fund the individuals that produce content they consume. And it’s taken off like gangbusters when Amazon focused on eSports streamers and Fortnite and PUBG streamers blew up with huge followings (e.g. Ninja).
Bonus: If you are a Prime member, you get free games, and in-game bonuses through your Twitch account. This supports the discord/Line/“game chat”/“which friends are online playing what game status” social parts of game culture.
Amazon tried to integrate a PC version of the Amazon AppStore with it. I don’t think its taken off as much as the others have. e.g. Steam, Epic, GOG, Ubisoft, or EA in the PC App/Game Store/Library/Launcher category.
My take - it’s mixed. There are a lot of creative people doing some pretty cool streaming production with interactive content coming from the chats and viewers. Like when someone “donates” some bits, the livestream posts your handle and little hearts float up and are overlaid onto the livestream in near real-time.
@mike808 TL;DR
@mike808
You think that is “cool” and “creative”?
“Holy shit, guys! You gotta see this! When I waste money by pressing a button, little hearts appear on screen!!! Sooooo COOOL!”
@medz I was talking about the ability of some teenager to have access to video technology that does that for essentially near-zero cost, compared to costs for CGI resources ten years ago. That’s what’s cool, not the whole “influencer” culture bullshit. Deep fakes are next up on the “anyone can do this” train of technology commoditization.
@medz So @mike808 used a lot of qualifiers there…
Oh Look! Bubbles!
What I find amusing is how Twitch started as a gaming-focused spinoff of Justin.tv, then got so popular that Justin.tv was axed, then got even more popular to where Twitch added streaming categories for content other than gaming.
@lljk I think I remember watching Justin.tv way back on my first Roku and finding crappy movie streams. Almost unwatchable, well, mostly unwatchable.
I watch way too much Twitch for my own good. Mostly Starcraft 2, but also chess and whatever game has come out that looks interesting.
Twitch is for people who have a lot of time on their hands to watch long, boring live streams instead of just watching youtube clips of only the relevant, interesting highlights.
Birdhouse asshole made a robotic carnival with machines controlled by Twitch chat