“Just Chatting” is the most successful category on the streaming platform Twitch, but the community is less enthusiastic about it. In a live stream, a Twitch employee was confronted with criticism that Twitch was supposedly no longer a gaming site and responded to it.
What is Just Chatting? With over 55 million hours of watch time, the “Just Chatting” category is the most popular on Twitch (via streamcharts). No video games are played in these streams, the streamers just chat with each other.
The streamers can do another activity on the side, but that doesn’t always have to be the case. “Just Chatting” was a very popular category, especially during the Corona pandemic.
Categories like “Just Chatting” invite so-called IRL streams. In these, people stream their travels or visits to certain events in real life. The community can share in the experiences of the streamers.
There are a wide variety of streamers on Twitch. In our video we introduce you to three German streamers:
3 German Twitch streamers you should know
More videos
Community dissatisfied with the development of Twitch
What is the community dissatisfied with? Twitch had its origins in the gaming scene. It was a platform for streaming video game playing. Twitch is increasingly moving away from this origin and is aiming its content at a broader audience.
This upsets some long-established viewers who only watch Twitch for the gaming content. The “Just Chatting” category may also contain content that is not suitable for younger viewers.
This also includes the so-called “Hot Tub” streams, in which the streamers sit in a pool, scantily clothed. This is a loophole in the Twitch guidelines, which state that streamers are allowed to wear little if it concerns pool-related content. “Hot Tub” streams now even have their own category on Twitch.
“Why is Twitch no longer a gaming site?”
What does the Twitch employee say? In a Twitch stream, head of community industry merrykish and a senior producer from Twitch answered questions from viewers. The stream was hosted due to the latest patch notes.
A viewer question asked, “Why is Twitch no longer a gaming site?” Merrykish responded by saying that Twitch is still a gaming site, but in the last three years Just Chatting came along and was the biggest.
According to Kish, the community would show what they like to watch most on Twitch and that they also want to see things outside of video games.
However, gaming would always remain the “livelihood” of the streaming platform. “Just Chatting” will be supported, as will the video game content on the site.
You can watch the excerpt from the stream here:
How did the community react to the statement? The reactions are mixed. While some agree, some continue to criticize the rise of the “Just Chatting” category for its dangers to younger viewers.
Twitch is repeatedly criticized as a platform, especially by its own community. With updates and new guidelines, they keep stepping on users’ toes. This was also the case with the VTuber community when they established new rules for the characters they use: A community feels targeted by new rules from Twitch