If you’ve been scrolling through the myriad of different apps available for your or your kids’ phones, you will likely have seen one called Twitch. And no, it’s not an app that gives you sudden jerking or convulsive movements. (Though, that would be an interesting app to try and market.) This popular app and site are actually something kinda like YouTube, only with a predominantly streaming slant. And it has a central focus on video games.
Let’s take a look at it.
When the current iteration of Twitch was initially founded in 2011, it was very much focused on watching live streams of other people playing top-shelf games—from shooters to racing games to board games. I know, the idea that somebody would spend any length of time watching someone else play a video game might seem pretty odd to non-gamers. But some tune in to see if a certain game fits their personal tastes, while others just like to watch.
Reports from usage statistics sites such as Business of Apps have declared that Twitch has some “140 million monthly active users,” and it receives content from “8 million unique streamers every month.” So, oowee, you could say it’s pretty popular.
Of course, those many millions of eyeballs aren’t just looking at the famous and non-famous as they mash buttons and speed-run through a game: There are other things to gaze at here, too. If you consider general game gazing as the central room in this stream-focused building, there are also several other wings you could visit.
For instance, there’s a section dedicated to Esports—short for electronic sports. Yes, the focus is still video gaming, but in this case it is the organized competitive sort: professional competitions involving multiplayer favs such as Fortnite and League of Legends.
Then there’s the Music room. This section features folks playing their favorite instruments, giving live concert events, and even offering a lesson or two. You can jump in to watch and admire or maybe pick up a few tips for your own guitar or kazoo. By the way, this is probably as good a spot as any to note that even though the majority of what you find on Twitch is livestreamed, you can also find some prerecorded videos as well.
All right, the next room is the all-purpose Creative section. This one covers a wide gamut of ways that people apply given skill sets. You can watch people designing video games, sketching portraits, painting landscapes, carving out woodworking masterpieces and much, much more. You can even watch someone prepare a meal … and then watch them eat it. (Why you would need to see them eating is, well, a secret of the craft, I guess.)
Lastly, we come to the IRL room, which is an acronym for In Real Life. This is also a pretty broad collection of streams. You can find things like a stream of a bird feeding its young. But by and large this is a section that features people chatting at the camera.
You can find discussions on politics, sports, uh, video games, of course. But you encounter lots of other watch-me-sit-here activities, such as a pair of bikini girls on the beach eating orange slices.
These IRLs aren’t always deep and thoughtful. In general, they’re aimed at getting attention, subscriptions and donations. In fact, a lot of those streams are decidedly boring and presented by incredibly boring people … who just happen to be attractive.
If you’re thinking that some of those types of things might be problematic for younger viewers, well, that’s potentially very true. You need to set up an official Twitch account if you want to chat with those pretty IRL people, and only those who are 13 and older are supposed to be in the mix at all. But truthfully, anybody who can turn on a phone, tablet or computer can tune in and watch as much as they’d like.
Another thing to consider is that livestream videos featuring adults can often stray into some pretty foul language. Again, Twitch’s terms of use forbid objectionable and offensive content, but during a livestream, certain words can be uttered, whether the streamers are splashing around in a baby pool or preparing baked ziti. (I should also mention that some streamers offer special walled-off content for monthly subscription fees ranging from $5 to $25. One would assume that more objectionable content resides therein.)
On the positive side of the ledger, though, there are some ways that you can keep your Twitch visit less … twitchy. There aren’t any parental controls, per se, but there is a Sort and Filter tool that a parent can use to apply content tags and help guide teens to more family friendly fare. Viewers can totally hide a stream’s typed-out chat feature, too.
Oh, and users can block any and all unsolicited private messages—which are called Whispers. And if anyone spots any troubling comments, the site allows the option of tapping that person’s username to block or report them. Problematic streamers can be removed from your personal feed as well.
As you can see, there’s a lot to access through Twitch, and a lot to potentially enjoy. But as with just about everything linked to social media and the internet, there are some sharp, jabby points that can cause some pain as well. As the Mandalorian says: “That is the way.” It’s up to moms, dads and kids to navigate their online orbits and choose wisely.
Oh, and if that app that gives you sudden jerking or convulsive movements shows up, I’ll let you know.
One Response
-Part of the appeal of watching other gamers is seeing them react to the twists and turns of story-based games (Like Persona 5 Royal, my personal favorite) or to get ideas for projects in open world sandbox games like Minecraft. My 9 year old loves watching the handful of pre-approved streamers (I pick out pre-recorded content so I can view it in advance) to learn how-tos for builds and command block codes. And he’s learned how to make some pretty neat stuff.