In order to bring attention to the persistent hate raids that have plagued the platform in the past weeks, streamers took a day off Twitch on 1st September. 1st to. According to data compiled by Gamesight, a gaming analytics company, Twitch saw a drop in viewership. According to Gamesight’s data, the number of active channels and viewer hours at 12 PM PT on September 1st was at the lowest in the last eight days.
However, there are additional factors that could have been weighted here. Popular streamers DrLupo and TimTheTatman announced they were leaving Twitch for exclusive streaming deals with YouTube Gaming and schools in the US reopened sessions. Another data analytics team, CreatorHype also highlighted in their report that Twitch’s viewership was down on 1st September.
Zach Bussey of CreatorHype wrote “Based on the data, #ADayOffTwitch impacted both the number of streamers and the viewership on the platform. Depending on how you qualify that data, the impact might have been as low as 5 percent or potentially as high as 15 percent.”
The hashtag quoted above was among the top 10 trending hashtags for the day. It is a great feat considering other trending hashtags were regarding Hurricane Ida in New York, Joe Rogan’s COVID-19 diagnosis, and the Texas abortion battle. Big streamers like Hasan Abi and press outlets like Forbes and USA Today also highlighted Twitch.
As of now, Twitch is currently working on the hate raid problem but the company is yet to reveal any timeline for a complete solution. Meanwhile, streamers and third party companies have created their own tools to fight back. For example, Streamlabs, the makers of some of the most popular stream management tools announced Safe Mode, a free program to stop a hate raid in progress.
ShineyPen, the streamer who started #ADayOffTwitch said “To see how much this has made an impact is amazing to me.” The so called digital walkout was designed to bring attention to the harassment disproportionately suffered by marginalized streamers. It seems streamers have accomplished their goals.
RekitRaven, creator of the #TwitchDoBetter movement said “It was honestly just amazing to witness. It felt like an awesome moment, especially when there were so many who doubted (and still doubt) what we’re trying to do in this space.”
