Streaming Toxicity

This is just a piece that I wrote for my class (Writing for Interactive Media). Throughout this class, we’ve had to come up with multiple story ideas and write about them. For this assignment, we were told to distribute it on some form of media (Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, etc.) With that said, all opinions are mine, anything gathered from another site is linked, and the interviews conducted word for word. Also I have removed last names of my interviewees for privacy.

Despite the popularity of streaming, or perhaps because of it, there are many issues in the streaming communities. Just like a regular day to day job, streamers get tired, they burn-out, and they have bad days. Viewers have seen this, yet, there are still viewers out there that believe that the streamer should be “on” at all times. If they’re running errands or eating out with friends/family the viewers want to see it. Thanks to the demand, Twitch started an IRL, now known as Just Chatting, category so that streamers could show their daily lives. It started a huge debate as streamers felt themselves run ragged with no privacy as viewers now demanded more of their time.

Eventually it was understood, that they needed breaks, needed to be away from the camera, and needed time to just relax. “…a streamer needs to take a break. Since time off isn’t mandated…it’s the streamers responsibility…to set aside regular time off. Successful streaming revolves around maintaining a following, so I think a streamer should ideally take 2 days off every week, with longer vacations every 2 or 3 months,” stated Kathryn, a viewer and moderator on Twitch.

There are a lot of opinions floating around why there are certain issues forming in streaming communities, from streamers, moderators, and viewers. Each streamer chooses their own schedule and each still receives some type of toxicity, so this is an ongoing issue and not only happening at certain times of the day/year. Many have turned to social media to get the issues cross to others, but it also opens them up to debates from others. This is a question many are trying to answer. There are female streamers, they enjoy playing video games, simple right? Then why are people still debating this? Many female streamers are having to defend themselves constantly.

“Shut the fuck up and make us sandwiches.” This was said to Chassidy, a female streamer on Twitch, also known as Cupcake_ow or just Cupcake. This is a prime example of what many female streamers go through. “I think it’s mostly unjustified, however, those female streamers that use their bodies in an explicit way, often called “titty/boobie” streamers, make legitimate female streamers/gamers look bad all around”, said Matthew, a streamer and moderator on Twitch, when asked about his opinion of the hate culture towards female streamers.

“I think the hate culture towards female streamers generally stems from…female streamers that showcase their bodies to try to gain more viewers, tips…general Twitch fame…these streamers are pretty rare on Twitch, all female streamers tend to get lumped into this category…” stated Kathryn, a viewer and moderator on Twitch.

Besides the harassment received, other toxic issues include swatting, this is where a viewer or another streamer calls the cops on a streamer and most often than not, innocent lives are lost, like in the case of 28 year old Andrew Finch. Stalking is another huge issue, “…I commonly see viewers develop a crush…though it’s usually innocent, it’s gone too far before and crossed the line into unhealthy. He has been in situations where he has started to feel paranoid…which is an understandable reaction to a stranger telling him they are using conversation context clues and Google Maps to try to figure out where he lives…” said Kathryn, viewer and moderator on Twitch, when talking about the streamer she moderates for.

In the case of Tanya DePass, streamer, consultant, and director of a non-profit, she banned the stalker from her stream, however, the user can still watch her streams, follow her to other people streams, and have had people send messages on their behalf to her. Of course, this can lead up to worse behavior as well, in the case of  Dr Disrespect’s, he had someone drive to his house and shoot out a window. Streamer Ellohime, had a viewer show up at his house unannounced wanting to stay with him.

“I believe there are a variety of reasons for the toxicity on Twitch…one reason is that a lot of people are envious of what the broadcasters are able to do, but another is that it’s easy to be toxic…it’s a simple account ban, that’s it…to make a new account…a few minutes…when IP bans do happen, people can normally get around them with things like VPNs,” stated Matthew, streamer and moderator on Twitch.

While Twitch does what it can to curb these behaviors and allow everyone to be safe, there are still many improvements to be made. And while they work on those issues from there side, there are things that the public, the non-Twitch personnel can do. People can spread the word of these behaviors, let others know that it will not be tolerated, push for swifter action, and help each other when needed.