Hi there tiktakers!
Before we get started with today's video, we want to ask you a question: Do you use
social media?
Surely the overwhelming majority of you use at least one social media platform, since
they are the most popular way to communicate and socialize with other people nowadays.
It's likely you also use them to follow your favorite content creators, and it's precisely
in that sense that one platform stands out from the rest, specially in recent years.
You know which platform are we talking about?
We are talking about Twitch!
Twitch is the biggest live-streaming platform in the world.
Since its inception it has been oriented mainly towards gaming content, although it has been
allowing more kinds of content over the years.
Nowadays you can find Twitch channels related to music, lifestyle, sports, and many other
things.
The main attraction of Twitch is that all of its video content is broadcasted live,
aside from video-archives from previous live-streams which can be saved and shown within the platform.
Turns out that Twitch's first iteration actually originated all the way back in 2007!
Yeah, we were also surprised to learn that.
That year, Justin Kan and Emmet Shear launched a streaming service called Justin.tv.
It had different channels as well, although the most successful one was the gaming channel.
Because of that, in 2011 they decided to create a separate platform dedicated only to e-sports,
giving birth to Twitch.tv.
Over the years, many videogame tournaments were broadcasted through the platform, as
well as many other international events related to gaming.
Twitch became so successful that it caught the attention of many Internet giants.
In 2014 Google considered buying Twitch, but backed-out due to anti-trust issues that could
arise due to owning YouTube.
And so, Amazon swept-in, and bought Twitch on August of 2014, paying a whopping 970 million
dollars for the acquisition.
With Amazon in charge, the doors were opened to other types of live-streams.
The platform itself was also improved, and many things on the site were changed, although
the gaming content was still the primary focus.
Nowadays, Twitch can have more than 2 million people watching at any given time, and 7 million
users do live-streams at least once a month.
And if you think those numbers aren't impressive, we also learned that Twitch employs around
1800 people to work on the platform, and keep it running optimally.
Nowadays, there are many content creators dedicated mainly to streaming on Twitch.
However, most of the site's earnings are concentrated in just a few streamers.
You need to work really hard, and stream for many hours everyday, for this to be a profitable
endeavor, but we know it's possible for many.
As of 2021, the most popular streamers on Twitch are:
- Ninja, who is famous for his Fortnite content - Tfue, who spends a lot of time playing Call
of Duty - And there's also Rubius, Shroud and AuronPlay,
who play and talk about a little bit of everything
There are many more streamers on Twitch tiktakers, so feel free to share with us who are your
favorites down in the comments!
If you use Twitch regularly you'll know that you can just be a regular viewer, but you
can also go beyond that to support your favorite creators.
One way is to become a subscriber, where you pay a fixed amount every month in order to
access exclusive content and features.
Every Twitch channel has different subscription levels, each one with a different price.
And depending on the creator, the privileges for each level will be different.
A common feature is being able to use emoticons not available to regular viewers, as well
as getting access to other exclusive content.
Moreover, if you become a subscriber you can also disable ads, and you'll be able to access
a faster stream chat.
This subscription system basically works as a form of patronage, although it is not available
for all channels.
And of course, it's up to you if you want to pay, or not, for such a service tiktakers
– all we are doing is letting you know that it exists.
As of right now you can find many different types of content on Twitch, and there are
many creators who support the platform despite its flaws, because it allows them to earn
a living by making interesting content for their followers.
Unfortunately, this kind of work can be exhausting, and many creators eventually experience burnout.
It seems that most users on the site are male, but we know that many women also use the site
both as viewers and creators.
The United States is the country with the most Twitch users, followed by Germany, Russia,
and South Korea.
Talking about specific data points can be a bit tricky because they tend to change everyday,
and they are constantly growing!
And with that said tiktakers, please, tell us: Where are you from?
And do you watch any streamers on Twitch?
What do you like the most about the platform?
We'll be reading your comments!