What is Twitch? Everything you need to know about the livestreaming platform

You already do your online shopping on Amazon. You’re watching the latest films on Prime Video. You’re asking Alexa to play your favorite songs.

Amazon has already seeped into every facet of your digital life. But… are you watching your favorite streamers on Twitch?

If you’re unfamiliar with Twitch, you may have at least heard of it.

As you can probably guess, Twitch is owned by Amazon. The ecommerce giant acquired Twitch in 2014 for $970 million. If you’re an old-timer on the internet, you may have heard of its predecessor, Justin.TV, which was an early live streaming platform. The founders of that earlier iteration of what’s now known as Twitch saw how popular livestreaming was with the game community. Thus, Twitch was born.

If you only know one thing about Twitch from passing chatter, it’s that it is incredibly popular within the video game community. But over the years, Twitch has found more general audiences – both within other niche communities and the mainstream – which has transformed it into much more than a platform for gamers.

Here’s everything you need to know about Twitch.

Twitch Basics

More than 30 million daily visitors watch some of the 7 million content creators who stream on Twitch each month, according to the Amazon-owned company. YouTube, the Google-owned video behemoth, is Twitch’s biggest competitor. But while there is some overlap, the two platforms are quite different.

Twitch is a livestreaming platform. While YouTube does offer livestreaming features, most creators make pre-produced videos and upload them to the service. Conversely, some Twitch creators do upload videos, but the vast majority of them are streaming live.

Like I mentioned earlier, Twitch is known for its gaming streams. But as the platform gained in popularity, other creators joined too. Streams featuring political debates, musical performances, and general hangouts with creators can all be found on Twitch.

The platform for viewers

Twitch can be a little overwhelming for new users, but let’s break it down.

Find something to watch on Twitch.
Credit: mashable screenshot

Upon arriving at Twitch.tv, users are welcomed by a few video feeds from channels that are currently live. To look for specific content, click Browse and you can filter through channels based on what video game the streamer is playing. Non-gaming content is sorted into more general categories like “Sports” and “Politics,” but most creators who aren’t gaming just stream under the “Just Chatting” category.

Once you find a creator you like, you’ll be taken to their Twitch channel to watch them stream.

In the middle of the screen you’ll find the currently live video followed by the channel’s details with information about the stream, social media links, and ways to support the creator.

On the left hand side, Twitch recommends other channels it thinks you’ll like based on your history alongside Twitch channels frequented by the fans of the channel you’re currently watching. And on the right, you’ll find the live chat.

If you like a streamer and want to be notified when they go live, the terminology on Twitch can be confusing if you’re a YouTube regular. “Subscribe” on Twitch is actually a paid subscription to that channel. If you’re looking to stay up-to-date with a streamer without becoming a paid member, you’ll want to click the “Follow” button.

Watching a Twitch livestream.
Credit: mashable screenshot

But let’s say you do want to provide monetary support to a creator! Then you are looking for “Subscribe.” Subscriptions start at $4.99 on Twitch and come with bonuses such as ad-free viewing, subscriber-only badges, and special emoji-like icons called emotes which can be used in the live chat. You can also support a creator and spread the benefits to other users by gifting paid subscriptions.

Are you an Amazon Prime subscriber? Then here’s where some benefits come in that might surprise you! Just connect your Amazon Prime account to your Twitch account and you’ll receive access to bonus in-game content for new games every month. Plus, each month you can subscribe to one of your favorite streamers at no additional cost, yet they’ll still get paid $4.99 for your complimentary membership.

Twitch also provides the option to financially support your favorite creators via Bits. These are essentially one-time donations that viewers can give creators during a livestream to show their support. Each bit amounts to roughly a penny given to a creator.

The creators

Anyone can stream on Twitch. Just set-up an account, launch your channel, and go live.

However, much like YouTube, streamers can also get paid for their content. So, if you’re a creator who wants to make money from any of the aforementioned monetized features, here’s what you need to do to become either a Twitch Affiliate or Partner.

To become a Twitch Affiliate, you need to stream at least 7 times for a total of 500 minutes, averaging no less than 3 concurrent viewers, within a 30 day period. You also need at least 50 users following your channel.

This is by far the easiest way to get your Twitch channel monetized.

It’s a bit more difficult to become a Twitch Partner. Creators need to stream at least 12 times for a total of 25 hours and average 75 viewers per stream. Once you do that, you can apply for consideration to be accepted into the Twitch Partner Program. Partners receive additional streaming options over Affiliates. Most notable, Twitch saves their streams for two months for video-on-demand viewing as opposed to the usual 14 days.

SEE ALSO: The best streaming sites for films

One extremely interesting feature that Twitch provides its creators has also recently become one of its more controversial: Raids.

When a Twitch creator is wrapping up their stream, they have the ability to send all of their current viewers to a live stream of their choice. Sounds cool, right? It is, yet unfortunately, some users are utilizing raids in bad faith. Twitch streamers have gone so far as to protest Twitch’s inaction over the proliferation of “hate raids,” when a streamer sends their viewers to raid a channel in order to spread hateful messages and ruin the live chat.