7 Reasons Why Twitch Is So Popular

Last Updated on 08/31/2021 by Dean

Why is Twitch SO popular?

Some people don’t understand what the fuss is all about.

They don’t see how a platform like Twitch could be popular.

After all, why watch a livestream when you can just consume the highlights later on YouTube?

In this article, I’ll cover why Twitch has become so popular of the last couple of years and why this is only the beginning.

Twitch Streams Have User Engagement

Most content online is a one-way street.

When you’re consuming a Netflix Series, you are simply sitting back and enjoying the ride.

YouTube is similar. Although there is a comment section where you can discuss the video afterward, there is no real interaction between you and the creator.

Twitch is different.

Twitch streams are live and allow for a lot of interaction between the streamer and the viewer.

This brings an entirely different atmosphere to the table.

As a Twitch viewer, you are part of something.

You aren’t just sitting back and enjoying the ride by yourself.

You are surrounded by hundreds and sometimes thousands of others who are consuming this content besides you.

This leaves a lot of room for fun interactions between you and the other viewers.

Twitch Has an Extensive Community

Twitch has that community feeling that is extremely rare to find online.

Everywhere you go on Twitch, you instantly feel like you’re part of something bigger.

You can join any Twitch stream, and you’ll be surrounded by a tiny (or sometimes big) community dedicated to that specific streamer.

And that streamer will often be part of an even bigger community as well.

An example of this is Pokimane.

Pokimane is one of the largest female streamers in the world and streams to over 20,000 viewers every time she goes live.

She has her own community that actively consumes her content.

These viewers love to chat with her when she’s live, discuss things with each other in the chat, watch her highlights on YouTube, and hold discussions on Reddit and discord.

Pokimane is a part of OfflineTV, a collaboration between big content creators on YouTube and Twitch.

Thus Pokimane’s personal community is part of an even bigger community as well!

What I’m trying to say here is, Twitch brings a great many people together in a way that only Twitch can.

The Twitch community also extends to real life in the form of TwitchCon.

TwitchCon is an annual event where streamers and viewers come together.

The event happens once per year in both North America and Europe and brings together tens of thousands of content creators and their fans.

Twitch Helps you Get Better at Video Games

You can learn a lot by consuming content.

Twitch streams are no different. They can help you get better at video games through live entertainment.

Some of the streamers on Twitch play at a professional level and there is a lot to take away from their playstyle.

Simply watching TenZ‘s live streams for example can help you get better at a game like Valorant because you’ll take away a thing or two from his playstyle.

The way he communicates with his teammates, his crosshair placement, the way crosses the map, there are a lot of things you can learn by watching a professional at work.

These are things you can’t learn anywhere else.

Sure, you can watch a professional at work in a 10 minute YouTube highlight but it’s not the same.

Twitch is Not Limited to Gamers

For a while, Twitch was seen as a live streaming platform for gamers.

This is no longer the case.

These days, you can find a wide variety of content creators on Twitch.

Singing streams, dancing streams, workout streams, the list goes on.

Even hot tub streams are a thing on Twitch.

Since the arrival of Just Chatting streams, Twitch has become much more than simply a video gaming platform.

It has become the go-to platform for ANY type of live streaming.

Twitch is a Career

Twitch has changed the lives of many of its streamers by giving them a career they wouldn’t give up for anything.

Who wouldn’t love to stream live to thousands of people, every day AND get paid for doing it?

Twitch as a platform has created many opportunities for people to make money doing something they love.

And some streamers make A LOT of money doing so.

In our recent article, we found out that some top streamers make more than $200,000 per month from streaming.

And you don’t need to be a behemoth of a streamer either! Even smaller streamers with just 100 viewers can make a living on Twitch.

Twitch Streams are Addictive

Once you start consuming live streams on Twitch, it’s difficult to stop.

I’d even go as far as to say that watching Twitch stream can be addictive.

Now you may think I’m just speaking for myself, but a study from IAB confirms this. Results from that study claim that 7 out of 10 people who consume live streams, do so on a daily basis.

This study makes sense to me and those whom I surround myself with.

While I used to be an avid YouTube watcher (ever since YouTube came out in 2005) in the recent years I have become more of a Twitch watcher.

I believe live streaming is a real game changer and this type of content will continue to become more and more popular for years to come.

Which brings me to my next point…

Live Streaming is Growing Every Day

At any moment of the day, in 2021, more than 2.5 million people are consuming content on Twitch.

This is a stark difference from just two years ago, in 2019, when 1.3 million people were consuming Twitch at any moment.

Or from 2016, when Twitch saw 500k concurrent viewers.

Over the last 5 years, Twitch’s growth has quintupled.

As Live Streaming is growing bigger and bigger each day, Twitch’s popularity will only continue to increase as they remain the #1 leader in live streaming.

source: Twitch Tracker


Why is Twitch More Popular Than Other Streaming Platforms (YouTube, Facebook, Etc)?

Considering social media giants such as YouTube and Facebook have their own streaming platforms, it might leave you wondering why Twitch is still the most popular streaming platform.

Read Also: Twitch vs YouTube

👉 The Twitch Community

Having been a dedicated streaming platform for over a decade, Twitch has built a huge online community consisted out of streamers and viewers.

And you can really feel the presence of that community as soon as you enter a livestream.

The chat is very lively and the streamer acknowledges and converses with them.

It just feels right!

You’ll see subscriber-only emotes, betterTTV emotes, subscriber badges and so forth.

Moderators are friendly and engage with the other viewers, chatters are conversing among each other.

Many of the viewers have sub streaks that go back months and even years.

Friendships are formed amongst recurring viewers.

You’ll even see other streamers pop in and say hi.

The community on Twitch is extensive and simply unbeatable.

YouTube and Facebook Gaming streams lack that extensive community.

Viewers often feel alienated when watching a stream on these alternative platforms due to the lack of streamer-viewer and viewer-on-viewer engagement.


👉 Twitch is Designed for Live Streaming

Unlike YouTube which is designed for videos and Facebook which is designed as a social media platform first, Twitch is entirely designed with streaming in mind.

Many viewers come to Twitch to look for a live stream.

You don’t really go to YouTube or Facebook with that same thought in mind.

This makes Twitch simply more viewer-friendly.

You don’t have to look for anything, Twitch’s User Interface is straight-forward and easy to navigate.

Finding live streams on YouTube or Facebook isn’t nearly as straight-forward.

Doing so feels clunky and unnatural.


👉 Twitch Streamers Make More Money

how to make money on twitch

Viewers go where the streamers are and streamers are not ready to leave Twitch just yet.

While platforms such as YouTube and Facebook give better monetary cuts, 70% for YouTube and 100% for Facebook, in comparison to the base revenue split of 50% for Twitch.

While platforms such as YouTube and Facebook give higher monetary cuts to their streamers, the average streamer will still make more money on Twitch.

By default, Twitch streamers keep 50% of their revenue.

Read also: How to get the 70/30 revenue split on Twitch

Facebook Gaming streamers keep 100% and YouTube streamers keep 70%.

However, Twitch is more optimized for monetization thanks to gifted subs, prime subs, bit donations, and more.

On top of that, viewers on Twitch are more likely to whip out their credit cards for their favorite streamer.

Paying for content is ingrained into the platform and gives you many perks such as sub badges, sub-only emotes, subscriber streaks, and much more.

There is a certain prestige to being subscribed to your favorite streamer for multiple consecutive months.

All of this has made Twitch the superior option for streamers looking to monetize their live audience.

On average, a Twitch streamer will make 3x more than a YouTube or Facebook streamer with the same amount of viewers.


👉 The Twitch Branding

When you think of social media, Facebook will cross your mind.

When you think about videos, YouTube will come up.

But when you think of streaming, you think of Twitch.

That branding is important.

When a viewer wants to find a new streamer, where will they go to find them? Twitch.

When a new streamer is considering a platform, which will be the most likely decision? Twitch.

It’s really not that difficult to understand why Twitch is so much more popular than YouTube and Facebook.

YouTube and Facebook can continue to buy out Twitch streamers for ridiculous sums, they will never have the branding that Twitch has.


👉 Big Streamers Stay on Twitch

Almost never, you will find a big streamer with a massive audience that is not streaming on Twitch.

And even if you do, you can be fairly certain they were paid a large chunk of money to stream exclusively on said platform.

This is due to many reasons, some of which have been summed up earlier in this article:

  • Twitch streamers make more money
  • Twitch has the best community
  • Twitch is more viewer friendly

But one major reason is that streaming on Twitch is actually hugely beneficial to big streamers.

While small streamers are struggling to grow on Twitch due to Twitch’s chronological directory, big streamers are benefitting from this system.


Conclusion

Its very easy to understand why Twitch is so popular.

Streaming is a fast-growing industry and Twitch dominates that space as the #1 platform.

And their position is (in my opinion) deserved.

While YouTube and Facebook make up powerful competitors, they simply don’t have the tools yet to compete with Twitch.

Want to start a career on Twitch? 👉 Start Streaming on Twitch

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