Millions of people every month are streaming on and watching Twitch. With this many users, you could say that Twitch is kind of a big deal. But do so many people love Twitch?
Why is Twitch so Popular?
Twitch is popular for these main reasons: Twitch is streamed live, Twitch broadcasts several e-sports competitions, Twitch is interactive, there are entertaining streamers, you can be part of a community, you can learn to improve at a game from watching others, huge selection of games to watch, huge selection of content not related to gaming and lastly it offers content creators the opportunity to make money doing what they love.
There are obviously other reasons, but these are the main reasons. Now lets dive into some of the main reasons Twitch is so popular.
Twitch is streamed live
One of the main things that sets Twitch apart from other platforms is that it is streamed live. Streaming live is so cool because it makes the experience between the streamer and the viewer much more authentic.
One of the reasons that the experience becomes more authentic is because streamers can communicate and interact with their viewers in real time rather than replying to a comment a week later.
When you are watching someone live it is literally like you are there with them. It is very interactive and people really enjoy that.
It’s a great way to pass the time, especially when people stream IRL. Streaming IRL often makes the viewer feel like they are there in real time and that is just cool.
Live streaming is booming in popularity, and Twitch being the largest live streaming platform out there is one thing that adds to Twitch’s popularity.
Twitch broadcasts several e-sports competitions
One awesome thing about Twitch is that they stream just about any e-sport competition that you can think of. From Fortnite, to Madden, to League of Legends (LOL).
It can all be found on Twitch. I play Brawl Stars on my phone every now and again and even the small tournaments they have for that mobile game are streamed on Twitch.
If you are into e-sports, as more and more people are these days, then Twitch is a great place for you to go to watch the biggest competitions for whatever game you are into.
Some of the big events have hundreds of thousands of viewers all tuning in to Twitch to watch the competitors. Often times, Twitch is the only platform streaming the event and so this only helps Twitch to grow in popularity.
Twitch is interactive
Twitch being so interactive is another thing that makes the platform so popular. Like I mentioned earlier, since Twitch is streamed live, you can actually chat with others real time. You don’t have to comment and then days or weeks to get replied to.
Since the stream is live, you can also see your streamers reaction to what it is that you say. If you post something funny, or something cool, you can actually see their reaction in real-time.
This is cool because it makes it feel like an actual conversation. In smaller streams you will have even more opportunities to talk to streamers, and streamers to viewers, because there are less people and less happening so it is easier to manage.
Many of the alerts are also very interactive. Many streamers have alerts for things like follows, subs and donations. Some people like to see the cool animations and so they donate or sub just for the alert.
Lastly, Twitch allows you to interact with other viewers on the channel through chat. There are some great communities out there and these communities are a great way to meet people with similar interests.
Streamers that are entertaining
If you are looking for entertainment, then Twitch has plenty of that for you. There are millions of people streaming to Twitch every day and so you are bound to find something you like.
Regardless of the game, or the personality of the streamer, I promise you that you can easily find a streamer that you like and will want to follow.
And the best part of having so many options, if you get bored of one streamer, you can always move to another channel. There is no lack of quality streamers on Twitch.
Being part of a community
With millions of monthly users, Twitch is a great place to find a community to be a part of. If you like cooking, there are communities for you. If you like gaming, there are communities for you. If you like painting, there are communities for you.
Just about anything that you can think of, you can find a community built around that niche. By the way, if you are looking to build a niche of your own then check out my article here.
Being part of a community is cool. In these different communities you are able to meet and befriend people with similar passions and interests. If you stay in a community long enough these communities can become like an online friend zone that you have.
Communities on Twitch are great, and with so many people using Twitch, you will be sure to find a place where you feel like you belong.
P.s. I am trying to build a channel and community of my one so a follow on my would be very much appreciated. Here is my channel.
You can learn to improve at a game by watching others
Twitch is a great way to watch some of the best gamers out there play video games that you are interested in. Many streamers stream full time and so they spend hours everyday gaming.
With so many hours spent playing, it’s inevitable that these streamers will become very good at the game that they play.
Given how skilled they are, you as a casual gamer/streamer could easily learn a thing or two from these pros.
I know for me personally, I don’t have hours a day to spend gaming so instead I just tune in and watch my favorite streamers play my favorite games. Watching some of these streamers play I am able to see what the Meta is or what the latest strategy is.
I don’t have to spend hours figuring these things out, which I really like because it saves me a lot of time. I can honestly say that watching some of these top gamers play has really helped improve my own gameplay and I know I am not the only person who feels this way.
Most of the best gamers who also stream do so on Twitch so that level of gameplay makes Twitch even more popular. Most of the best players are on Twitch and so if you want to see top talent, then you have to go to Twitch.
Huge selection of games to watch
One thing that sets Twitch apart from other live streaming platforms is the huge selection of games being streamed on the platform. Again, with millions of streamers, you have thousands if not hundreds of thousands of games being streamed every month.
I personally have yet to find a game that isn’t being streamed on Twitch. I have even seen people streaming Mario 64 on Twitch!
Regardless of the game you are interested in at the time, or even if you are trying to relive some of your glory days as a gamer, Twitch has the best chance of having the game that you are looking for.
Huge selection of content not related to gaming
If gaming is not your jam, then no worries, Twitch has a giant selection of live streams that have nothing to do with gaming.
There are cooking streams, exercise streams, yoga streams, religious streams; shoot, I have even seen people doing live streams of them working as bounty hunters or repo men!
These types of streams are called IRL streams (In Real Life) and are steadily growing on Twitch. They give viewers real life experiences.
Some of these IRL streamers have complete IRL stream setups like this that they carry around with them as they stream to make the streams a better quality than you would get with just a cell phone.
IRL streams let you see and be places without physically having to be there.
IRL streams also allow viewers to build a community around a certain niche like wood working or fantasy sports. Being around people with similar hobbies and interests is always a cool thing.
Offers the opportunity to make money doing what you love
How many people can say they love what they do for work? One big reason that people stream to Twitch is to try and earn money doing what they love. How many people can say they get paid to play videogames? Sounds pretty fun right?
But Twitch isn’t all video games. Like I mentioned, there are tons of people doing other things like art and dancing on Twitch who make a respectable income doing so.
It may take some time streaming before you are in a position to make a full-time income streaming on Twitch, but at least Twitch provides you an opportunity to do so. And sometimes, an opportunity is all some people need to make it.
As always, if you have any questions or just want to hang with me, stop by my Twitch channel here and say what’s up!
For even more streaming tips and how-to content check out my Youtube channel here. And if you want to check out my streams then stop by my Twitch channel here.
As you can see, there are so many reasons why Twitch is so popular. It appeals to so many different people with so many different and unique interests. Twitch is currently the king of live streaming and with millions of people watching and streaming to the platform, it does not appear like this will change any time soon.
Eric streams 3 days a week on Twitch and uploads weekly to Youtube under the moniker, StreamersPlaybook. He loves gaming, PCs, and anything else related to tech. He’s the founder of the website StreamersPlaybook and loves helping people answer their streaming, gaming, and PC questions.