The Legitimacy of Twitch and the Threat of Bandwagoning

If given a platform, artists will create anything and everything possible. The will to experiment and create something new has lead to the invention of some of the Internet’s biggest entertainers and entertainment platforms. Youtube’s humble beginnings are evidence of this, as the Google owned site now directly pays entertainers to make original content. Twitch.tv started out as a general purpose streaming site, before being rebranded, and bought by Amazon. While new generations of entertainers come and go, it’s these original content creators that started the chain reactions that brought these platforms their unimaginable success.
Many of us look at livestreaming on Twitch as being a genuine, unfiltered look into someone’s life, but there’s always a threat looming over any entertainment industry. Bandwagoners, people who put minimal time and effort into a platform, who see Twitch as nothing more than a way to make easy money, are always looking for a way in. There’s nothing wrong with making a profit in what you love, nor is there a problem with commercializing yourself. The real threat to the entertainment industry is a lose of passion. The transition from fan to performer is incredibly important. Most entertainers want to create something new on their platform, but having an understanding and respect for what came before is essential to creating a niche within the culture.
Consistency Through Competition
The Esports industry is a pillar of consistency and professionality on Twitch. Esports also make up a large chunk of the money moving through Twitch’s ecosystem. The regularity of Esports content, the year-round tournament schedule, and the genuine struggle to compete for income acts as a cornerstone for Twitch’s legitimacy as a platform. Esports can be directly related to traditional sports industries, giving influencers decades worth of statistics and fandom to sell themselves with.
It might seem like Esports is a prime target for bandwagoning, but that has largely been untrue. The amount of time required to compete with other gamers either deters those looking to make a quick buck, or molds it’s players into its culture before they grow big enough to be known. We’ve seen several cases of non-gaming organizations hosting events, or starting Esports divisions within their company, but gamers have been stubborn about who they trust within the culture. These organizations often hire celebrities within the culture to run these events or work as consultants in Esports divisions. This level of mutual trust has maintained Esports cultural significance, and makes long-term careers common in Esports.
Real or Fake?
Where Esports naturally deters fake personalities, casual streaming is not so lucky. Casual streaming revolves around the personality of the streamer. What is and isn’t a part of Twitch’s culture becomes much harder to pin down when it relies on such a large collection of personalities. There are trends, interpersonal drama, and new faces continually changing the culture. Judging whether an entertainer genuinely cares for their audience and platform becomes difficult when the medium is ever changing. Not only can someone claim a false identity, but the strictly ‘for profit’ mentality can become a part of Twitch’s culture if it becomes too widespread.
You might be saying ‘who cares?’ No one likes to see cheaters win, but it’s not hurting anyone, right? The direct threat of Bandwagoners is the time taken away from more serious entertainers. As streamer’s revenue revolves around subscription, donations, and ads, the more time viewers spend with a streamer, and the more engrossed they become by that content, the more revenue a streamer can expect to make. A viewer may divide their time between a serious streamer and a less serious one, but the amount of the money they are willing to put into the platform stays mostly unchanged. Viewer count also affects a streamer’s likelihood of receiving sponsorship.
From a top-down perspective, this doesn’t change much though, right? Ultimately, the same amount of money going into the platform, spread across more entertainers, should make no difference to the platform as a whole. However, this comes back to the idea of legitimacy. Twitch survives, in part, through sponsorship, advertising, and content creation by companies who trust in it’s culture. This legitimacy was originally created by entertainers with no expectation of making it big, and this legitimacy is maintained by entertainers who see money as secondary to their audience’s enjoyment. The less this sentiment is shared across the platform, the less trust brands, viewers, and entertainers have. Without this trust and financial support, the bandwagoners are the first to flee, leaving serious entertainers to pick up the pieces.
Forming an authentic relationship with an audience is an impressive feat for even the most genuine streamers. As long as viewers seek these sorts of relationships, faking it live can only last so long. Twitch lies right the edge of content creation and a behind the scenes view. It gives us a look into the lives of people we love, while simultaneously providing structured entertainment through that personality. Companies who advertise on Twitch are doing so by putting streamers first. Let’s keep it that way.
