Hello friends! This post is intended for people who are using Twitch for the first time and feeling confused or intimidated by its many quirks. Twitch is less intuitive than most social media platforms, and when I first checked it out I was kind of put off by how chaotic it felt. If you’re feeling the same, check out this list of just a few of Twitch’s unique features and quirks, explained for the newb.
If you somehow stumbled upon this page without being on my Twitch channel, go check it out at twitch.tv/thesarahshay!
Note: This is focused on music streamers, because that’s who I watch and that’s what I do! But most of these rules apply regardless of the streamer’s content.
Other Note: Some of the features I’ve described are only available in channels where the streamer is an ‘Affiliate’ or ‘Partner,’ or can be turned off by the streamer. So if you don’t see it in a channel, that’s probably why.
- What is Twitch? Twitch is a video platform exclusively dedicated to livestreaming. It started with a specific focus on people livestreaming themselves playing video games, but now people use it to stream themselves playing music, working on art, and lots of other stuff. It’s like if there were thousands of different public access channels on your TV from all over the world, and everything was happening live. Most streamers interact with their viewers in the chat (you’ll need an account to comment). You don’t have to chat or engage with any of the other features, but it can be fun!
- Emotes: Instead of a conventional menu of emojis, Twitch has “emotes.” Sometimes they’re photos, sometimes they’re animated, but functionally, they’re just Fancy Emojis. You can still copy and paste regular emojis from elsewhere online, but the menu in the chat will only show you Twitch emotes. Twitch streamers have the chance to release unique emotes to their subscribers as an incentive, so you’ll see people use emotes in the chat that you don’t have access to. You can click on an emote in the chat to find out which channel it came from, and subscribe to that channel to get access to it. Some channels also allow you to temporarily unlock an emote using Channel Points (more on those later!)
- Subscribing vs. Following: Unlike YouTube, there’s a difference. Following is free, and means you’ll get notifications when the streamer goes live (unless you opt to turn them off), and when you log into Twitch, the lefthand menu will show you everyone you follow who’s currently live. Subscribing costs money, but it supports the creator you’re following and gets you some benefits like ad-free viewing, special emotes, and other stuff that varies from channel to channel. Subscribers can also gift subscriptions to other users, and people often do it just randomly! In my first few weeks on Twitch, I received gift subs in half a dozen different channels. The community is pretty nice like that! However, subscriptions are only available on Affiliate or Partner channels, AND Twitch takes a 50% cut of all subscriptions. To support a channel more directly, look for tipping and patronage options on their About page.
Fun Fact: If you have Amazon Prime, that gives you one free subscription per month. You can sub to any channel you want, and it supports the streamer without costing you anything extra. - Commands: In a lot of channels, you’ll see a suggestion that you use various commands in the chat, which usually start with “!” Commands vary depending on the channel because they’re not technically part of Twitch: they are used to control bots that streamers can add to their channel, and then each streamer decides what commands they want to use. Mostly they just result in the bot replying to you with a set response, such as using !songs or !sl to have the bot give you a link to a music streamer’s song list. But some people have really fun, involved commands, so check the About section below the stream window to see if they have a list!
- Bits and Cheering: Bits are a way of sending tips to streamers you like. You can buy bits from Twitch, and then distribute them in any way you like, from 1 at a time to hundreds or thousands (each bit is worth 1 cent to the streamer). That way, rather than having to enter your payment info on a bunch of different donation pages or committing to subscribing to one channel, you can spread your donation money around. Sending bits is called “cheering,” which I still find needlessly confusing: you type “cheer50” or “cheer100” (and so on) into the chat and your message shows up with a fun little animation, and the streamer gets your bits. However, bits are again only available to Affiliates and Partners, so if you’re only watching one or two streamers or you don’t watch very often, it’s probably more effective to donate to them directly. They’ll likely have a link in their About section.
- Channel Points: Another Affiliate/Partner-specific feature, so you won’t see this on every channel. But if a streamer has channel points, you’ll earn them just by watching a stream, without doing anything. They appear just below the chat window, and will update automatically, although you’ll sometimes get a chance to earn more by interacting. This one can get confusing because streamers are allowed to change the name, so if the first time you see points they’re called “Hugs” or something, you’re likely to be even more confused about what they are. The ways you can redeem points are controlled by the streamer, but they’re usually low-key stuff like highlighting one of your messages in the chat, or temporarily unlocking a subscriber-only emote. Some people do fun stuff with them, like letting you control the stream in some way: make them put on a hat or sunglasses, do a character voice, play a different instrument, etc. It’s just a fun, free way to encourage people to engage in the chat. You can totally ignore them if you want! Sometimes a prompt will show up in the chat telling you that you have enough points to do something, but it’ll go away after a few seconds.
- All the Stuff On Screen: People use Twitch in a lot of different ways, but it was originally built (and is still focused on) people streaming themselves playing video games*. A LOT of the site’s functionality is designed around that aesthetic, and if you keep that in mind it will explain a lot. Even music streamers sometimes have tons of stuff on their screen: there could be text, animations, even sound effects popping up at seemingly random intervals, which can feel VERY chaotic. I personally tend to watch streamers who have a lighter hand with that sort of thing — and they do exist! All that stuff means something: the most common is that when a new person follows or subscribes or tips, their name will pop up onscreen. Some are more functional, showing a song request queue or a donation goal (both of which I use).
- Raids: This is one of my favorite functions on Twitch! The idea is that when a streamer is done streaming, they can look at the list of people they follow, choose someone else who is currently live, and “raid” them. All that means is that everyone in their chat will be automatically taken to that other streamer’s channel. You’ll be notified that a raid is about to happen and you can choose to opt out, but I’ve found it’s a great way to discover new channels. You can always leave immediately if the new stream isn’t to your tastes. If someone uses Channel Points, you can earn them by following raids too (you earn points for the channel leading the raid, not the one being raided). It’s common to choose a “raid call” as well: a combination of text and emotes which everyone copies and then pastes in the new channel to signify that a raid has happened (something akin to “HI YOU ARE BEING RAIDED”). If it’s a big raid, that can result in a LOT of messages.
- Stream Resolution: On YouTube, if you’re having trouble playing a high-quality video you can click the settings gear and change the resolution, lowering the video quality so it will play more smoothly. The same is true on Twitch, except that it’s not always an option. It’s a long complicated explanation, but the short answer is that they prioritize Partners and Affiliates. It’s also affected by the overall current traffic on Twitch. Basically it’s worth looking for if your connection is slow, but don’t expect it to always be there. You can also uncheck “Low Latency” — that’ll make your video play more smoothly, but will increase the delay.
Well, those are the main things that confused the heck out of me when I first started. That should at least get your brain’s foot in the door; anything else you need explained you can Google!