Why is Twitch a thing?

[Lynneiah]

"Why do people enjoy this? I don't enjoy this! Why are people allowed to enjoy things that I don't enjoy?"

[RuneDK]

You are not missing out on anything.
Twitch isn't a thing, it's more like a fling..p

Noone, in their right mind, is watching other people play games, when you can play them yourself..

That's not true in the slightest...People are making money by streaming themselves play video games...it's not a fling...it's a legitimate thing. The issue is kids with too much free time are glued to certain people.

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Did you ever go to a friends house and watch them play Nintendo? You couldn't play because your friend only had 1 controller or was playing a single player game. You spent hours watching him play Zelda or Mario. Same concept, add in chat and a like able personality and it like sitting on your friends couch all over again.

No I don't remember that, if my friend had one controller we took turns. Or he only played for another twenty minutes then we played something else or did something else.

[ItachiZaku]

Twitch is good to see what a game actually plays like. Beyond that though? *shrug*

Tits. Sure, you can get better tits elsewhere, but sometimes it's that creepy "I'm watching you" type of tingle.

[Deleted]

Twitch allows viewers to be a part of a vicarious social experience, granting them a brief illusion of confidence, while in reality, it's a bland form of entertainment, enabled by a sea of people lacking personalities and self awareness, hoping and praying that saying 'Kappa' for the 740,000th time will somehow validate their lives to a level of purpose, seen by them, to be more essential than achieving anything else, like going outside or getting a job.

[Spotnick]

Personally, only reason to use Twitch for me is to use it like coaches do to study strategy used by opponents before a game.

So we study how other guilds do a boss in raids so we can apply that to our own group.

Other than that, no interest, but then again, there are people watching so many things on tv that people have no interest in, video games can be one of them. Problem is probably to understand what's going on for most people.

The only part I don't get is why people give donations... I saw some female streamer interviews saying they did more than 100k/year with their stream, it's just insane. Then again, people do what they want with their money, but it's a weird choice.

[Lazertree]

I thought I would put my 2 cents in as a streamer with a regular audience but also someone who doesn't watch many streamers myself.
There are really 2 types of viewer when it comes to live streaming a game. You have the person who just wants to see the game itself say if its new or an old favorite etc.Then there is the type of viewer who comes for the streamer and their personality or level of engagement. I personally can't watch a streamer who is just sitting their playing the game barely talking because if I wanted to see the game I would play it. Although a streamer who is entertaining and engages their audience is better by far because it is much more a show/form of entertainment that they are putting on.

[Djriff]

A big part of the problem I have is i'll get 1-2 viewers at a time and i'll talk with them and sometimes they'll talk back. I like to participate in conversations with viewers but there's only so much I can talk about when just speaking by myself without outside input. I agree though, I don't like streamers that don't interact with the stream or sit there silently playing a game.