Summary
Over the coming weeks,Twitchwill roll out a new, optional tool for content creators to use that will prevent banned users from watching a live stream in addition to a chat ban. According toTwitch, the new feature will be rolled out to all streamers over the course of September. News of this feature was well-received on social media, with most Twitch streamers calling it a long-overdue addition to the service.
During TwitchCon Paris in July,Twitch revealed a feature inspired by Snapchatthat allows content creators to post stories that will last only 24 hours on desktop and mobile. Twitch stories can be used to post Clips, Highlights, or notices to let users know when their favorite content creators go live. In addition, Twitch has also continued to improve upon pre-existing features in the background. Though bans have traditionally been used as a way for channels to deal with rude behavior, that has not stopped banned users from watching some streams live despite their inability to chat in a channel. However, that will soon change.
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Starting in September, all Twitch channels will be able to activate an optional feature that will prevent users from watching a live stream of a channel they were banned from for any reason. According to Twitch Partner Lowco, the new feature will work instantly, and a user banned mid-stream will immediately be blocked from watching, no matterwhat game or content is being streamed by a Twitch channel. But, banned users will still be able to watch Clips and videos-on-demand (VODs) of past broadcasts in the meantime.
Trevor Fisher, Twitch’s Sr. Product Manager of Community Health said during the August 16 episode of Twitch Patch Notes that IP bans would not necessarily be fully implemented due to complications that surround such measures. Fisher said that Twitch will take user feedback into consideration as it looks for ways to expand the ways creators can handle banned users, even when they are logged out. Response to this change has been mostly positive on social media, with much higher praise for the new option thanthe recent Twitch Partner Plus programreceived. Though some Twitch users wondered what took the Amazon-owned service so long to add more tools for dealing with banned users, some also remained optimistic that more tools will come in the future.
While Twitch competitorKick has added a few featuresof its own, Twitch still remains the top streaming service for content creators across the globe. Only time will tell if the competition will step up their tools for dealing with banned users in response to Twitch’s changes.
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