[Feature] Shoutout Chat Command
Hi, all! We're thrilled to announce the upcoming launch of a new native chat command that allows you to give another streamer a shoutout in chat, so that you can introduce them to your viewers and help them grow! Here's an overview of the key features all broadcasters and mods can expect to see in September:
Use "/shoutout [channel]" to support another streamer by displaying a follow button for their channel in chat, so your viewers can support by following them without leaving your live stream.
If the channel getting the shoutout has a stream schedule set up, it will also show their next scheduled stream with a button that viewers can use to set a reminder to watch.
The streamer you shoutout will receive a notification in their activity feed referencing your channel and the number of viewers you shouted them out to.
We welcome your thoughts and suggestions on how we can keep helping you support the growth of more streamers on Twitch. As always, thank you for your ongoing support and feedback!
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Hey everyone! Just wanted to pop in and let you all know we're rolling out Shoutouts starting today! You can learn more here: https://help.twitch.tv/s/article/shoutouts
Thank you all for your valued feedback, and please continue to leave your suggestions for Shoutouts below!
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Dark_Babar commented
We need a way to cancel / delete a shoutout, in case of mistake in username typing
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JankTownBeats commented
Why doesn't this work on Mobile?
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Fatangel333 commented
/shoutout does not work consistently on Android mobile app for streamers or mods of a channel
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AgentJ2018 commented
Not sure if its possible but would be great to see the ability to change the wording instead of join us in following. We love shouting people out but it makes it seem as if it is then a follow for follow type of situation and that is not what alot of communities are about.
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pcboiix commented
Not sure if already added, but would be beneficial to include the stream category in the shoutout, current functionality seems/feels basic.
Most bots have the following:
If shoutout recipient is online.
Be sure to check out @username they're currently streaming {{$stream_category}}. https://twitch.tv/username
--If shoutout recipient is offline
Be sure to check out @username they were last streaming {{$stream_category}}. https://twitch.tv/username
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entitee commented
Shoutout channel name in chat shows up extremely hard to read in dark mode on mobile.
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Angry_Bakunawa commented
I am wondering why you cannot give the /shoutout command on mobile. I am modding a streamer and I cannot be on my PC most of the time. So I am completely relying on my phone or tablet when I'm modding. This issue should be fixed soon.
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kevjay73 commented
Would it not be easier to just have the ability to select the user and click shoutout for that person the same as using timeout or ban feature
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GyrosGeier commented
Shoutouts are currently broken for when the display name cannot be resolved as the channel name. I've tried giving a shoutout to a Korean channel, using the username, and both the channel link and the follow button used the display name, so clicking on them led to a 404 page.
Should be simple to fix.
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lethal083 commented
I think its an awesome idea and have been using it in some channels I Mod in but its very underwhelming. It needs to stand out alot more. We can get more out of the !so command. But love the follow button that pops up
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3CGC commented
Can twitch drop a chat message in the channel that is being shouted out? Anything to get the attention of the streamer so that it is not immediately assumed as a bot or hate raid. I know it is in the activity feed but that gets scrolled out by follows, also a chat message could be picked up by an external bot to trigger an audio alert for incoming shoutouts.
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DewdropAly commented
When you get raided by multiple people at once or in quick succession the /shoutout command is kind of useless due to the cool down. We wind up falling back on the !so commands instead
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ChillWithAnne commented
I love the ability to use /shoutout, but even if I already follow a streamer, I'd still love to know WHAT they were last playing, so we can have a topic to talk about after they raided for example (yes i use a bot for this, but for unexperienced people with bots and solely rely on what twitch features makes... it's a good option to add).
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ShaelynTheFae commented
someone below requested /so instead of (or in addition to) /shoutout
yes pls, I agree. we're already used to !so for bots, /so is an easy step from that. it's also much easier for mobile users to get the text out quicker
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LockelyFox commented
Good feature but needs a little more time in the oven. The chat message of "Shoutout was given to [otherstreamer]" is incredibly underwhelming, and is the only thing people see if they already follow said streamer. As far as I can tell during testing last night, the toast message with further info does not pop up if you're already following. The name field didn't even follow [otherstreamer]'s saved capitalization, meaning it looked like it pulled username instead of DisplayName.
It should, at minimum, say something like "[Streamer]📢is giving a SHOUTOUT to [OtherStreamer]! They were last seen streaming [Game/Category]!" with maybe an option to customize that message like we can with chatbots.
Since this is a community promotion thing, and it's often used to shout out someone who raided you, it's good to know what they're coming from and be able to tailor my welcome message based on that info.
The feedback from Swtorista and ZachBussey also should be echoed here. Right now this feels exploitable and potentially harmful in the wrong hands, which means someone is going to use it to cause harm sooner rather than later as is often the case on this platform.
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PogoFury commented
As people have pointed out the stress of suddenly seeing a bunch of follow notifications in the activity feed:
Consider a separate type of activity feed notification for follows that come from the shoutout function (or follows that come from a user navigating from the shoutout to the channel and then Following within the channel, if that can be reliably tracked)."💜📢 [Viewername] followed you as a result of a Shoutout from [OtherStreamer]"
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ZachBussey @ TOS.gg commented
Swtorista gave a lot of the feedback I was coming here to share. (Gave a PSA to streamers that it can look a lot like a follow botting).
Here's my thread on it: https://twitter.com/zachbussey/status/1574928553287684097
Good feature, needs tighter guard rails.
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Swtorista commented
FEEDBACK NOW THAT IT IS LIVE:
1) I got a shout out from a channel that had it enabled, very cool! But it does NOT show up in the chat. I only watch my chat as all info already shows up there (chat messages, subscribers, raids.) I do not watch the activity feed. So I would have missed why people were suddenly following after a shoutout out. The channel also shoutoutted another channel and encouraged others to follow, and the recipient thought it was follow bots cus she just got a bunch of followers without any context as she played. CLIP: https://clips.twitch.tv/SleepyLovelyChipmunkPanicVis-nJjmqNyH7yctUJCJ
2) It seems like it can be easily abused for the current time limits. 1 minute is pretty short. So you could shout someone out 60 times an hour and it keep popping up in their feed.
3) I have seen some requests to limit it only to people online, or people in your chat, etc to prevent trolling. I would like to say that I really like shouting out people who are not currently online or not currently in my chat. For example, if another streamer has made an infographic, and i show it on stream, I'd like to be able to say thanks and promote their stream with a shoutout even if they are sleeping.
4) The timer for 1 minute resets when you TYPE the command. So you kinda have to guess when you can re-shout someone... but if you accidentally do it at 50 seconds, it will reset a whole 60 seconds again with no shoutout. Needs to either reset at a successful command use OR show some type of countdown timer ("You can't shoutout for another 35 seconds" etc.) I think it may have an increasing timer which is extra confusing for someone using it in a legitimate way with no interface feedback.
5) When someone is shouted out, the "follow" or "dismiss" popup shows on the page. But why can't I like... click their username, so I can see their page and learn about them, so I can decide to follow or not, or learn more?
6) If multiple people have helped me with a project, I'd like to shout them both. But I shout one, then I get stuck on the timer, and have to wait 1 minute... and by then I have forgotten what I was talking about lol. I understand the timer is there to prevent spam, but I'd love to be able to shout 3-4 people in a row... maybe it's something accounts with good standing could unlock? Another example is when we get raided, sometimes multiple streamers and friends come in at a time who I want to shout out.
7) I'd still like to see "/so" and "!so" and "!shoutout" work in chat if it doesn't already.
8) I'd still like to see a button I could click from people in chat if possible (see other comment)
To see what I see, https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1603054441 look for the video "Raid + Shoutouts, Ludwig Company, Julien Disappointed, and more! | !patreon !tts | TWITCH NEWS" on September 27, 2022 - ZachBussey got the feature as a test, though he didn't realise he had it at first.
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twitch.tv/MonicaElleRose commented
good feature, but please consider adding a filter minimum for the shout out activity feed so it doesnt spam the activity feed. this is going to be abused.
i would also like to see a queue so mods can shout out multiple people without being timed out and having to waitalso, add the game/category streamed, because right now we have to use the !so command we often make to know what the person was playing.
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Suppeninfluenzer commented
Could we please Use /so instead of /shoutout?