I really liked the practical perspective in this article because removing unnecessary barriers can make a feature much more accessible while still leaving room for sensible moderation and security. It's always a balancing act between protecting users and creating a smooth experience, so discussions like this are valuable. It also reminds me of platforms like PhotocallTV, where easy access and a simple user experience are a big part of what makes them appealing. What do you think would be the best way to maintain trust and prevent misuse if the verified requirement for whispers is removed? https://photocalltv.es/

I think this is a practical suggestion because requiring verification can sometimes create unnecessary friction, especially for people who just want to try the feature or have quick conversations. At the same time, I understand why platforms use verification to reduce spam and abuse, so finding a balance is important. It reminds me of how Kukasoittii aims to keep communication simple and accessible without adding extra hurdles for genuine users. Do you think offering verification as an optional step with added benefits, rather than making it mandatory, would be a better approach? https://kukasoittii.fi/

To the Twitch staff ..... so far there are 43 votes to REMOVE VERIFICATION from the Whisper feature. You do not need to wait until 43,000 or 43,000,000 people vote against it in order for Twitch to THEN do something about it. Just remove this OBVIOUS intrusive, unacceptable policy that disrespects users privacy !

yes please take the verified account only chat away or at the very least make it verify with email address i dont have a mobile phone and i know people who have actually tred to do the mobile phone verification and it still didnt work correctly thank you for your time

This restriction is ridiculous. I mod for a channel, people whisper me and I can't respond.

There is no such thing as an "anonymous phone number". In my country a phone number is legally linked to your home address, date of birth, photo ID and enough other identifying information for someone to impersonate you online. It is a huge security risk to share your phone number with anyone online. I and millions of others will NEVER give twitch my private phone number.

Users can individually choose to block phone unverified accounts if they want. This restriction is idiotic, redundant and prevents mods doing their job, the epitome of which is being unable to respond to someone who messaged you first.

Change this.

Not sure how this is in any way related to Dr Disrespect. This is supposed to prevent bots. Someone who wants to have an anonymous phone number can.

everyone commenting how bad this is but with the whole dr disrespect situation this is a really good idea

twitch devs are evil. if you want to donate to a streamer, do it directly without bits or subs, so twitch doesnt take a cut.

I cannot verify because I do not have a mobile phone number. I use a VoIP phone number on my mobile phone and you do not accept VoIP numbers. There must be a better way to address the issue you are trying to solve.

My account is 13 years old, regularly used, and has never been suspended. I am also a mod in a few channels. In other words, my account is not the kind that warrants this kind of precaution. There must be reasonable exceptions that can be made.

As a mod, not only can I no longer privately message users which was always helpful for my duties, but I cannot even reply if they whisper me first. And there are surely people in the opposite scenario who need to whisper a mod but are unable to.

Did you learn nothing? There is no mobile phone number I could give to you - even if I wanted to? So you are basically saying you do not want to have us here again ?????? pls remove that requirenment again!!!!!!! As I said last time - I might as well watch it on youtube. No interactin required there - here impossible now!!

I strongly agree that the current setup is severely overkill. My account has been in good standing since the JustinTV days. I have two factor authentication on my account. There is no reason that my account cannot be trusted with the whisper system. To make things worse - I cannot even reply to a whisper I receive. Not even to a moderator or the broadcaster themselves. Honestly - to simply be able to reply to a whisper I receive would be sufficient to solve my biggest issue - even though it is seriously disrespectful to have any restriction in the first place.

I'd really like to emphasize this one, and also underscore that you can even make this an optional setting that people turn on and off. Perhaps some users want whispers from everyone and others don't. At worst it should be their choice.

Look twitch, we as moderators do a *lot* of unpaid labour for you. The *least* you could do is make our jobs easier by not *trying* to force us to give you data we don't want to just so we can actually moderate.

After all you *already* have protections on whispers, therefore this is surplus to requirements anyway.

Twitch, we demand you remove this ridiculous requirement you are trying to push on us *yet again* we are not giving you our phone numbers and you are making our jobs harder as moderators.

Stop it and remove it right now, you are not trust worthy with our phone numbers, many phone numbers will not work and it is important we have *unrestricted* access to whispers as moderators.

Apparently this has made a return and whispers are again blocked unless you add your phone number. Twitch this is dumb, you have proven already you are not trustworthy with our personal information so requiring a phone number for a vital feature like whispers is wrong.

While we are at it, you also do not need my phone number for 2fa verification via authy/aegis/security keys.

Stop trying to bulk harvest our data.

As everyone can block whispers - if really required.

^agree, though that was already an option. they could add the option for folks to disable whispers from people without verified numbers which is a better solution.

I agree with "CalmlyEnveloped",

- in addition I would like to remind twitch, that some of the functions whispers fulfill are needed for proper communication. If I can not use whispers, I can not give answers to questions which were made in general chat by a single person - but are not relevant for the rest. Also I can not respond to questions, which they may ask to a certain topic e.g. as a reminder to look into something.
Sometimes I may need an explanation because I do not understand certain things which have been said - which may upset others like I learned recently - as I had been asked why I would not use a whisper to ask certain questions. In that case a joke which i did not understand ... and possibly took too seriously.

Conclusion:
" I request strongly you remove this requirement as it doesn't make anyone safer and just serves to drive people away from this site, thank you." -I agree - but there is more. It is also an environmental issue, but there are regions without cellphone reception as well. So please remove that requirenment again! As everyone can block whispers - if really required.

MAKE IS SO I DONT NEED A PHONE NUMBER TO WISHPPER ITS DUMB