I’m also confused by the conflicting information regarding chat integration during simulcasts.

According to Section 11 of the Terms of Service, the use of third-party services to combine activity from other platforms on a Twitch stream is prohibited:

“you may not use third-party services that combine activity from other platforms or services with your Twitch stream”

Meanwhile, the Simulcasting Guidelines FAQ states:

“Yes, you are free to use tools that are for your personal use.”

This could be interpreted as meaning that streamers are allowed to use tools to view combined chats for their own use, but are not allowed to display the combined chat on their stream.

I contacted Twitch Support about displaying combined chats and was told:

“Regarding your question, we kindly ask that you refer to the Terms of Service and Community Guidelines and determine for yourself whether it is allowed.”

Which, I suppose, is a fairly typical response.

On X, however, I came across a post where another user shared a response from Twitch saying that there is no policy prohibiting chat integration, and that both displaying chats as a single combined feed and displaying them separately are allowed.

So, which one is actually correct...?

If the Terms of Service are indeed the correct interpretation and chat integration during simulcasts is not currently permitted, I would also like to see the policy revised to relax this restriction.

Due to these guidelines, I find myself compelled to watch content where it is unclear what the streamer is reading or discussing. From a viewer's perspective, this significantly detracts from the overall experience.

Honestly, removing the option to merge chats feels like a step backward for streamers. Many viewers enjoy the experience of seeing conversations from different platforms in one place, and it makes live streams more engaging. I’ve noticed a lot of streamers rely on third-party tools for this, and now they’ll struggle to give the same experience. I recently came across https://fikfak.pro/fikfap-apk-for-pc/ and it reminded me how important accessibility is for viewers, especially on mobile or smaller screens. Hopefully Twitch reconsiders this rule, because merging chats makes live content way more interactive.

"Please delete or amend the following rule: 'Prohibition on combining activity from other platforms into Twitch streams: You may not use any third-party services that combine activity from other platforms or services (such as chat or other features) into your Twitch stream during a simulcast.'

When using the excellent comment-reading feature like 'Zundamon', Twitch users are at a disadvantage because they cannot hear the comments from the YouTube side. This could actually lead to Twitch users migrating to YouTube."

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Enabling merging in simulcast chats enhances the user experience by allowing multiple conversations to seamlessly combine into a single, unified stream. This setup is especially useful https://zapitpestmelbourne.com.au/ in live broadcasts or online events, where audiences often engage across various channels and topics. By consolidating these interactions, participants can follow and contribute to discussions without switching between separate chats, reducing fragmentation and fostering more cohesive communication. This approach not only helps moderators manage conversations more effectively but also allows audience members to engage dynamically, creating a more interactive and engaging environment for all involved.

Does this mean we're not even supposed to combine chats on the screen? I thought it only applied to chatbots like ReStream that combine the chats in the viewer's chatbox. I'd didn't think combining the chat in an onscreen overlay was an issue.

I may...or may not...have been doing it wrong. 😅😬

This is dumb. You state that we can not use third party services to combine activity from other platforms. As I am a developer, if I create my own service that combines activity from other platforms, it is no longer a third party service, correct? I'm half way tempted to do that or just remove twitch from the platforms that I stream to. The only thing worse than a degraded steam is no stream at all. I sure as **** am not going to solely pick twitch over multiple other options.

It makes no sense to allow multistreaming and not allow other chats. In fact it makes the viewer experience worse and more confusing; either the streamer not addressing the other chats at all makes the streamer look bad, or the streamer addressing chats that aren’t on screen or in twitch’s chatbox is confusing for twitch viewers.
Not only is this easily solved by allowing the visible presence of other chats, it even drives new membership to Twitch, as Twitch chat communities advocate to other chats about the benefits of watching on Twitch. I have personally seen this happen numerous times, and it creates new Twitch users.
Twitch would be very foolish to actively impede this process!

This directly addresses an inconsistency / contradiction in the multi-streaming rules:

"You ensure that the quality of Twitch users’ experience of your Simulcast is, at a minimum, no less than the experience on other platforms or services, including by your engagement with the Twitch community, for example, via chat."

What this means is that Twitch viewers experience must be ensured to be 100% of the content and we shoudl not allow things to occurr on A N Other platform that cannot occurr on twitch.

SO.. the rule being addressed by OP stated we cannot merge chat. This 100% detracts from the twitch viewer experience by excluding them from the chat from other platforms.

This is a contradictory rule in the Simulcasting Guidelines
https://help.twitch.tv/s/article/simulcasting-guidelines?language=en_US

Seems to me twitch is trying hard to have less viewers.

Viewer perspective: Twitch has the best live stream watching and chatting UX by far. If a stream showed Youtube chat so I could react to it in Twich chat I wouldn't switch to watching the stream and chatting on Youtube. Have more confidence in how good the user experience is on Twitch.

Allowing content creators to merge chats makes for a better experience on twitch, as users can stay on twitch while being a part of the creator's community.

Literally a middle finger to viewers to not let chats be combined. If I have viewers on Twitch that want to reply to users on YouTube, they have to LEAVE TWITCH to do so. That completely defeats the point.

This is a ridiculous rule, and makes the simulcasting unusable and pointless.

"We allow you to drink water, but you're not allowed to put it in a glass."

Really? So what's the point, exactly?

Everyone that simulcasts regularly wants to have combined chat so the multi-platform community is all interacting with each other and seeing the same thing.

This is the same stupid vendor lock-in we had before this change.

Agreed, they got 80% of the way there. if this statement is true, " We believe in giving you the freedom to simultaneously stream on other services..." there should not have been a "but" following that statement. Unifying chats unifies the community and the experience. Twitch providing the full package is the WIN. So close...

This move would have brought me to twitch exclusively. I will continue to split time I guess.

Maybe provide an 'enhanced' experience to twitch chat users if you need something to differentiate.