Enhancing Twitch Discoverability with Multi-Categories

The objective is to improve streamer discoverability on Twitch by allowing streams to be categorized using both a main category and multiple subcategories. This would enable streamers to reach a broader and more targeted audience, enhancing viewer engagement and satisfaction.

Currently, Twitch streamers can only select a single category for their streams, limiting their visibility to viewers interested in that specific category. While tags exist to provide more detail, they have become obsolete and difficult to search, reducing their effectiveness for discoverability. This limitation impacts both niche streamers and viewers seeking specific content, leading to decreased engagement.

The solution is to introduce a multi-category system that allows streamers to select a main category, and one or more subcategories. This system would work across various content types, including games, art, cooking, IRL, podcasts, music/DJs, and more. Streamers would choose a primary category that broadly defines their content, such as "Gaming," "Art," or "Music," and then add subcategories to provide specific context to their stream. For example, a retro gaming streamer could select "Retro" as the main category and add specific games like "Super Mario Bros." as a subcategory. Similarly, a broadcaster might select "Podcast" as the main category and add a subcategory like "Tarot" or the current new released game.

Streams would appear in both the main category directory and any selected subcategory directories, enhancing visibility across relevant audiences. Viewers could search for these streams categories, allowing them to find content that matches their specific interests more easily. This approach offers significant benefits: increased discoverability and audience reach for streamers, easier navigation and content discovery for viewers, and enhanced platform engagement and satisfaction for Twitch. This also opens the door for Twitch to add more categories on the platform to choose from, showing the diversity Twitch has to offer!