Do not deprecate hosts.
There was a notice put out about hosts becoming deprecated next month.
This is an awful idea. Do not do this.
The reason given for doing it is clear and obvious deflection; it's false. No one with average viewership under like 6000 uses twitch chats as a community server; when someone is offline, that's it. Their attention is off the chat and elsewhere. The idea that hosts prevent interactions with streamers is complete bull.
Moreover, raids are not a direct replacement for hosts (most people don't even -know- this because this fact has been so thoroughly obfuscated,) because of the referral ID causing a viewer to not count to the raided channel for ad or partnership metrics. Hosting was an incredibly useful -community building tool- on twitch; you host into another channel, that user notes you down, they host into you and share their audience in a way that actually contributes useful numbers beyond "was a viewer". Raiding does not do this. Raiding is an anti-growth tool. Viewers might follow and check someone out again following a raid, but many are there primarily just because a streamer raided them over and have no interest in staying; hosts, because they required active interaction with the hosted channel were more likely to stay because it tested viewer interest.
Hosting was and still is an invaluable community tool. To remove it and not provide its actual functionality to raids is extremely anti-user.
Hello everyone! Thank you for coming together to bring us your feedback on Hosts. We made the decision to remove this feature because it consistently confuses viewers–particularly new viewers or those who are less familiar with Twitch–because they don’t realize the channel they visited is hosting another stream and also they cannot interact with the hosted streamer in chat.
We also hear your feedback and acknowledge the need for community building tools that help promote other streamers. We’ve recently introduced the following features that help you do that:
- We recently released a feature called shoutout that lets you promote another streamer’s channel in your chat and makes it easy for your viewers to follow that channel without leaving your stream. To initiate the shoutout during your stream, use the chat command “/shoutout [channel]” - viewers who do not follow the channel will see a pop-up with a follow button for that channel. If the streamer has an upcoming stream in their schedule, the shoutout will also highlight their next scheduled stream with a button to set a reminder to watch.
- Recommend another stream to viewers when you are offline by adding them to your Suggested Channels list in your channel settings (formerly known as your “Autohost list”). When their channel is live, their stream will appear in the carousel at the top of the page. You can also display your suggested streamers list in your streamer shelf.
We appreciate the feedback you’ve shared, and look forward to new suggestions that help your communities connect with one another.
-
abbieisarose commented
THIS THIS THIS!! us smaller streamers NEED hosts they help us out so much please twitch this is so disheartening to us smaller streamers
-
official_conduit commented
In my opinion, hosting is a pivotal part of bringing communities together on Twitch. Without this or a similar feature, I believe a divide will be created between creators on the platform. As a viewer and content creator, it's always nice finding new streams when the streams I frequent are offline. Definitely upset to see this feature being removed so abruptly.
-
OwlysaurusRex commented
When I am looking for streamers to follow, who they host is actually a pretty big factor in determining whether I want to support them, even moreso than what game they were recently playing. I'd hate to lose that indicator.
-
RiPTide commented
Twitch, we all know this is about ad revenue. If you really want more ad revenue then all you need to do is create a Clip Roulette feature for the app and site.
1. The Clip Roulette would allow streamers to choose the clips that are featured on the roulette.
2. This feature would work like Youtube Shorts/TikTok/Facebook's Watch feature, allowing streamers to have another avenue of discoverability.
3. ADS, play 15-20 seconds of ads every 15-20 clips. Millions of people sit through ads on TikTok, they'll do it a feature like this as well.
4. Livestream fails is an example as to why a feature like this would work. I know that I get lost in TikTok for at least 30+ minutes a day.
Just join 2022 already and add the feature so you can stop depreciating features that help smaller streamers grow because you're hemorrhaging money and need to run more ads.
-
jon69chan commented
Host helps the small streamers so why remove it .
-
Firecrow commented
If you want a business reason for this, it actually removes the possibility of someone clicking over from the hosting channel which generates Ad revenue. Now, if people don't want to raid in they will just leave instead of checking the content before moving over to the hosted channel at all. Removing hosting hurts discoverability, hurts your Ad revenue and is totally something most creators don't want to happen.
-
Vhaneesi_ commented
To add onto the argument that this hurts discoverability, this also reduces engagement from viewers who could be lurking, or are not in the position to subscribe, but still want to support the streamer and their community.
-
DJ_Nek0 commented
Agreed. THIS NEEDS TO STAY!!!
-
Rasher24 commented
Please don't remove hosting! its such a great feature for finding new channels. Twitch is destroying itself!
-
Gorogokvi commented
Hosting is a major plus to the way streamers work. Example:
Say a streamer you watch hosts another streamer. You go to their channel to see what this other streamer is all about. You decide it’s another streamer you enjoy, so you stay. Chat, watch, maybe even give bits or subscribe. That is an interaction this secondary streamer wouldn’t have gotten without hosting, and hosting can work without a raid, so the first streamer doesn’t even have to start a stream to show off someone else. Or maybe you just missed the fist streamers stream and the raid, but you see the host, so go over.How many millions of views, bits, and subs are given because of a simple feature like hosting that offers no detrimental affects. Literally the worst case for a host is no one goes over. So, but removing hosting, you remove every positive it offers, and give nothing in return to engage viewers to go find another streamer to check out. Chat is non-persistent, so a streamer can’t even leave a message saying “hey, go check out this channel.”
All this will do is take away interaction from streamers across the board. -
Gnare commented
Twitch, I feel as if you didn't actually do enough research on this topic. I'm not sure how many community members you polled, but I will often check one of the offline streamers I follow to see who they are hosting, as sort of a "suggestion".
If there is some confusion among some viewers who don't understand what hosting is, the solution isn't "get rid of hosting" -- instead, just make it much more obvious what is going on when a channel is hosting another. Even if it's something as simple as changing the "LIVE" overlay in the corner to say something like "LIVE (HOSTED)".
Bottom line, hosting is extremely useful and USED by at least viewers to find other "related" streamers; removing hosting and auto-hosting would be a huge detriment to the community at large.
-
MiriMimicVT commented
You literally only need to make it more obvious that it's a hosted channel and make it obvious how to jump to that channel directly.
-
skilltrocity_art commented
Please do not remove this as this is a good way for small streamers to get noticed as well as host friends for more range.
-
UnabashedlyAsh commented
Please consider keeping the "host" feature on Twitch. While this feature may seem useless to larger streamers, this feature really does help gain exposure for smaller streamers such as myself. Removing hosting capabilities, coupled with the conversion to "custom" tags, is really harmful to the majority of your streamer base.
-
PvPjumper commented
Please do not remove hosting or auto-hosting, as these have been useful features which have led many users to like-minded streamers they may not otherwise have discovered. There is a direct relation to hosts and "suggested" streamers, and it is a meaningful one! Perhaps, instead, more clearly label or indicate that a steamer is offline but they are recommending streamer X when a viewer visits their Twitch page. I suspect anyone who complained about hosting was simply confused the streamer they went to visit was not live themselves. Instead of taking away their opportunity to discover another streamer, simply change the wording that appears above the hosted channel on the streamer's page to minimize confusion and prevent upset. With all due respect, the Twitch community is likely fairly tech proficient. I find it difficult to believe there was a statistically significant number of complaints from individuals who were upset their streamer wasn't live when they saw the hosted channel versus the streamer they went to view. Streamers do need some time away, after all. Please keep hosting and auto-hosting and improve the labeling. Sincere thanks for your consideration to help streamers and the use of your app grow.
-
Super_Wario_128 commented
Hosts are what small streamers need to get noticed.
-
DaerenSA commented
Some of the longest-lasting communities I've been in and discoveries of channels I've supported were entirely because of hosting networks. Even if it cuts into one avenue of the bottom line, I guarantee that long term organic growth will get choked off and will be noticed a few bottom lines from now.
-
Lady_Anorak commented
I honestly can't see why you'd take this away. It doesn't harm anyone, and does a lot of good for smaller streamers who may have a small, but active following.
-
kevininspire commented
hosting helps a lot not only letting streamers know that we hosted them but it can help them viewers wise to don't get rid of host mode.
-
ThatsSoKailey commented
I love the ability to host! as a smaller streamer, it helps get my channel recommended to others and is a wonderful FREE way for viewers to support the channel. PLEASE don't take this away from us!