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.
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Maddog088 commented
I love how in their FAQ twitch don't even seems to understand what hosting does XD.
Completely disregarding helping streamers getting on the recommended channels on the twitch home page.
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KibblesTheHusky commented
I love this idea! And it looks clean!
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JarlSeamus commented
Hosting is a well used and well loved feature on Twitch. It is also an indispensable tool for the smaller streamers to employ in building their communities and supporting their fellow streamers. The Vast (massive emphasis on Vast) number of streamers are small channels. Virtually all of us benefit from the host feature. What possible reason could there be to eliminate a feature that aids the small channels in such a meaningful way?
When I first discovered Twitch, I was struck by how much support there is for streamers by other streamers. It is like a family with hundreds of thousands of cousins and brothers and sisters all sharing a virtual family reunion that never ends. Hosting other channels, be it after a raid, because you are at work and can't stream, or just to lend support to a friend or a cause, is a valued, impactful, and heavily utilized tool in the streamer's arsenal.
This is another erosion of the very thing that made Twitch the best platform to be on. First Auto-Host (which I didn't even know was gone, and am really upset over), then friends (which I admit I didn't really use much, but can still see the value of), and finally killing Hosting altogether?
There is no possible benefit to this move. It will only punish the small channels and make it even more difficult for new streamers to thrive in an already competitive arena.
Bad Move, Twitch. If this is the benefit you get from being owned by Amazon, then you're on the right track to follow every other catastrophic media failure Amazon has had in the past couple of years. -
acourtofplantsandcats commented
Since hosting is optional anyways, it simply does not make sense to get rid of it. If it’s counterproductive for your community, you can simply not use hosting. For most smaller streamers, it is crucial for channel growth. Please do not deprecate hosting based off the complaints of a few. Raids and shoutouts already happen and are NOT a valid replacement
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c4pt4ndy commented
Please do not get rid of this feature as it helps other streamers out
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Magdi____ commented
Can see how this progressed, first, autohost then sharing activity and friends removed, and now killing HOST. It's been all the features that privileging Twitch from other streaming platforms. Please reconsider....it doesn't cost....or do you really consider cost ???
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SabiLewSounds commented
No one uses the channel hosting to watch the hosted streamer. We use the channel hosting to see where to go. Not only streamers host channels. I met ALL of my friends on Twitch and started my own channel because someone I had just followed was hosting my (now) friend who I met because of that day.
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Aquaticplace960 commented
Keeping host helped me grow and meet new streamers when I first started. It allowed me to share the love with my community also.
When I dig in as a viewer and can't purchase a sub that month, it was a comfort knowing I could host and share the love also. -
GreenIntern commented
We all know that you're making this change because Raids let you run more preroll ads and you're under pressure from shareholders. Cutting hosts in favor of raids is a shortsighted approach though. Fostering greater communities and new stream discovery by keeping Hosts will increase viewership in the long run by virtue of users being able to follow what a given streamer thinks is worth checking out during their off-hours. Raids are instant, and leave users in the dust if they aren't present at the time they go off.
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Hodorific commented
This is a horrible idea to remove this, The hosts help with charity events to keep the streams alive and to show other people who might not be live the ability to network and help everyone grow.
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atkinson1020 commented
Hosting has nothing to do with the person hosting. It is to help people that might see me, instead, see someone I watch to help the person I am hosting. That's the intention and that's how it works. If you remove that...how do I as a streamer help promote other streamers when I am not online? Don't remove something that makes sense.
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wscott81 commented
When doing Charity events and other things the host allows the event to retain viewership, keep up the views to help bring about discoverability to the channels if you are part of a multichannel event. If you raid into someone, then Someone comes to your channel a few mins after you get done, wondering where you are, and then they see the recommended channels, but not where you went, that doesn't help anybody.
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akb2012 commented
Please don't take away a very very important part of us small streamers way of getting our channels recognized by being hosted on others channels
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Kev_Myles commented
The Host Feature is extremely useful, it helps the smaller streamer get their name out there and helps keep streamer communities connected.
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Chaud_The_Gamer commented
Hosting is how I support my fellow VTubers as well as them hosting me! Especially us smaller creators! Removing this will be more anti-user than even Youtube became! Twitch be better than this!! Don't remove this feature!! You're going to anger a massive chunk of your user base! Be smart Twitch and keep hosting and bring back host alerts too while you're at it!!
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TheLTLumpy commented
Small streamers will definitely suffer if you remove the hosting feature. I read the FAQ where it said that auto-host will now be integrated into the carousel on each person's channel page. I honestly didn't even know that existed until yesterday. I have never noticed there was an option to pick a different video. It's extremely small, and you can barely see the other parts of the carousel. Also, it won't show a "suggested streamer" that is live on the front of the carousel unless that channel doesn't have any VODs. So people aren't going to see those live streams of suggested streamers unless there isn't a VOD. How likely is someone going to go through a carousel that is hard to even see in the first place?
In regards to people supposedly viewing a hosted channel from the page that is hosting it: Why would someone stay on the page of the person hosting? I don't understand why someone wouldn't go to the channel that is streaming. How would these hosted channels have gained so many viewers if people stayed on the channel that was doing the hosting? They wouldn't. Someone has to go to the live channel to start following them. That proves that hosting works, and is very beneficial. The main reason it works is because you immediately see the channel that is being hosted when you go to the page of the person that is hosting them.
I don't always have the time to browse through someones channel. I often go to their page to follow them. If I see someone being hosted, I'll stay and listen briefly, or go immediately to that live stream. I want to watch someone from their channel, because I wouldn't be able to follow them otherwise; plus I can't see their chat or interact with them. Even if I'm only lurking, I still want to go to the live streamer's channel. I can't read about someone from a different person's channel. I NEED to go to the live channel. That's the whole purpose of hosting. You get people to see someone's channel that's live, and then THEY GO TO THAT STREAMERS CHANNEL. That's why the hosting feature works.
If it's a matter of getting rid of some old code so you can make updates to other parts of Twitch, JUST WRITE NEW CODE FOR HOSTING. It's that simple. If people don't discover as many new streamers because they don't see them being hosted, Twitch is going to lose out on additional income. It's simple strategy. The more streams that a person goes to, the more they'll be spending. That benefits EVERYONE.
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[Deleted User] commented
To remove hosts is annoying! Also PUT HOST ALERTS BACK! Stop trying to make things difficult for smaller streamers and let us support each other!
Also put the hosted channel back and huge on the channel like it used to be! I hosted someone and had a hard time figuring out where the heck they were being hosted at.
Let us choose to show the hosted channel or our trailer to show first. I really can't stand the changes you devs make without asking US, The people who ACTUALLY USE THESE FEATURES
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CMM1215 commented
As someone who uses Twitch extremely often and doesn't actually stream much myself, Hosting is something I do for streams I find compelling and interesting. Those who follow me can at least see that I'm hosting another channel. If anything, I'd like to see Hosting strengthened rather than deprecated.
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TerryEnby commented
Please leave this as an option. I can share channels that I enjoy with my friends and followers, and I can find channels that my friends like easily. It also enables me to give my friends recognition as interesting and fun streamers.
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famiable commented
hosting is useful