How to “fix” Stream Together/GuestStar/Drop-ins

First off, allow users the ability to turn off drop-ins, it’s not a feature everyone will utilize, and as such it makes it difficult for users to know which streamers are actually using the feature. If everyone has the icon next to their stream that is the same as no one having the icon. Streamers are currently working around this by setting the feature to “Favourites only” and then just having no favorites selected, there is a genuine benefit to allowing people to customize their stream to suit their community and having forced features undermines that.

Second, is one step above combining chats, and that's allowing viewers to change perspectives during stream together. Think of something like MCC (Minecraft Championships) where you have teams of players and you the viewer can easily switch between stream perspectives without needing to have 4 separate tabs open. This also reduces the needs the need for streamers to have the other person's perspective/camera on their stream, which also lends itself to an easier setup for streamers as they wont need to add browser sources and extra scenes during the stream which means they are more likely to try the feature out in the first place. The benefit of having an easier viewing experience in my mind is enough of a distinction to use stream together over other offerings like Discord.

Normalizing streamers using Stream Together in co-op games is the best way to encourage streamers to use the feature for just chatting segments.

Lastly, listen to the community you have. I get that Twitch is trying to build features for newer streamers to utilize but in doing so you are ignoring the thing that makes Twitch unique from Youtube and Tiktok, and thats community. Twitch is the best place to grow and engage a community and that's because of the custom experience each streamer offers. In an attempt to make unified offerings i.e. Drop-ins and Power-ups, you are making steps towards making every stream the same and removing the things that make them unique. I’m not saying stop making new features, I’m saying allow them as options so streamers can customize their experience for their viewers.