Intentional misuse of tags ie. Vtuber tag on non-Vtuber
There has been a recent rise in streamers misusing the tag system, most noticeably with non-Vtubers using the Vtuber tag. This makes discoverability more difficult for both streamers who are actually Vtubers, and viewers trying to use the tag system to find Vtubers. Even prominent streamers are misusing tags, so this behavior has been spreading. I'd like to ask Twitch staff to please enforce action on the misuse of tags to help the streamers and viewers who are using the tag system as intended. Banning streamers from using specific tags they have been caught and verified to be abusing them might be a helpful solution to consider.
Hi, thanks for flagging this and sharing your suggestion.
We share and understand your concerns about how the intentional, repeated misuse of tags can undermine the purpose of the tags product itself. Tags are an important discoverability feature for communities, and a powerful way for all Creators—but especially those that are underrepresented—to express their personal identity and creative vision for their content.
We also do not feel Twitch should be the judge of Creators’ personal or creative identity, so we typically only enforce against the misuse of tags when it is associated with other behavior that violates our Community Guidelines such as hateful conduct or harassment.
That said, as the VTuber community’s experience demonstrates, there are limitations to this approach and we are actively investigating additional steps we can take to protect and improve the integrity of the tags feature at scale, without infringing on good faith Creators’ personal choice to express themselves and define their content.
Our goal is to have more to share with you about the tags feature later this year.
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Tumbae commented
This takes away from actual Vtuber streamers and people who want to use the tag to find what they want to view! It helps literally no one and needs to stop!
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RuRuNepNep commented
Streamers should not be using the “Vtuber” tag when they’ve display no signs that they are either a vtubers or demonstrate honest and satisfactory appreciation towards Vtubers. These streamers are breaking Terms of Service and has shown signs of harassment, bullying and abuse of power towards those questioning their methods and excuses and that shouldn’t be tollorated.
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Daark_Karma commented
Voted!
Using a tag that isn't valid to your stream is ALREADY against TOS so this should be looked into more. It is so shallow for people to abuse communities for their own gain -
The_K_Wolf commented
People are blatantly misusing the tag and taking advantage of the sub only modes to avoid valid criticism knowing that they are getting away with it.
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whiskeycoke4 commented
They don’t use a vtuber model so they should not use the tag plain and simple.
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Saerinu commented
Voted. Spread on Twitter as well. Folks using Vtuber tag just because we've been on the rise recently and making numbers without even being Vtubers to begin with and spreading misinformation about us and our content should be held accountable.
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Elly_VT commented
Using the Vtuber tag, or any other tag that doesn't apply to you, is not going to result in more traffic to your channel. People using the tag are actively looking for a certain kind of content, in this case, Vtuber content. Using tags that do not reflect your stream only results in clogging up the search results and making it harder for people who do make Vtuber content to be discovered.
Tags are a great way to discover streams with specific content people want to enjoy, but they're pointless if people don't use them correctly. I hope in this case, Twitch will enforce their own rule.
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indiana_minotaur commented
As many people pointed out- this isn't just the vtuber tag; but it is any and all tags that is being misused.
And I stand behind not just holding misusing the vturber tag; but any and all tags being misused.
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kenjinmelle commented
And then there's Jinxy who's supposedly vtuber and using the tag while she's not vtubing. Nice look of solidarity.
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qTheVtuber commented
Missusing tags reduces there value as a tag.
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MrTommo999 commented
though i WISH this will work; twitch has proven over and over again that just like their rules about streaming in the right game/tags... twitch doesn't want to put in the effort of enforcing the rules about wrong tags, games or titles. i have clipped streamers who say "i don't care i am streaming the wrong game i want money" and sent it to twitch and twitch did nothing. -_- they really don't care about the people who use the platforme right
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Soreyasu commented
I would more generalize this beyond the point of the vtuber tag. Many more tags are being misused, not just the vtuber one.
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lexshelton commented
I wonder if twitch will actually do smth about it, but I doubt it.
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PetiteNeet commented
My only thing to add is that tagging should have clear definitions along with enforcement
For example: Could I use the vtuber tag if Im doing a collab with a vtuber?
What is twitch's definition of a vtuber?
What if we are discussing vtubers?
What if we are watching vtuber content?
Discrepancies can leave it open for interpretation.The amount of tags that can be used is also limited, So it should be a fairly easy fix on twitch's part to give us more clarity.
But yeah this has been going on for a while, Tag abuse isn't a meta if it hurts other creators directly.
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DoodleHetch commented
We should report them as a whole community as it does break TOS. Twitch has to face the truth even if it gets the streamer permanently banned. Rules are Rules.
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tinyecho_ commented
BabyRage
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Yangief commented
It's already hard enough for streamers to be found without people misusing their tags. This is an issue that needs to be dealt with because it could easily snowball. Imagine a white European using the African American tag.
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ZexMaxwell commented
While I see the frustration. it seems the better solution for the community as a whole is to actually report the tag misuse then to have twitch manually bot crawl their site. at the same time, fellow Vtuber streamers can find new collab partners while reporting.
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KintranValgrige commented
As much as I'd really hate to think about legal ramifications of Non-VTubers using the VTuber tag to gain viewers and followers, that would technically fall into the aspects of Deceptive Practices / Truth in Advertising notions...
Which, would kinda be illegal business practices according to the Federal Trade Commission Act -
https://www.ftc.gov/legal-library/browse/statutes/federal-trade-commission-act
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ArielleNoriboshi commented
Letting facecam-only streamers use the VTuber tag really defeats the purpose of having the tag in the first place. Besides, it's against TOS for them to be using it. Don't just ignore them because of the money they're making you.