I would say Twitch should implement it with no additional restrictions or cooldowns, and sending messages should be exactly like normal chat just that only each message prefixed by /modchat, and only Mods can see the messages.

The possibility of some moderators using the tool in an unintended way is Not a good cause for additional restrictions or complicating the tool.

The idea of being able to flag an important message in order to page the streamer is also a good one, but "Pinned chat" is a separate feature Twitch is already experimenting with - and they could technically just Pin a message asking the streamer to check modchat, or to check Discord, etc, for the stream issue.

And in that case the Streamer could be paged with a pinned message - The streamer should have an On/Off setting for their chat then to Hide/Unhide the "modchat messages" from their screen.

Currently most of the channels that I mod in use a background discord channel so we can talk about things that we don't want general chat to see. No, we don't use it to talk bad about viewers but if we see something that is borderline we will talk about that so we are all on the same page. Sometimes the streamer will throw a note in there to say, keep an eye on so and so.
Having a modchat could be useful as some of the other mods only have 1 screen so them having to jump between programs can be an issue. If there is a modchat, I don't want it to be limited that only 1 or 2 of the mods can see it at a time, or a limit on the number of messages per <anything>. Imagine if there was an issue that the mods were trying to deal with and then getting stopped due to a limit.

@ValoraPlays Regarding the tools not rules mentality, and offering people a tool letting them decide how to use them. I Don't think its wise to give a baby or young child a dangerous tool. Responsible people who will less likely misuse the tool or already know how to use it, i'm all in favor of. it's easy for us to lose sight of the intended purpose or context of such a tool, but then again i realize its also easy for me to lose sight of the bigger picture by focusing more on how it can be misused.

all-in-one solutions are a lovely thing, keeps things easier and tidier. But why should mods be given an opportunity to bully people further by misusing something meant for something else? i understand what may be discouraged in one stream may be acceptable in another, but that does'nt mean others should have to suffer as a result of it. Maybe the moderators logs should be kept on their profile and only visible to twitch, so that if one is reported for harassing people, twitch can read the modchat logs for further evidence?

even this idea is kind of flawed, i'm not quite sure what to suggest, Perhaps maybe some labels on modchat messages? so that way the kind of message has a little color ribbon signifying to the streamer at a quick glance how serious/important/urgent the message is. Maybe even a toggle so private chat chat can be turned on/off for the streamers convenience of what they wish to see, and more important mod messages does'nt get flooded away because of other mods chatting.

Think of this mod chat
Mod A: *talking about weather or something nonsensical and private* [labeled pink or blue for casual message]
Mod B: *important stream related issue that requires attention* [labled red].
Mod A: *keeps chatting convo things without noticing*
Mod A: *still chatting about non-stream related things*
Mod B: *message is displayed as most recent thing in chat because its labeled red/important, and all further recent messages that are not as important are displayed as second recent message and up*
Mod A: *still talking*
Mod B: *message stays as first most recent thing until streamer acknowledges it or mod b Clicks a button that lets it no longer be pinned*

i'm all for this labeling of modchat, so important stuff wont get burried and whatever needs to be seen is pinned based on priority and red tag. Chit chat mod chat messages can be a different casual label. Misuse of red label should be something by twitch or looked into and dealt with.

This way theres no excuse for misusing a red label mod chat message.
modchat can be exploited and misused, but this red label idea keeps the intended purpose of modchat still visable without people misuing modchat getting in the way of its intended purpose..... unless that is of course if red label doesnt get misused.

Although with that being said, i would like to see some red label rick rolls XD

the whole "tools not rules" things me of a scene from a ray winston movie where he asks another fellow man "where's your tool?", an entirely misuse of tools, or a correct use depending on ones point of view. Tools can be used for other things, but for good or for bad depends on how they're used.

Overall modchat being misused feels kinda childish, like kids whispering in a schoolyard and laughing or something, or some or secret chit chat going on.

perhaps mod's should need to apply and be approved to use it, to show they can use this tool responsibly, or have the streamer nominate only 1 or 2 currently active mods to have the ability to use it. idk im all outta ideas at the moment.

@dqrkcarnage indeed, Jokes are one thing, however with the mod chat thing, secretly making fun of others means the persons being made fun of don't get to be in on the joke. i have nothing against jokes and absolutely love comedy in most of its forms, i was more touching along the lines of bullying and harassment rather than simple witty banters and jokes among all involved having some friendly laughs. i have a horrible strong feeling that modchat will be misused for malicious things, or over used for petty stuff rather than its actual intended purpose. The whole point of it is for mods to say something in chat thats for the streamers/mods eyes only, and important stuff that need urgent attention. Not encourage mods ghost chatting throughout an entire stream having invisible conversations with one another. That is what whispers is for, or regular chat. Saying hello does'nt need to be invisible. It's just extra **** that regular non-mod viewers should not have to deal with, and gives mods even more of an advantage over them.

Maybe there should be a points redeem for regular viewers to be able to send a message in mod/chat? or something so that only the streamer see's what they said. Level out the playing field and give some power back to regular viewers so rogue mods can have something to be jealous/curious about lol, or even so a watcher can let a streamer know whats going on/which mod is abusing etc etc without that mod being able to see. i know whispers if turned on does this too, but i'm trying to think of a way to make it more fair, or more of a level playing field. Mods have huge advantage over viewers already as it is, and also there's a modified quote of mine from spiderman i like to mention in situations like this as i see it's quite fitting for this topic at hand, and sort of illustrates my point further "with great power comes great responsibility, so abuse it recklessly!"
With that in mind, the ways mod chat can be miused becomes limitless and problematic in nature. Any creative mind can turn a tool into a weapon, that does'nt mean its the tools fault, but if the tool didnt exist or was create specifically in a way to prevent misuse, it would be alot more something i dunno the word.

Anyway i partially support the creation of this modchat tool, i would fully 100% support it if they did more testing around it first and made it with potential misuse in mind, and some things inherently built in to prevent over-use or blatant misuse. it's a lovely tool to have, it just also happens to be something that can easily be misused and cause hassle.
Surely a moderator wouldn't need to send more than 3 important invisible messages within 5 minutes?

regarding my concerns, they would'nt be an issue if modchat does'nt get made.
The more i look into this modchat idea thing, the more bad things and flaws i come across in theory. i was hoping for modchat to become a real feature at first, now i'm not so sure. it really needs testing more than anything, and some more helpful ideas that does'nt limit/restrict, but at the same time does'nt open floodgates to a new form of abuse being doable on the platform.

I'm dev. I will only leave a short comment. I already implemented my own wsclient, listing all active moderators in chat broadcasting a whisper to all from this list. people always find a way to improve things, but twitch should do it for their own platform is my opinion.

I pretty much agree with Valora. I mainly wanted to say that How such tools used should be upto the mods/streamers. An example is how the time/ban tool is used. Some streamers may allow viewers to time themself/others out as a funny channel point reward. Yeah potential abuse and issues can occur but thats a problem streamers/mods need to deal with rather than adding flawed limitations.

" Also regarding the latter part of your response, why should mods make fun of other users? "

I dont think mods SHOULD be making fun of viewers/being a douche to them. They should be better than that however mods are human which means immaturity and people who are like that exist and some communities may just have that thing where ppl jokingly make fun of each other. My last point was basically saying if they made fun of viewers often in mod chat then the Streamer would know and could punish them. We shouldnt limit the tool cause of this scenario. Mods represent the streamer and if the streamer allows such behaviour then they arent worth watching

If a mod was making fun of me/the viewers in said mod chat or being a douche to me and the streamer allows it then i'd simply unfollow and move on. Like twitch wont do anything about it and all you can do is move on or suck it up. I do agree mods surounding you or being douches is not nice.

A mod/VIP can easily flood the normal chat and if they were spamming the mod chat then the Streamer can tell them to knock it off or remove their perms. I understand your concerns and as a viewer i'd be annoyed if my messages were ignored cause of mods and streamer having a private convo or just flooding the chat.

Its a good thing to mention concerns n stuff but this is something the streamer should be managing not twitch

I am a big fan of the Tools not Rules mentality. Offer a tool and let people decide how to use them.

If they ever did release something like that and a streamer lets their mods abuse the modchat feature - that is completely up to them. They are the ones having to pay the cost of how they run their channel. Not to mention that "Misuse" is subjective. What would be misuse in one channel may be highly encouraged in another. If a mod is misusing ANY feature - it is down to the streamer to correct them. Period. If the streamer does not correct them, that is what kind of community vibe they are choosing to cultivate. And that is okay. Not every channel is for every viewer.

How often a channel would need to use that feature really depends on the size, what is happening, and the type of community that they have. Limiting an otherwise very useful tool to people who would use it appropriately seems unnecessary.

I think there is a case to be made to have 2 mod chat options
One chat box inside of Mod view that lets them communicate just between themselves - hey I am stepping away for a few min.... watch so and so, etc - and then also have options to bring attention to the streamer. I am not a huge fan of an all in one solution. Being a streamer and a mod in channels that are various sizes has given me perspective on both sides of this issue. Many of the things I have wanted to say to other mods is not be something that I want to clog a streamers chat with, and as a streamer with Ron Burgundy syndrome I don't want to accidentally read out comments not meant for me. Because I stream I have multiple monitors, so having discord up at the same time as mod view is not an issue for me - but I work with mods that have one monitor and it is a frustration for them to keep switching back and forth for communicating.

Just give an optional window in ModView for modchat. Give a /slash command in chat for mod/streamer private message. Simple. All bases covered.

@dqrkcarnage i'm aware of that but i think you're missing the point. it can already be intimidating enough already as it is for some viewers when being in a stream's chat and having themself surrounded by mods even if they're doing nothing wrong. Adding this feature (especially in an unlimited non-cooldown based way) will only add to that anxiety.

Moderating this mod chat feature might have been a silly suggestion i put my hands up and take responsibility for mentioning, but something needs to be thought of to stop mods from using it when they don't need, or more to the point, for mods not using it for it's intended purpose.

Got any idea's you might like to propose?

The point of the implementation of a cooldown is so that its used sparingly, or only when needed (helps avoid misuse).

Imagine a streamer talking to what looks like an empty room, and the little few chatters not having their messages read because mods are being greedy and having a private convo in chat with the streamer? Seems like they're being excluded or ignored. i like the overall idea with the tool, but not how it can shoot some streamers in the foot.

i suggest each mod having up to 2 mod chat messages to use every 10 mins, and an emergency bonus extra 1 every hour of stream time. aka LIMIT the number of mod chat messages, so that they're less likely to be wasted on non mod-based things.

Also regarding the latter part of your response, why should mods make fun of other users? if they feel the need to make fun of others then maybe they should'nt even be mod lol. Just because people can talk trash about others in secret, does'nt mean they should. People misusing mod chat for the purpose of gossip or drama or whatever is not something i can imagine twitch considering being a deciding factor if ever implementing a mod chat feature.

Keep stuff simple. Mods flooding modchat as their invisible chatbox is'nt simple and draws attention away from other chatters. The purpose of mod chat is for emergency stuff that requires the streamers direct attention, or for things that CANNOT be seen typed in the chat by regular viewers.

a good thing about this thread is seeing the ways how a modchat feature could be misused, before even being made into a feature.

@taburz_blismod chat should be SIMPLE. All it should do is send a message that only MODERATORS + streamer can see. It should just be a message that is seen in the twitch chat but only by moderators or an area on the Twitch mod tool with custom implementation for mobile. Something that doesnt pop up in chat overlays etc

Implenting cooldowns is pointless same with the whole idea of having someone moderate the feature. So what if the mods use it to say "trivial" things, non moderator stuff to each other or potentially make fun of a user in it. Its upto the streamer themselves to decide how such feature is to be used and the streamer to moderate their mods. Cooldown is also unrealistic and unhelpful too tbh.

Sure mods might be using it to make fun of users but then it'd be in the mod logs and the streamer would see it compared to whispers which they cant.

2016 -> 2020 answer twitch staff we get this in 2030 ?

This would be a very useful feature, i say this out of years of experience formally being a moderator for many streams in the past as well as only recently i was told from a few people who i know do moderating was all watching a specific stream, and the streamer had unintentionally done or said something that sounded ToS without knowing, and the mods could not say it in chat without others seeing and jumping on it and using it to report the stream maliciously in hopes of getting the streamer banned. Its something only the mods noticed and could not really say out loud in chat at the time. They all whispered the streamer, but he/she was streaming in such a way where their hands was pre-occupied (because something unexpected suddenly happened in their environment) and was impossible to check whispers but could still see chat.

in this exact scenerio, where a streamer is unable to check whispers but needs attention drawn to something, this feature you have suggested would be perfect!

although with that being said, i could also see how some moderators could abuse this feature and use it to gang-up on/bully other users. Maybe there should be a limit on how many of these "invisible mod notes" can be posted in chat? i'd say 1 every 5 minutes, or maybe 2 every 10 or 20 mins?

i have a small feeling that it could be abused just to pass trivial things and making fun of other users secretly. Perhaps something should be done to prevent abuse of this feature if it ever became a thing.

Have someone moderate mod notes? mod note chat log gets automaticly sent to twitch at the end of the stream to check for abuse? idk.

you have a really good idea here, but i feel it needs a bit more working on, on how to avoid it being misused.

Twitch should have a section in mod view that is a chat section but only for mods. So normal chat wouldn’t see those messages but mods can put messages in there to discuss what to do about people who come in who are toxic/offensive if they are unsure.

This feature needs to be!

This idea was posted in 2016? and then the manager didnt respond until 2020? Am I seeing that right? ...and its 2022 and we still dont have this super obvious, feature? This is needed very badly. Just make it in chat and highlight a different color or something. But just ran into the issue and ended up here trying to figure out if there was a way.

As someone who moderates in really large event channels, I believe there should be a way for a mod to send a message in chat that can only be seen by other mods and the broadcaster. For example, if a mod needs to contact another mod (urgently), they can send the message in chat using "/modsend <message>" (just an example)

This is useful, just in case mods need to talk about a user without using Discord. It also allows 3 mods to converse without using whispers (only supports 2 people max)

A chat window in mod view that only the mods and streamer can see. That way the mods can all communicate together on what do to with situations in chat. This would help out the stream I moderate in a ton!

Have a separate chat only visible in mod view so moderators can discuss if actions need to be taken.

bring back sub chat, but change it to mod only..

twitch should do this, we use to have sub only chat, bring it back change perms from subs to mod only and it would be great.

@SirKatelyn on Twitter has proposed this amazing idea to create a Mod Chat segment in the Mod View for easier moderator communication on mod actions or problematic users in chat, etc

Right now, most mod teams and broadcasters use Discord for this. It would make matters much easier to have a dedicated built in mod chat just for the modding matters, similar to how Mod Comments have been added to the user cards last year.