Blacklist the word "schizo"
I urge Twitch to blacklist the word "schizo" from its platform due to its offensive nature and potential to harm individuals with schizophrenia. While the associated 3rd-party emote ("SCHIZO") may be popular and contribute to normalizing the use of the word, it is essential to focus on the term itself rather than the content of the emote.
Schizophrenia is a complex mental disorder affecting millions worldwide. Living with schizophrenia is challenging, and many individuals with the condition may not even be aware that they have it. The casual use of the term "schizo" on Twitch contributes to stigmatization and "otherizing" of those affected by this disorder.
I understand that Twitch has little power over 3rd-party apps and extensions; this request is not about removing the emote itself, but blacklisting the word it is named after to promote a more inclusive and respectful environment on Twitch. Some users might be upset about the potential change to the emote's name, however, it is crucial to consider the broader implications of using a term that can be offensive and harmful to a vulnerable group of individuals. To further accentuate that this request would not result in censoring anybody--an alternative word like "CRAZY" could be used to depict the same message, using the same GIF; this suggestion is far less offensive and does not specifically target individuals with any particular mental disorder.
It's important to mention that users cannot see 3rd-party emotes without the use of an app or extension, meaning that many users will only see the word "SCHIZO" being spammed in chat (especially in the native Twitch mobile app). Blacklisting this term will help reduce the potential for misunderstanding and perpetuation of stigma surrounding schizophrenia. Regardless of whether the word is used in association with an emote, it's presence on the platform is not conducive to the site that Twitch is intended to be, as it is predominantly used in a derogatory manner and is strongly opposed by mental health experts. That being said, I recognize that many if not most chatters using the term today may not fully grasp the implications of their choice of words and likely do not intend any harm or offense (not to mention that they must type "SCHIZO" to depict the intended emote).
In conclusion, I urge Twitch to blacklist the term "schizo" to prevent further stigmatization and discrimination of people living with schizophrenia. By doing so, we can create a more understanding, empathetic, and respectful environment for everyone, including those living with mental health conditions like schizophrenia. Making these small but meaningful changes will encourage more thoughtful consideration from 3rd-party emote makers when naming their emotes and ensure that emotes, in general, do not contribute to the marginalization or "otherizing" of vulnerable individuals.
We have increased the severity of the word “schizo” in AutoMod, so it is now caught at lower shield levels.
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Astern_OW commented
Fully agree with this. Today I used the term to describe someone's behavior, using it as I would use the emote, fully unaware of its offensive connotation. The person who I directed it towards was actually a diagnosed schizophrenic, unknown to me at the time. The word was really hurtful to them. The culture surrounding this word on Twitch resulted in me causing harm to another person, and I really hope that Twitch can consider blacklisting this word to prevent this in the future. I also really hope that Twitch creators consider removing it from their chat wherever possible.
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Loustune commented
I noticed that people use the word schizo in a derogatory fashion very often in streams like Mizkif and Zackrawrr channels. Zack literally said tonight on stream he’s considered compiling all the stupid things he’s read that people type or in his words schizo and doing a stream about it. Twitch doesn’t really feel like a safe place to be since I have schizoaffective disorder. I feel like my illness is belittled every time a streamer hard S”s the word schizo or chat spams the word schizo. My idea on how to fix it is to ban the word in chat. Also in one of Emirus recent streams she talks about how all mentally ill people should basically be locked up if it affects normal peoples lives this I paraphrase because it was over a week ago I think. In general I feel the hate for mental illness from the twitch community and streamers alike. I hope it can be fixed otherwise I might seek entertainment elsewhere. To sum up I feel schizo is being used as a hate word and I think it should be banned in twitch chat