A few days ago, one of Twitch's most prominent streamers left the platform after 10 years of exclusivity. She is Pokimane, a Moroccan-Canadian content creator specializing in gaming and "just talking." Her announcement took everyone by surprise, including her community of 9 million viewers. While she didn't immediately explain the reasons for her departure or her next career plan, she takes advantage of her podcast to speak out.
https://twitter.com/pokimanelol/status/1752759830174138463
An increasingly stereotypical platform?
In the latest episode of “Don’t Tell Anyone”, Pokimane returns to this announcement that shocked the Internet (or almost). We then learn that her exclusivity contract with Twitch was coming to an end when the streamer decided not to renew it. Indeed, she explains that she no longer wants to be tied to a platform whose atmosphere is increasingly toxic and oppressive. Today it is “free as a bird“.
“[During the pandemic] there were so many more girls, there was such demographic diversity. I felt like I was being seen and heard more. And I thought, ‘Wow, this is what I always wanted for streaming.’ [Now there is] the rise of a masculinist sphere and red pill bullshit. I feel like these things have flourished in the male-dominated livestreaming sphere.”
According to Pokimane, gender representation, but also minority representation in general, is a real problem on Twitch. She is not the first to note this, as the platform has suffered heavy losses in terms of streamers in recent years, as well as financial losses. She continues:
“It is difficult for me to exist in an industry and a community and watching this shit happen and acting like it's no big deal, seeing it become normalized – the kind of bigotry I honestly don't agree with. […] Twitch's priority is to make money. My priority is to create a cool, safe environment and community for many, many, many people. I think there are a lot of issues that minorities on Twitch still face that I wish they would do more about.”
Doors Open for Pokimane
In addition to this issue, Pokimane also points to other issues with Twitch that are already well-known to most people. She explains that the company, owned by Amazon, is increasingly mired in arbitrary rules that no longer make sense. This is evidenced by the chaos created by the rules regarding nudity. One day streamers have more freedom, the next day everything is taken away from them, and more. The content creator criticizes the company for never clearly positioning itself.
Her departure from Twitch does not mean the end of her career. Indeed, Pokimane is keen to point out that no exclusivity contract binds her to a particular platform, so she can continue her activity wherever she wants... even on Twitch from time to time. Currently, she shares her program which takes place on YouTube. All that remains is to start migrating her audience.
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