GTL: Twitch, YouTube and Facebook Battle for Best Streaming Platform
By Twin Galaxies Editorial Staff ·
Twitch, Facebook, and YouTube strive to host the best gamers around on their streaming platforms - but what do streamers really want? Plus, do Twitch's new guidelines go too far, or not far enough?
Today on Game Talk Live, Mandie Roman talks with panelists about the changes and features that Twitch, Facebook and Youtube are implementing to drive streamers to use their platform. Joining her in today's discussion is Twitch and Youtube partner Nati "The Zombi Unicorn" Casanova, gaming influencer and Facebook streamer Laura Lunardi and Facebook content creator DooM49.
Facebook has recently launched their pilot creators program to encourage streamers to move over to the well known social media platform for their content creation purposes. The panelists discuss the advantages of live streaming on Facebook, such as the massive untapped audience and highly recognizable name in the general public eye, while also discussing the disadvantages, such as smaller talented creators getting lost among their larger counterparts and their investment into the system.
"You might have a lot of undiscovered talent, but they’re going to get buried by a lot of people who have the money to front [their content]." -@TheZombiUnicorn
— GameTalkLive (@GameTalkLive) February 16, 2018
Watch Live: https://t.co/e5QON7gXJz#FacebookAds #facebookalgorithm #Algorithm #streamers #facebook pic.twitter.com/1VoYI4OgZn
Next up in the show comes the topic of how to gain nortoriety as a streamer on Facebook and the benfits that can come from growing your Facebook profile. Well-known content creators, such as StoneMountain64, have seen massive growth on their Facebook profile and were able to then drive traffic to their content on other platforms, such as YouTube. The panelists also discuss how high quality content has a very good chance of being noticed on Facebook, while the same content may get lost in the saturation of Twitch and Youtube.
Discussion also covered how utilizing your existing following on Facebook will help new streamers on the platform, while at the same time Facebook has a good amount of catching up to do with Twitch in certain areas, such as interactivity between the streamer and their viewers.
"I picked @facebook , ever since the beginning of the time that I started creating content, because I can promote it to my friends." -@LaraLunardi , on where to stream
— GameTalkLive (@GameTalkLive) February 16, 2018
Watch Live: https://t.co/e5QON7gXJz #facebook #facebookgaming #GamersUnite #GamersAreGood #PCGamer pic.twitter.com/f9e9RpCDLy
Moving into how streamers utilize multiple platforms to build their brand, Game Talk Live discusses the pros and cons of being exclusive to a single streaming platform. Discussion speaks to the benefit of being able to build a strong centralized community, while at the same time looking at which platforms are growing and being prepared for the future. Panelists also discuss how being active on mutitple social platforms allows you to stay up to date with the latest trends in the industry.
The subject then moved onto whether or not any other platform will ever knock Twitch off the top of their throne. While Facebook and Youtube have made great strides in making live streaming an integral part of their platform, Twitch has built such a strong community that it is hard to see them being dethroned anytime soon by their competition.
“I think that @Twitch definitely has a really strong brand. It’s not just the #streaming; It’s the outfits. it’s the jackets. And their platform was built exclusively for #gaming so that’s why it’s so great to #stream on." -@LaraLunardi
— GameTalkLive (@GameTalkLive) February 16, 2018
Watch Live: https://t.co/e5QON7gXJz pic.twitter.com/X5d2VFLrGM
The show turns its attention towards the new updates that Twitch has made to their community guidelines and how those will affect streamers and the community as a whole. Discussion includes the reasoning behind the updates, such as reducing sexually suggestive content and protecting streamers from harrassment.
The team considers different situations in which these guidelines could and should be enforced, and how context and behavior will be the main determining factors in whether or not a streamer is breaking these guidelines. The panel also considers how streamers' comments outside of Twitch will now be used as supporting evidence in reports and reinforce the idea that sexually suggestive content does not belong on Twitch.
“I do not believe that @Twitch is the best place to post [lewds]… It’s really hard because twitch has no way of verifying age." -@LaraLunardi #lewd #twitch #over18 #gamergirls #gaming #GamersUnite
— GameTalkLive (@GameTalkLive) February 16, 2018
Watch Live: https://t.co/e5QON7gXJz pic.twitter.com/MrDNUNPqJr
Finally, Game Talk Live discusses YouTube's new offline content provider, YouTube Go, and how it will open up a door for content consumption and creation by users in countries where consistently strong internet is not readily available. Will we see a surge of new content creators from these countries or a newfound interest in archived live streams?
Game Talk Live has wrapped up for today, but you can see the episode in its entirety in the video above. Be sure to check out the previous episode as well where panelists discuss how love and relationships can crossover from video games to reality.