If you took all the hours in one calendar year and multiplied that number by two million, that still wouldn't equal the time people spent on Twitch in 2024. According to the Twitch 2024 community recap, viewers watched 20.35 billion hours on the live-streaming service.
In his forthcoming book, Stream Big, gaming journalist Nathan Grayson explains why people are drawn to Twitch: It's like sitting on a couch and watching a friend play a video game. You're not necessarily playing with them, but you're still experiencing that moment in time together.
"It's a social experience," Grayson told NPR. "It adds a lot of color to what you're doing, humanizes whatever thing you're experiencing… Years down the line, you're not going to remember a moment from that game. You will remember the moment, plus your friend and what they did and how they reacted."
According to Grayson, these real-time reactions are key to attracting such a large user base for the live-streaming platform. He says one of the features that distinguishes Twitch streaming from other forms of media consumption is the chat.
Twitch describes chat as an "essential part" of the experience. This interactive feature allows viewers to send messages in real time for viewers and the streamer to see.
Grayson says that chat has played a major role in fostering niche communities. Some may tune into a stream to listen to the streamer and engage with the chatroom.
"It's a big thing that you can be part of in that moment… and it's easy to get drawn into that and just sort of hang out there," Grayson said.
Though Twitch is largely known as a video game streaming platform, Grand Theft Auto V was the most watched category worldwide in 2024, according to the Twitch community recap. The appeal of hanging out on the platform is also strong. In North America, the most-watched category this year was "Just Chatting."
Popular streamers in the "Just Chatting" category can range in content from Hasan Piker (also known as HasanAbi), whose streams typically consist of political commentary, to Kai Cenat, whose streams can consist of anything from video games to celebrity guests, such as Bill Nye or Miranda Cosgrove. Cenat recently completed a 24/7 streaming marathon for the entire month of November.
In his book, Grayson describes streamers and audience members as "tethered by a moment in time regardless of space." He notes that viewers can sometimes become overly dependent on this tether, creating an unhealthy relationship.
"There's an element of a parasocial reality, [this] idea of somebody being on the other side of the screen and coming to perceive the person they're watching as a friend or a friend-like figure," Grayson said. "If it's switched around, the creator, they don't know you."
Though Grayson sees many positives to using Twitch, he also acknowledges that these parasocial relationships can be an overarching issue.
Twitch has also been criticized over the years for harassment on the platform. In his book, Grayson reports on instances of viewers leaving inappropriate messages in the chat, including messages regarding self-harm that streamers are not equipped to respond to.
"Harassment has no place on our service," Twitch CEO Dan Clancy told NPR, adding that the platform continues refining its policies to prohibit harmful behavior such as threats and harassment.
The platform recently rolled out automated tools such as anonymous chat warnings that streamers and moderators can send to "chatters who are acting out of line," Clancy said.
Twitch has also launched moderation updates and machine-learning-powered behavioral nudges to mitigate harmful messages in the chat.
In the end, Grayson says Twitch is a novel experience that creates an excuse for social interaction - whether that interaction remains healthy or not is up to the platform's users.
"Chat is not a replacement for interacting with people," Grayson said. "[You're] losing out on something when you can't interact with people… typing words at a Twitch streamer and hoping they notice you? Yeah. You need more than that."
Copyright 2024 NPR