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Ahead of TwitchCon Las Vegas, Twitch is launching Stories for streamers to connect with their audiences even when they’re not live.
Partners and affiliates who have streamed for 45 minutes or more at least once in the last 30 days are eligible to post Stories, which are viewable to any of their followers and subscribers on the Twitch mobile app. Unlike Instagram and Snapchat’s Story features, which last for 24 hours, Twitch Stories expire after 48 hours. Streamers who have at least 30 subscribers can post exclusive stories for their subscribers. The feature will roll out to eligible streamers this week.
“You’ve built a loyal community on Twitch and your followers will likely follow you on other platforms,” Twitch senior product manager Eduardo Fenili wrote in a blog post announcing the stories. “But we’ve heard from you that trying to connect with them through multiple services limits your reach and can leave you feeling disconnected from the experiences you share on Twitch.”
Fenili said the feature will make it easier to reach followers through Twitch, so streamers don’t have to use another social media platform to let their viewers know when they’re going live or running late. . Followers can turn on push notifications and receive alerts when their favorite streamers post a new story.
In addition to posting photos and text posts in Stories, eligible Twitch streamers can also post clips from their own channel or another channel. Viewers will be able to react to Stories with Twitch emotes, and streamers will be able to see view and reaction numbers on their Stories to track the content that best resonates with their community.
“And remember, your stories don’t need to be strictly commercial,” Fennelly wrote. “If you want to post a photo of your breakfast and spark a community debate about which cereal is S-tier, do so. Encourage your audience to participate by telling your story through emotional reactions before the great grain debate happens on the next stream. It’s all about staying in touch and deepening those relationships whenever you want.”
Twitch noted that the platform employs “automatic scanning measures” to prevent streamers from uploading harmful content. Stories must follow Twitch’s community guidelines, and viewers will be able to report content that violates the platform’s safety standards.
Twitch said it plans to release additional Story features in the coming months, such as creating polls, tagging other streamers, and launching editing capabilities. The company announced several new tools during TwitchCon Paris earlier this year, and has been introducing new features like its search feed and anti-harassment measures over the past few months.
