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world-of-warcraft-streamer-has-been-celebrating-her-80th-birthday-on-twitch-for-12-days-(and-counting) Twitch

World of Warcraft Streamer Has Been Celebrating Her 80th Birthday On Twitch For 12 Days (And Counting)

March 30, 2022Kotaku

Twitch can often be a cesspit of awfulness. If it’s not one streamer getting swatted or another streamer getting accused of misogyny, then it’s potential litigation between big-name broadcasters (that ultimately fizzled into nothing). But there is some good on the platform, too. One such example is WowGrandma78, a grandma and Twitch streamer who celebrated her 80th birthday this month with a subathon. As of now, she’s been livestreaming for 12 days. And until the clock runs out–which gets extended by three minutes every time someone subscribes–she has no intention of stopping.

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hearthstone-streamer-swatted-live-on-twitch Twitch

Hearthstone Streamer Swatted Live On Twitch

February 11, 2022Kotaku

Twitch streamer Alexandra “Alliestrasza” Macpherson, a prominent Hearthstone player and a member of esports organization Fade 2 Karma, was arrested on February 9. But it wasn’t her fault. She was swatted while playing the collectible card game live on stream, with police showing up fully strapped and ready to take down whatever threat was lurking in her home.

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twitch-gives-trans,-black,-and-disabled-streamers-tags,-but-not-protection Twitch

Twitch Gives Trans, Black, And Disabled Streamers Tags, But Not Protection

July 2, 2021Kotaku

It’s been a whirlwind month for Anne Atomic. The streamer saw her star suddenly begin to rocket into the stratosphere in late May when Twitch introduced both a hot tub section and hundreds of new tags, including a particularly long-requested option: “transgender.” For Anne Atomic, these proved a potent combo; in June, her regular audience went from single digits to hundreds of concurrent viewers. But increased attention meant that she also got brigaded by transphobes from 4chan, who bombarded her chat with ugly, invasive comments. And now, a few weeks later, Twitch has indefinitely suspended her channel.

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the-most-notorious-twitch-bans Twitch

The Most Notorious Twitch Bans

June 22, 2021Kotaku

Every week dozens of streamers get banned and unbanned from Twitch for infractions that range from the ridiculous to the extremely what-the-fuck-were-you-thinking? Streamerbans tracks the highest profile ones, and has become a go-to source for staying on top of who’s in internet time-out, sort of like Dead or Alive? but for one particular ilk of social media celebrity.

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twitch-isn’t-overwhelmed-with-far-right-extremists,-but-it-does-have-a-big-misinformation-problem Twitch

Twitch Isn’t Overwhelmed With Far-Right Extremists, But It Does Have A Big Misinformation Problem

May 3, 2021Kotaku

Twitch’s relationship with misinformation is complicated. In 2020, platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter grappled with their outsized roles in the creation and cultivation of conspiracy movements like QAnon. Misinformation troubled Twitch in a different way, but the platform emerged curiously un-plagued by a comparable extremism epidemic. Now, midway through 2021, Twitch is finally gearing up to combat misinformation.

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hot-tub-streams-are-waning,-but-some-people-still-think-they’re-destroying-twitch Twitch

Hot Tub Streams Are Waning, But Some People Still Think They’re Destroying Twitch

April 23, 2021Kotaku

It’s hot tub stream summer, and everybody’s got an opinion. This week, for example, the biggest streamer on Twitch, Félix “xQc” Lengyel, called hot tub streams “trash,” saying that they’re “the most pathetic thing we’ve seen on Twitch in forever” and petitioning for them to be removed from the front page. It was the latest in a long line of similar opinions from names both big and small that date back to when hot tub streams first popped off in March. But according to hot tub streamers, this trend, like any other, is already coming down from its peak.

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twitch’s-latest-sensation-is-a-stop-sign-where-no-one-stops Twitch

Twitch’s Latest Sensation Is A Stop Sign Where No One Stops

March 24, 2021Kotaku

A blue car pulls up to a stop sign. Against all odds, it briefly, miraculously comes to a halt. Twitch chat goes ballistic. Numerous people spam “I was here” as pogchamp emotes flood in. This is Stopsigncam, a Twitch channel that suddenly has over 125,000 followers even though it’s just a camera trained on a single neighborhood intersection in Salem, Massachusetts.

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