As far as streaming platforms go,Twitchis often considered to be one of the best around, for both streamers and viewers alike. Twitch offers a wide reach for streamers, andplenty of ways to capitalize on that reachwith an easy-to-use subscription model, while viewers get access to 24/7 live content from a vast range of sources, all offering different viewing experiences.
However, that isn’t always the case. Sometimes,Twitchstreamers try to use a popular current trend to raise their own popularity, regardless if that trend fits their usual content model. That’s where Twitch’s current TV Show ‘meta’ comes in.
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Explaining What a Twitch ‘Meta’ Is
Essentially, a Twitch ‘meta’ is just slang for a trend that’s used by multiple popular streamers on the site. These metas come and go over time, being inevitably replaced bya new Twitch metathat is being used to attract new viewers.
In the past, there’s been anAmong Usmeta, where streamers saw an uptake in views and subscriptions by simply playing the gameAmong Uswith other streamers. There’s also been aFortnitemeta, with streamers playing the already-incredibly popular battle royale game.
Some metas get a little… wild. Amouranth is one of Twitch’s biggest streamers, and over the years she’s spent a lot of time carving out some fairly unique metas that have garnered her over 23,000 active subs right now. While she isn’t credited with starting it, one of her most infamous metas isthe “hot tub stream,“in which she’d conduct her stream from a hot tub while wearing a bikini. This eventually led to some discourse surrounding Twitch’s terms of service and led to the creation of Twitch’s dedicated “Hot Tub” tab.
Amouranth has also used an “Ear Licking ASMR” meta, as well as a"Twister Yoga Pants” meta, all of which have given the streamer a consistent increase in views, subscriptions, and exposure to the general mainstream. However, as is the nature of a Twitch meta, once one streamer starts to find success using it, many others are soon to follow, often leading to an oversaturated trend, which in turn paves the way for a new meta to take its place, and the cycle repeats.
Explaining Twitch’s Latest TV Show ‘Meta’
Twitch’s latest meta, simply called the “TV Show” meta, sees streamers “reacting” to a TV show. Whilereact videos have been incredibly popularsince the dawn of YouTube, these Twitch streams may go a little too far in some places.
What started as a “MasterChef” meta, where streamers watched the American,Gordon Ramsay-ledcooking show and reacted to it, has now led to streamers watching TV shows of all types. Of course, with content copyright being as strict as it is across the internet, it didn’t take long for these types of streams to catch the attention of big production companies.
Soon,DMCA takedown noticeswere being issued to a multitude of streamers, with their content not considered to be in fair use. This is hard to argue with, as many TV show streamers are barely reacting to the content they are showing, with only their face appearing in the corner of the screen, while the show plays out in full screen.
One of Twitch’s most popular streamers, Pokimane, received a DMCA in the middle of one of her TV show streams, in which she wasbroadcasting an episode ofAvatar: The Last Airbender. This resulted in a temporary 48-hour ban from Twitch, which has done little to deter the streamer as she has confirmed that her return will be marked with a 12-hour stream.
Unfortunately, though, smaller Twitch streamers are lamenting this new meta, criticizing the absurdity of just broadcasting a show for free, and dealing with the consequences later. Smaller streamers like AdmiralBahroo have pointed out that this new meta is particularly unfair against smaller creators asbigger Twitch streamersare able to “Purposely break the rules… take a two day vacation and then be welcomed back with 3x viewership + exposure.”
For smaller streamers, the only way to gain views is to keep on top of the latest meta, but this TV show meta will likely cause them to be banned, and unable tofight Twitch’s terms of serviceor legal team. Regardless of who this new meta is helping, the legality behind it is fairly cut and dry, and production studios aren’t likely to keep allowing this type of content on the platform.
