Ahead of TwitchCon in Las Vegas, Twitch has released stories (stories) for streamers to connect with their audience even when they're not live.
Partners and affiliates who have streamed at least once for 45 minutes or more in the last 30 days are eligible to publish stories, which any of their followers and subscribers can view on the Twitch mobile app. Unlike Instagram and Snapchat stories features, which last 24 hours, Twitch stories expire after 48 hours. Streamers who have at least 30 subscribers can publish exclusive stories for their subscribers. The feature will roll out to eligible streamers shortly.
We're rolling out stories on Twitch to help you stay connected to your community.
- Refresh the Twitch app to see stories on the next page
- Stories last 48 hours.
- Eligible streamers will have access to create stories throughout the week.
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"You've built a loyal community on Twitch and your followers are likely to follow you on other platforms," Twitch senior product manager Eduardo Fenili wrote in a blog post announcing stories. But we've heard from you that trying to connect with them through multiple services limits your reach and you can feel quite disconnected from their experiences shared on Twitch.
Fenili added that that feature will more easily reach fans through Twitch, so streamers don't have to use another social media platform to let their audience know when they're going live or if they're 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 to stories, users Twitch streamers Eligible users can also post clips from their channel or another channel. Viewers will be able to react to stories with Twitch emotes, and streamers will be able to see the views and reaction counts on their stories to track the content that best impacts their community.
“And remember, your stories don't have to be exclusively commercial,” Fenili wrote. “If you want to post a photo of your breakfast and spark a community debate about which cereals are S-tier, do it. Encourage your viewers to participate through reactions and emotions to discuss your story before the big cereal debate occurs on the next broadcast. “It’s about staying in touch and deepening those connections, anytime you want.”
He noted that the platform employs “automated scanning measures” to prevent streamers from uploading harmful content. Stories must comply with Twitch's rules for their community principles and viewers will be able to report content that violates the platform's security standards.
Twitch said it plans to launch additional story features in the coming months, such as creating polls, tagging other streamers, and launching editing capabilities. The company announced a number of new tools during TwitchCon in Paris earlier this year and has been rolling out new features like its discovery feed and anti-harassment measures in recent months.
