Twitch has long resisted adding new tags to the site, but in a change of heart, the livestreaming platform will now be adding new categorisations that content creators will be able to add to their streams. Originally reserved for stream themes like No Backseating or events like BlizzCon, the popularity of the LGBTQIA+ tag on the site led Twitch to eventually open the gates for more tags like Transgender, Black, Disabled, VTuber, and many more.
Tags have been a long-debated part of the Twitch ecosystem. Discoverability on the platform is often referenced as an under-developed area, making it very difficult for streamers/viewers to find like-minded individuals on the platform without the help of references or other tools like Twitter. Tags would allow streamers who are from particular backgrounds, whether that be a tag for disabled people or a tag for those with military histories to identify their stream to people who may be interested in watching content from that sort of person.
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Individuals, especially from the trans community, have been asking for these tags for a long time to help find communities they would feel safe in / connect with, so what took so long? Well, in the blog post announcing the change Twitch says it's because they firmly believed that it was better to keep tags reserved for the content represented in the stream, and not a stance on who streamers "were or what they stood for". But though they "have maintained this distinction", "we were wrong."
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The post says: "When viewers talk about why they love Twitch, they don't just talk about the content. They talk about creators, what they care about, and the communities they have built. By expanding tags, we are giving creators more ways to be discovered and viewers more ways to find communities that they want to call home."
It should be noted that if you do fall into a tag or a category, there is no obligation to use the tag if you don't want to, it's just for those that want viewers to find their content based on these characteristics.
There are a wide range of tags getting added and Twitch are calling for viewers and streamers to suggest more here if they think there are categories missing. The team has consulted third-party organisations like "GLAAD, The Trevor Project, AbleGamers, SpecialEffect, and other experts focused on the progress of underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, LGBTQIA+, disabled, and marginalized communities" to make sure it's on the right path already. These tags will start appearing sometime this week.
Featured Image Credit: Twitch