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How to Protect Yourself as a Streamer – Privacy on Twitch

By
Auri Fern
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0

Streaming on Twitch or YouTube, but wondering how to protect your privacy so you don’t get doxxed? Do you want to hide your real name, address, and other details? What should you keep private from your stream?

Live streaming’s thrill is in connecting people beyond old limits. In an increasingly disconnected world, you can connect everywhere instantly — and live.

But with the thrill are the typical risks of an anonymous audience, and safety and privacy concerns inevitable rise. Some possible privacy breaches affect streamers specifically that may not be an issue for other content creators.

So how do you protect your identity, address, or data? Whatever your comfort level is, you can use the following pointers to check that your privacy is where you want it to be.

(Posts may contain affiliate links that modestly compensate this site.)

Protect Yourself as a Twitch Streamer

Infographic with a list of privacy issues to remember as a Twitch streamer

Live streaming lets you connect with people everywhere, instantaneously, and live. But with any online audience, privacy concerns emerge. How do you protect things like your real name, address, or general data? Here are some points to keep in mind.

1. Hide Your Name and Address on Amazon Wishlists

To keep your name and address private with an Amazon wish list, use a separate account under your username and disable third party sellers.

  • Make a separate Amazon account only for Twitch using your Twitch name.
  • Disable purchases from independent sellers, as these can reveal your details. Go to Wishlist, then settings, and uncheck the box for independent sellers.
  • Use your Twitch name instead of your real name, and provide a P.O. Box as the address. (Link: USPS instructions on getting a P.O. Box.) Make sure your P.O. Box details include your Twitch name for receiving packages.
  • Consider using a platform like Throne.

You can register an LLC and use those details. (Set it up with BetterLegal in 10 minutes or less.)

2. Twitch Donations Can Show Your Real Name

Streaming apps make it easy for Twitch viewers to send PayPal tips to streamers. But is it private for either party? Not really.

Anyone can go to their PayPal account and see their transaction history. Even if the tips were sent through a streaming app like Streamlabs, people can see the real names of people they tipped. And you can see the names of people who tipped you. It’s usually the real name.

Solutions?

  • Use a PayPal business account to make and receive Twitch donations.
  • Accept credit card donations through Streamlabs or StreamElements. Their FAQ says credit card donations don’t show your personal details.
  • If you are donating to another streamer, the same applies. Either they must have credit cards enabled, or you should tip with a business name.
  • Create an LLC: Using an LLC is a way to ensure your name won’t show up on a viewer’s credit card statements after they tip you. Do you need a separate entity (LLC/corporation) for your business? Set it up with BetterLegal in 10 minutes or less.

Read more here about making money on Twitch.

 

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3. Don’t Click Links in Chat – Some Get Your IP Address

Twitch trolls can get crafty by posting links in chat that are only meant to log your IP address and location. Be sure to use a VPN service to hide your location like NordVPN. While an IP won’t reveal your street address, it can reveal your city, service provider, or in some cases a campus you’re on. IP grabbers can help malicious users to stalk, troll, or dox streamers.

Can someone get my IP from Twitch?

Twitch itself doesn’t allow anyone to see your IP address, but bad actors online can still try to trick you so they can view it. Usually, someone in a Twitch (or YouTube) chat has to post a link to a separate website that grabs your IP address. Your IP address might reveal your general location, network, campus, and internet service provider. Ban links in your stream’s chat or use good judgment. Here are five good ways to protect your IP data:

You have a few options to protect your IP address:

  • Make it a policy that viewers don’t post links in chat
  • Allow only subs to post links
  • Have moderators receive links and decide whether to post them in chat
  • Use Chrome extensions like BTTV to preview a URL with a mouse hover
  • Use a VPN service to always hide your IP address online.

A VPN, or virtual private network, is a necessity these days for private browsing, gaming, and streaming. A VPN hides your IP address and location, and lets you pick different countries to connect to. I use NordVPN. They have a one-week trial or a one-year bargain rate, so there’s only a couple of dollars between you and your web privacy.

4. Don’t Let Alexa Betray You

It’s part hilarious, part terrifying, and altogether real. Alexa doxes people.

Streamers have had their locations revealed by their Alexa and Google Home devices, and the clips of it are on Youtube and LiveStreamFail.

Asian Andy’s viewers used the text-to-chat feature to make Alexa reveal his location. The chat used commands like “Alexa, call mom” and “Alexa, call me an Uber.” And then finally, “Alexa, what is my current location?”

The device answered. But at $3 per troll command, at least there’s that?

5. Keep Your Address Private on Twitch

Are viewers asking you to open a P.O. Box so they can send mail? It’s a common request, and can be a lot of fun!

Get a P.O. Box that’s only for Twitch mail. Don’t intermingle other personal mail with it. If you want to be extra careful, get the P.O. box under a business name. The American USPS keeps names private, but it’s an extra precaution.

If you get a P.O. Box, have someone else handle pickups and scanning it. It is majorly important to avoid tracking devices, especially after reports of Filian and Camila getting them in 2024 and 2025 in packages or as gifts at conventions.

Some streamers post photos or streams of themselves picking up their mail. I’m not convinced this is an amazing idea, personally, but everyone has their own comfort level.

6. Trademark Your Twitch Name Safely

If you ever decide to trademark a good Twitch username, you could accidentally give away your real name and address.

Registering a trademark in the U.S. makes the registrant’s name public record. Those records can quickly show up at the top of Google results.

So if you want to trademark but remain private, think about filing it under the name of a business formation such as an anonymous LLC.

File for an LLC online: Do you need a separate entity (LLC/corporation) for your business? Set it up with BetterLegal in 10 minutes or less.

7. Have a Plan for Personal Questions

You’re going to do a lot of talking when you stream. When you start out, it might be mostly about you. And you’re going to field questions from viewers. That’s all good, but have you thought about where your boundaries will be?

Spend some time planning for how many details you’ll want to share. Things like how specific or vague you’ll be about where you live, your name, birthdate, and anything else meaningful to you. It’s amazing what a person can find out from just a few details.

When chat asks you personal questions, have some stock answers on hand. If you decide there’s something you won’t talk about at all, make it clear in your chat rules.

For the most part, it’s best to evade questions you don’t like with humor. Joke around while dodging the question and they’ll get the idea. Have mods ready to back you up if needed.

8. Personal Information Leaked by Twitch Chat

A challenge of livestreams is being responsible for other people in real time. Trolls show up just to say bannable words, so it’s not a stretch to be wary of people posting your info. It happens more than we’d all like.

Obviously, have mods ready to respond to and delete anything personal. And don’t feed the trolls by giving them the reaction they want. Stay cool and collected.

Don’t confirm when someone has your personal info right by calling it out.

Make it your policy that anything that looks like personal information about any person will be removed.

You can block certain terms from chat in your Twitch settings, but don’t block anything that would raise questions. If someone’s trying to type Bob and your name is Bob, it could be about their bobtail cat or Bob Saget.

Finally, make sure your real-life friends who watch your stream know where your boundaries are, too, so they don’t say too much when they thought it would be harmless.

The following can help prevent trolls from getting your details in the first place:

9. Practice Good Data Hygiene

  • Regularly search your real life name, and ask any directory sites to remove you. Look for each site’s “opt out” instructions.
  • Search your Twitch username regularly. You can set up a Google alert to be notified when it shows up somewhere new online.
  • Keep everything that uses your username separate from any real life info.
  • Set up social media accounts separate from your real ones with fake information.
  • For your real-name social accounts, lock them down with privacy settings.
  • Use different pictures for your personal social accounts and ones you might post on Twitch-related social media. Google’s reverse image search feature makes it easy for people to connect the two.

10. Privacy Risks When Screen Sharing

If you show screencasts of websites or apps, you should practice your setup first and be aware of the things that can inadvertently pop up on your screen.

For example, if you surf the web, watch out for sites that reveal your location. Even those annoying geo-targeted ads could pop up and call out the city you’re in.

  • Use standby screens. Have a starting, BRB, and ending video you can easily switch to in OBS. (Best ways to use a stream starting soon video.)
  • Try using the Brave browser. You can set it to block third-party cookies and to block ads and use it as a separate browser only for streaming.
  • Practice your setup with multiple monitors, and have one monitor specifically for screencasts. Arrange your windows so that you can preview what goes on the live monitor first. Keep that display clean of any file-browsing windows.
  • Get a good VPN service to mask your browsing location. Try NordVPN here.

11. Travel, Outdoors, and IRL (Just Chatting) Streams

Do you carry around a tripod and talk to a camera as you go about your day? Okay, I jest — the category covers a lot more than that — but regardless, take extra measures to avoid filming private things like your address.

Cover your camera lens when you’re going home to conceal your neighborhood and doorway. This could apply to train station exits and other landmarks as well.

If you open stream gifts live, use a sharpie to mark out your address on the packages first.

Stream snipers can also show up in person, so it’s a possibility you should be realistically prepared for.

12. Getting a Website? Use Domain Name Privacy

If you decide to get a website or blog for your Twitch and register a domain name, add the privacy feature called WHOIS protection to your registration. It’s often free — I snag my domain names with Namecheap, and privacy is included for free with their already cheap domains. Just check the box next to “WHOIS protection.”

Without this setting, your personal info will be listed publicly where anyone can look it up. Websites that crawl such data will pick it up and list it on other sites with your e-mail address and possibly address. You’ll probably also get telemarketing calls — so it’s a must, no matter what your website is for!

13. Dealing with Privacy on Discord

Most people post a public link to their Discord servers so anyone can join, and separate out sub-only sections.

But in come cases, like with huge audiences, the Discord can be sub-only or invite-only altogether.

Issues with Discord arise when trolls decide to join a server in droves to spam it with unfun images and attitudes.

14. Avoid DDoS Attacks

A DDoS attack is a denial of service attack that blocks someone from using a web resource. They’re usually done by getting a gamer or a streamer’s IP address and flooding their network so they get dropped from their internet connection and game.

Certain software or systems have been exploited in particular. For Twitch streamers, a Skype account attached to your Twitch email can present an opening for attacks. It’s better to use use Discord instead.

15. Consoles and Privacy

If you play on console and stream through a capture card, you might not want viewers to see your PSN name, for example. Try to make an account just for Twitch. If not, at least avoid showing the menu screen. There may be some benefit to at least change the name that shows at the top of the menu — it’s not actually your username.

16. Respect Others’ Privacy, Too

And now for the other side of the story. Privacy goes both ways! Respect your viewers, other streamers, and fellow members of chat.

  1. Don’t call out lurkers in your chat. It’s a basic Twitch etiquette rule not to call out that person who’s in your viewers list but not chatting. They could be channel surfing, falling asleep, multitasking with some background noise, or anything else. Whatever the reason, this would just scare them away.
  2. Avoid streaming other people without their knowledge and consent. In 2018 an Uber and Lyft driver caused a scandal when he streamed his passengers without their knowledge.

 

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Twitch Privacy Takeaways

Above all, have a plan in place before problems get out of hand.

And if you really want to be private, you can hide your entire face by streaming as a VTuber.

Takeaways: We’ve talked about setting up accounts so that you don’t accidentally give out your name. We went over setting boundaries for your channel. We’ve also talked about the unexpected ways devices and websites can give you away. And of course, about not giving trolls the reaction they want.

Privacy on Twitch, YouTube, and Mixer isn’t a light topic. Issues can range from harmless trolls to more serious problems like stalking, doxxing, and swatting. Check out this video about smart precautions you can take to protect yourself if you’re getting threats.

Your turn: Do you have any stories about your own privacy while using Twitch?

Or do you have any good ideas you use to protect yourself as a streamer? Please let me know in the comments below, or get in touch if you think there’s something this article missed!

Safe streaming, and cheers to the streamers and amazing platform that is Twitch!

Twitch Channel Point Ideas – 29 Redeems to Keep Chat Active

By
Auri Fern
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0
Twitch Channel Point Ideas Infographic

Twitch channel points keep your viewers engaged and active. This list of custom Twitch channel point ideas will help you find your style and make the most of them.

Of course, channel points are loyalty incentives for things like watch time and return visits, with extra points awarded to subscribers.

But best of all, they keep chat engaged and fun. Custom point rewards are a token of your stream’s personality and community.

They even give you insight into what content your community prefers as you grow. Find out how and get inspired by this list of Twitch channel reward ideas.

Default Vs. Custom Rewards

Twitch automatically enables default point rewards that don’t require anything from you:

Default Channel Points

Custom point rewards, on the other hand, sometimes need a little more work from you and your mods. Use this list to brainstorm rewards that capture the spirit of your stream. If a reward requires extra work, price it higher—and be sure to review the moderation tips at the end of this list.

29 Custom Twitch Channel Point Ideas

1. Soundboard

Add a sound or quote to your soundboard and play it when redeemed. You might already have sound effects tied to your alerts or an extension, but this could be fun too.

2. Serenade Your Stream

The energetic IRL streamer and breakdancer JoeyKaotyk has a 35,000 “Not Lit AF freestyle rap” reward. Do you have a song or harmonica on standby? Whether you’re genuinely skilled or just memeing, the effect is the same. The incredibly talented and funny Grand Theft Auto RP streamer MiltonTPike1 occasionally plays surprise flute solos, which just goes to show how things that break up routine can make for a memorable stream.

3. VIP for a day

Let them flex the pink diamond badge for the rest of the stream. You’ll likely need a limit, since each streamer has a limited amount of VIP badges unlocked.

4. Random Fact or Joke

You could compile your material, or let your chat submit their facts or jokes for you to read out loud. These are even better when themed (Cat Facts! MMO Puns!). For submissions, just toggle on “Require Viewer to Enter Text” when creating the reward.

5. Tongue Twister

You could have one ridiculous, specific tongue twister, or have chat submit tongue twisters to you.

6. Switch Gameplay Style / Weapon

Whatever game your playing, switch to a new play style. Change a weapon, switch from melee to hunter, or whatever it is that shakes things up.

7. Pointless Points and Absolutely Nothing

Twitch Ambassador and prolific FFXIV streamer Spofie has a 20,000-point reward called Absolutely Nothing. Even better, her highest reward for 100,000 points is called Weird Flex. Meanwhile, hilarious roleplay streamer FistoftheWalrus once had several point tiers that all redeemed nothing, and now has one called Waste Your Points.

8. Random Statements

The cousin of pointless points, these rewards are just random declarations that appear in chat with no other purpose. Things where nothing happens, like: Username redeemed “Chat is cute!” or “Bless this RNG!”

9. Show Pet Cam

You could turn on a pet cam for a given amount of time. There are plenty of variations of pet-related rewards, but I’d be reluctant to bother Whiskers with the whims of chat.

10. Voice Changer for 60 Seconds

If you have a voice changer, continue your normal programming with the voice changer on for a minute.

11. Dab (or Wink, or Blow a Kiss)

Dab. Floss. Whatever, because it’s a thing that just persists, even out of ironic cringe.

12. Doodle Request

If you stream your desktop, do a quick doodle. Not an artist? No problem: Do it in MS Paint with your mouse. Be sure to make it a high cost reward, have a limit like one or two minutes, and not promise any file deliveries so you don’t end up accidentally doing free commissions.

13. Ask Me Anything

Let them redeem it for a question answered within reason.

14. Give Someone a Compliment

Make a cozy stream by letting chat redeem compliments.

15. Sub-Only Mode

To mod is to taste power. Let for everyone else, they can taste it for a minute with these rewards.  let them turn on sub-only mode with a time limit. Be sure to have a Stop Sub Only Mode reward as well. After all, your non-subs do get to use channel points!

16. Time Out Someone Else

If your chat is particularly spicy, let people redeem points to time out someone else for a minute (or ten).

17. Time Out Themself

People have funny tastes. Even Twitch has this as a preset reward ready for you to use. If you like a bit of mischief, put it up as a mystery reward to time out whoever innocently redeems it. Just go easy on your newbies!

18. Emote Only Mode

Continuing the redemptions that give chat mod powers, let them request emote only mode. Your mods can turn it on. Be sure to also have a reward called End Emote Only Mode.

19. Roll an Ad

If they redeem it, do you even have to feel bad?

20. Notice Me

A reward redeemable for attention from the streamer. Say hi, shout them out, tell them they’re cute, or whatever. Combine with sound effects or attention from chat for more fun.

21. Attention from chat

Redeem for chat to @ them. You could make the reward a specific reaction or emote.

22. Language Lesson

Teach chat a word in another language. Like many of these, you could be sincere or make it a meme.

23. Discord Role

At a high points cost, a lucky viewer can get a special Discord role.

24. Wardrobe Change

This can be as simple as rewards like Hat On and Hat Off, or as elaborate as getting into a full costume pullover (also known as a kigurumi).

25. Dance

Self-explanatory. Decide how flashy or simple to make it — dancing is a popular reaction to raids, so you might want to save the big ones for that.

26. A Free Sub

For enough points, the streamer gifts them a sub. By the way, wanna know our tips to get more Twitch subs?

27. Lurk

Some streamers use a !lurk command so people can alert the chat that they’re AFK but still online, but you can let them use points for this too. The great thing about lurk notifications is it allows you to thank them for the support, and show others that lurking helps you without spelling it out.

28. Secret Surprise

No one knows what it is. But you do. And someone else will, eventually.

29. End Stream

Outrageous rewards like ending your stream or your whole career are good memes thanks to Twitch’s reward limit of 999,999,999 points. The same applies if your chat always asks you for something you don’t want to do. For example, the commentator HasanAbi told his chat they could finally get him to unpause videos he’s reacting to like they are always asking, all for the low cost of all their points. He didn’t implement it, and hasn’t unpaused to this day.

How to Set Up Channel Points

To set up your custom Twitch channel point rewards, go to your Creator Dashboard and then click on Community in the navigation menu to the left. Channel Points will be listed there. Here, you can set a name and icon for your points currency and manage all of your rewards.

Name for Your Channel Points

By default your channel points will be called, well, Channel Points. But don’t miss the opportunity to name them something that fits your community aesthetic or sense of humor. Read: Name Your YouTube or Twitch Channel

Twitch Channel Points Icons

There are two types of icons for your channel points system: One to represent your points currency, and the rest for specific rewards.

You don’t have to provide either if you don’t want, as Twitch has default icons you can use. I wouldn’t say it’s important, but it is cute, and chats notice and appreciate the attention to detail.

Channel point icons are the same size as emotes, requiring you to upload the same image in three sizes: 28, 56, and 112 pixel versions. The file type should be .png with a transparent background. Read: Twitch size guide for emotes, overlays, and more

Don’t worry, you can reuse your emotes for these images if you want! You can also commission an artist or buy pre-made icons.

Twitch Community Challenges

Let your viewers unlock bigger rewards with Community Challenges. These let your chat pool their channel points together for a goal over a course of several streams, with a cap on how many they can contribute per day. You can set a deadline, point cost, and icon.

Community Challenges also give you realtime feedback. Since you can run up to three at a time, you’ll see exactly which content your viewers prefer. After all, spending points is more commitment than answering a poll.

Community Challenges

Community Challenges might seem like any other stretch goal — for example, read our post on sub goal ideas for plenty of similar ideas that could work here. But since challenges use mostly free points, they’re great for lower stakes, fun rewards that are fun for your chat. If your community doesn’t reach the goal, you can refund their points.

  • Play a Game with Chat – For (Jackbox / Drawful / Pictionary / Marbles)
  • Have a movie night – Use Kast.gg or a similar service
  • Post a community meme to socials
  • Publish a YouTube Video

How to Moderate Channel Rewards

Channel points are easy to moderate, just like normal chat. You can set limits on how many rewards can be used, pause them when you need a break, and have your moderators manage them. Banned users can’t use them, so you don’t have to worry about bad actors. (Related: How to Guard Your Privacy on Twitch.)

I recommend letting your moderators handle rewards alongside you. Your mods can approve or reject rewards, return points, mark them as complete, and pause redemptions for you. To open the channel points request queue, moderators can type /requests in chat or click on the rewards queue under tasks.

Points F.A.Q.

How many points should my stream rewards cost?

Twitch has a feature called Smart Cost that you can toggle on or off. Start with some low stakes rewards to see how you manage. The more something interrupts the flow of your content, the more it should cost.

Where are Twitch channel points located?

Twitch Channel Points are located in the Creator Dashboard under Community. For viewers, their points are visible under the chat box.

Can you import points from StreamElements to Twitch?

You can’t import points from StreamElements or another bot into Twitch, but you can still use both if you want. A key difference in StreamElements and Twitch is that SE allows chat to give their points to other viewers, gamble them.

Twitch Channel Point Ideas: Takeaways

Twitch channel points are an amazing way to keep chat fun. Just remember that the bottom line is to give your chat plenty of ways to participate in the stream.

What do you think keeps your chat fun? And are there any streamers who you think have done an exceptional job with their Twitch channel rewards? 

Banner for streaming assets like overlays, channel point icons, and more for download.

How to Use Stream Starting Soon Videos for More Engagement

By
Auri Fern
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0
Tips and ideas for your stream starting soon scenes and animated videos. This cover image is for the blog post on Creatoko.com covering everything from what to include in your starting screen to places to download free intro videos, the best places to commission artists for them, and much more.

Animated stream starting soon videos keep viewers off the back button, hype your projects, and make going live easier. Luckily, you can set one up in OBS free for Twitch, YouTube, or other platforms.

Tips and ideas for your stream starting soon scenes and animated videos. This cover image is for the blog post on Creatoko.com covering everything from what to include in your starting screen to places to download free intro videos, the best places to commission artists for them, and much more.

Why Use a Stream Starting Soon Scene?

A “starting soon” video hypes viewers to greet you with a warm chat that’s already moving. Much better than opening cold and talking to dead air!

Not only is going live easier, but the scene can get more social media followers, announce goals, and more all while you have extra time to set up.

Best Stream Starting Video Ideas:

Though all a starting soon video needs is text that you’re going live, you’ll pack more punch with these tips to get more engagement and follows:

  1. Use a Countdown Timer. Give yourself time for technical difficulties and give chat time to start moving. If you don’t use one, try to be consistent! You can add a countdown timer as a widget with StreamElements.
  2. Write Today’s Event. You can add text in OBS itself to make this fast every time. You might think it’s enough in your stream title, but helps with highlights, VODs, and YouTube uploads from Twitch!
  3. List Your Socials. This is a nudge to get people to click follow on Twitter, or to check out a Patreon! They can be a part of the design, or text in OBS.
  4. Use Animation. This is a visual cue that the stream really is live, rather than just having offline background art up. Get more tips on this below!
  5. Play Music. Another clue that your stream is really live. It adds to the atmosphere and keeps the chat in the right mind-frame for your stream.
  6. Show Goal Progress. If you have a subscriber goal, charity event, subathon, or you’re hiring, write it! Chat also gets a topic while they wait.

Should My Starting Soon Scene be Animated?

Animated stream starting videos aren’t just for fun! Viewers don’t mistake it for a regular offline background and leave. But isn’t animation expensive? you ask. Don’t worry! You have more options thank you think.

How to Get an Animated Starting Soon Video Pack:

  • Buy a pre-made animated starting soon video or standby scene pack from an artist’s shop. It’s cheaper than custom-made, but you still get to pick something for your aesthetic.
  • Use a free option from StreamElements when you set up your stream. Just connect your Twitch or YouTube account to StreamElements.com and navigate to the overlays browser.
  • Commission a personalized one. The cost will depend on the skill and experience of the artist and whether they re-use templates. If your order is involved or has a lot of moving parts, don’t expect it to be cheap.
  • For the most budget animation, throw a GIF or two over your scene. Voilà!

Download a Free Scene, Buy Premium, or Order Custom

And as the first thing people see, your starting soon screen is your chance to set the tone for your stream. But take it easy and match your budget to your journey from beginner to pro! The more established you get, the more stream assets you can integrate with your branding. But early on, it’s easy to set up assets that represent you, even for free.

How to Get a Starting Soon Video as a Free Download:

  • The fastest way to get a free starting soon video for your stream is by connecting your Twitch or YouTube to StreamElements.com. They have a huge selection of templates you can customize. Move parts around and add your own details.
  • At Creatoko we support indie creators, so check out the many streamers offering free stream asset downloads. You can find them on Gumroad or Ko-fi, which they usually link to from Twitter for freebies.

How to Buy Pre-Made Stream Starting Soon Videos:

Artists in the streamer community sell pre-made stream assets, too. With these pre-made packages, you get a professional stream when you’re not ready for custom-made prices.

The higher the quality and the more that’s included, the more they cost. Especially if they are painstakingly animated. They often come with multiple scenes, overlays, and Twitch panels, and you can download them instantly!

How to Commission a Custom Stream Animation:

Once you’re ready, you can commission an artist in the streaming community to make something perfect, just for you, with all your channel memes and references. You can even get cute backgrounds with art of yourself in the scene!

If you want to commission an artist, I recommend Vgen.co for authentic artists.

Remember that commissions can get expensive depending on the work, and that commissions are a luxury rather than a necessity. Focus on your stream content before you buy anything expensive, and work up to it.

Warning: Avoid Stream Asset Scams and Stolen Art:

Don’t ask for commissions directly on Twitter like a call for artists. This winds up flooding your replies and DMs with bot accounts spamming you to sell you re-made or stolen work.

Use the same care on sites like Fiverr. There are real artists on these sites, but just as many fakes. Be wary of generic designs or too-good-to-be-true turnaround times. Can they really animate that fast?

How to Make an OBS Stream Starting Screen

  1. Get your artwork from an artist or use a stock site like Canva.
  2. Go to StreamElements and add it to their overlay library.
  3. Use StreamElements to add chat or other goal widgets.
  4. Open OBS and create a scene, then add a “browser source”.
  5. Paste the URL from StreamElements into the Browser Source.
  6. Check the box that says “loop” to make it a looping animation.

Learn more: How to Stream Using OBS and StreamElements

Starting Soon Video FAQs

What Music Can I Play While My Stream is Starting?

The best music for your starting soon scene will be a royalty-free music playlist, game soundtrack, or a theme song of your own commissioned from a composer or other music artist!

How do I add a Start Soon Screen on Twitch or YouTube?

To set up a starting soon screen on Twitch, and other standby videos, you just need to add a new scene to OBS and then upload the video source. Make sure you check the box next to “loop.”

Do I Use a Stream Starting Soon GIF, Mp4, WebM or other File Type?

The usual file type for an animated scene will be a WebM, which most stream sites like StreamElements and Streamlabs specifically ask you to upload. They have a low file size but retain a high quality. GIFs are low quality and can have size/time limits. Don’t download stream GIFs from Tenor or gif sites — you’ll often just find stolen art with text on top. Stay out of copyright disputes and respect your brand as well as the original artist. As for mp4s, in cases of actual video content, music videos, and longer form supercuts they can be perfect. But a short loop animation is best as a WebM file.

More Aesthetic Stream Tips

Your starting scene is just one aspect of your stream design for Twitch or YouTube, etc. It’s not just branding: remember it’s supposed to be fun — for you and your community!

You can apply the tips above to your other scenes. If viewers drop into the middle of your stream, a BRB scene keeps them in place and talking in chat. For Twitch offline banners, show where else to find you (your Discord and social URLS).

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VTuber Terms Glossary – Slang, Lingo and Meme Meanings

By
Auri Fern
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An anime-style girl looks up VTuber word meanings in a VTuber dictionary of lingo, slang, and jargon. Word bubbles show she is asking "what does seiso mean" and "What is TSKR" in VTuber chats? Other words are kusa in Japanese kanji and the meaning of oshi. This is the header image for a blog post on Creatoko about VTuber terms, slang, jargon, lingo, and even technical terms that might come in handy!

What does that VTubing word MEAN? Here’s the dictionary you needed for VTuber terms, lingo, and slang. Know all the VTuber memes, fan chat slang, and tech terms! With Japanese / JP VTuber words too!

An anime-style girl looks up VTuber word meanings in a VTuber dictionary of lingo, slang, and jargon. Word bubbles show she is asking "what does seiso mean" and "What is TSKR" in VTuber chats? Other words are kusa in Japanese kanji and the meaning of oshi. This is the header image for a blog post on Creatoko about VTuber terms, slang, jargon, lingo, and even technical terms that might come in handy!

VTuber Terms, Slang, Memes, and More

If you enjoy this list of VTuber words, you might need this list of Twitch slang here. If you want to know more about how VTubing works, check out our guide to VTuber stream content.

Table of Contents

A

Agency – VTuber agencies are virtual talent groups for VTubers, which are usually corporate and hold auditions for their characters. Corporate agencies include Nijisanji and Hololive. However, independent VTuber agencies such as VShojo have been cropping up to massive success.

Akasupa – Akasupa is a Japanese / JP VTuber word for a red superchat. (Aka = red, supa = superchat). This is the most expensive donation tier and it will show up in red at the top of chat and stay pinned the longest. See Supa / Superchat.

Ara Ara – VTubers say “ara ara” in to imitate provocative voice acting for anime characters. It’s simultaneously a meme and fanservice, sometimes held back by the VTuber from saying it unless some condition is met.

Art Tag – The tag to post your fanart of the VTuber on Twitter. Sometimes they’ll see it and retweet it. Some VTubers have NSFW tags as well that are separate from the clean one. Other VTubers or their agencies do not allow NSFW art of their character at all. Be sure to read and respect their rules. See Hashtags.

Assets – Digital goods used for live streaming, which can range from character models to backgrounds, outfits, scenery, objects, stream overlays, and more. See VTuber Assets and Stream Assets.

Auditions – Agencies hold auditions for characters. In some cases, agencies use auditions to recruit trainees for VTuber training academies to teach them how to stream and make content. VIRTUAL TALENT ACADEMY did this in 2021 to develop talent for Nijisanji and offer them chances to debut.

B

BGM – VTubers often commission or make their own BGM, or background music. These background tunes are composed for them whether from their agency or by their own commissions. Some have one tune, others have multiple. A general theme, an opening song, and a kazoo-level empty head tune are a few ideas. You can find a lot of composers who take commissions if you look around the VTuber community on Twitter. For instant music, try https://audiostock.net/

Boing Boing – Boing boing refers to an avatar that has especially bouncy physics. Boing boing is also used as VTuber slang for the bouncy tendencies of the streamer’s actual movement that causes the avatar to be… extra bouncy.

Bottom Left – Bottom Left is a playful term for a VTuber who is dumb and lewd. Bottom Left was born when the Hololive EN girls made an alignment chart to rank their purity and intelligence during a collab. On the chart, top = pure and bottom = impure, while right = smart, left = dumb. The Holovive member Kiara’s papa jokingly called her Bottom Left, and the rest is history.

Example: The origin of bottom left, timestamp 55:10:

C

Cardboard – Cardboard is a static drawing of themselves that they put on screen when their live model glitches out, stops tracking their movement, or has other technical difficulties.

Character Sheet (Ref Sheet) – An initial concept art of the original character / OC for the VTuber that shows their angles and facial expressions. It’s also called a reference sheet.

Clip – Both YouTube and Twitch allow viewers to “clip” sections of a VTuber’s stream for later viewing. Some viewers have YouTube channels dedicated to the best recent clips. Savvy VStreamers hire an editor to post highlights and clips to their own YouTube channels.

Commissions – The best place to find commissions for your own VTuber model is to check out the profiles of models you like and find out who their mama and papa are. You can also commission art of your character, chibis, stream assets such as stream overlays, stream alerts, and more. Good websites for getting character art are Vgen and Skeb. If you’re looking for pre-made stream assets, try Booth, Etsy, or artist’s Gumroad and Ko-fi accounts.

D

Debut – A VTuber Debut is their first stream, usually after a fair amount of marketing. After so much hype by the agency or themselves, chats can’t wait for this introduction.

(P.S. If you want to debut and need a name, check our guide to VTuber streamer name ideas.)

Debut Voice – A VTuber’s voice or voice-acting style might change later, and thus you have a word just for their debut voice.

Dere – Deres are Japanese character tropes or archetypes that sometimes VTubers are cast as. But even if they have an archetype for their character, they’re normal people whose realistic personality traits come out. Some common deres are tsundere, kuundere, and yandere.

E

ENVTuber – English-speaking VTuber. Often used as a stream tag or as a Twitter hashtag.

EN Curse – The EN Curse is a VTuber meme term for Hololive English members (or EN VTubers in general) seeming to always have tech issues during their debut.

G

Gachikoi – A fan who is in love with a character or virtual personality.

Generation – A VTuber generation is a term for a virtual group that debuts together. It’s used to differentiate VTuber groups from the same agency based on their purpose, content, and debut year.

Grill Voice – A male VTuber’s grill voice is his impression of a girl’s voice. The Nijisanji member Luca Kaneshiro’s grill voice was famously convincing. It’s even called “Lucy.” See Ikebo for the reverse of this.

Guerilla Stream – A Guerilla stream is an unplanned stream that happens when a VTuber just feels like going live. Surprise! (Can you figure out which creators are meme-ing when they misspell this VTuber term as “gorilla stream”?)

Graduate / Graduation – Graduation is VTuber retirement, at least from that character or role. Just like a debut, a graduation stream will be a special occasion.

H

Hololive – Hololive Production is one of the foremost VTuber agencies, and a major competitor to Nijisanji. One of their most famous and successful VTubers is Gawr Gura, the ENVTuber who reached 3 million YouTube subscribers in July 2021. Another record-breaking Hololive talent was Uruha Rushia, who the company infamously retired (graduated) early, to much controversy.

I

Idol – Idol culture in Japan influenced the early concept of VTuber Groups and the entertainment they provide. Therefore, the two worlds can have overlapping culture and terminology.

Ikemen – In Japanese, ikemen means a handsome guy. So if someone refers to an ikemen they could be talking about a talent’s look or style. See the following definition for 

Ikebo – Ikemen voice, or imitating the voice of a handsome guy. Usually done by female streamers. See Grill Voice for word to describe the reverse.

J

JP Bros – JP Bros is a term some English-speaking fans use to refer to their VTuber’s Japanese audiences.

K

Kizuna Ai – Before live VTubers, Kizuna AI rose to prominence as a massively successful and world-recognized Virtual YouTuber. However, her content followed conventional YouTube formats. Though entertaining, the character was not a live-streaming VTuber or liver. Included here for the significance of the culture moving to live-streaming.

Kusa – In Japanese internet slang, the kanji for kusa (草) is like “lol” or “lmao.” The small w means laughter (since w stands for warau, to laugh). So a row of them (wwwww) looks like grass!

Kuso – A japanese simple expletive that explains a lot of words you’ll hear during VTuber lives, like kusoge (stupid game) or calling each other names in good fun (including EN language streamers).

L

Let’s Play – A YouTube or stream format where a content creator does a game playthrough. This can also be a segment of a VTuber’s show.

Lewdtuber – A lewdtuber is a VTuber who is specifically lewd or NSFW in their content – not your average creator who might make the occasional lewd or degenerate joke. An example of a talent you could call a lewdtuber is ProjektMelody.

Live2D (L2D) – Software to make, and technique of creating and using, 2D VTuber models. Created by Tetsuya Nakajo. Most VTubers use Live2D models, but other methods are popular, like VRoid. NIJISANJI is credited with making Live2d models the standard.

Liver – Another way of saying streamer, specific to VTubers. The first virtual personalities such as Kizuna Ai did pre-recorded YouTube videos instead of livestreams, so the distinction was made.

Loading Screen – The loading screen is an intro video that usually loops until the streamer appears on screen. It’s one example of a stream asset like starting, break scenes, and outro videos.

Lore – A VTuber’s lore is their background story, which can range from convoluted to absurdly simple. After all, the VTuber model is a character, and thus they have a background story. As for VTuber groups who debut together, their lore may overlap and complement one another’s.

So even if you tune in to find them doing seemingly mundane things like karaoke / utawaku, don’t forget that they’re still a powerful dragon/spirit/supercomputer/detective!

M

Mama (see also: Papa) – Usually the artist, while the papa is the rigger. However, some VTubers choose to use mama and papa to the gender of the person. They can also call both people as papa or mama. If someone says their real mom they’ll add a word, the way Silvervale refers to her mom as Mama Vale. In Japanese, this VTuber term is written ママ.

Marshmallow – Q&A website for Twitter users to receive and answer questions but also that is used for Question and Answer segments as a part of a VTuber’s broadcast.

Member / Membership – A member on a VTuber’s YouTube is a paying supporter of the channel. This is a YouTube Live feature similar to Twitch for subscribers.

Model – The VTuber’s model is their character on-screen that is rigged to move with their animations. It might be a 2D model or a 3D model. Both require rigging. see also Reveal for Model Reveal

Mute – A mute is a VTuber, streamer, or VR Chat player who does not talk as a rule. Not once in a while, but as a fundamental preference.

N

Nijisanji / NIJISANJI –  Nijisanji is a VTuber agency most famous for debuting successful English-speaking virtual groups, and for proving there is a market for all-male groups. Nijisanji first announced English-speaking character auditions in December 2020, and debuted them in 2021. Its first all-male wave, Luxiem, began in December 2021 to massive success. 

It has other branches for other languages as well. It’s sometimes represented by the numbers 2434 (read as nijisanji in Japanese), which leads to Japanese audience superchats being sent in that amount.

NicoNicoDouga / Nico Nico – A Japanese video upload site like YouTube, where a lot of virtual talent rose in popularity.

O

OC / Original Character – A lot of artists have their own original characters, and so do streamers who use their characters for virtual Youtubing or streaming.

Oshi – An Oshi VTuber is a fan’s favorite, used to refer to the ones they supports the most. It comes from the Japanese for to push forward. So a fan likes to promote and uplift their oshi. Example: “My oshi is doing a collab so I’ll be there to support them!”

Overlays – VTuber overlays are a type of stream asset used in OBS to create gaming scenes, chatting scenes, and much more. You can get overlays custom-made or pre-made, with both paid and free options.

P

Papa – A Vtuber’s Papa is the person who rigged their character model. Meanwhile, the artist who drew and layered the model is the Mama. But this isn’t always standard. Some VTubers call their creators Mama or Papa based on gender, not skillset. And don’t forget that sometimes the artist and rigger are the same person! In Japanese, this VTuber term is written パパ. See also Mama.

Physics – A character model’s physics are the way their rigging reacts to gravity and movement. See Boing Boing.

Pixiv – Pixiv is a Japanese website where talented artists show their work. You might find some VTuber fanart here. Since Pixiv is connected to Booth, you can also buy goods from the artists featured on the site.

PNG Tuber – A PNG Tuber / PNGTuber is the ultra simplified version of a VTuber in that they are meticulously animated. Instead, they’re just kind of a .png file or a flat image with a blank background. That said, some PNG Tubers have done the bare minimum to make the mouth and eyes have an animation frame.

R

Redebut – Sometimes serious debut of a new character model, rather than VTuber, other times just a gag for laughs. If serious, it can enhance or continue the lore of the character’s story. Very popular with indie VTubers.  

Reveal – VTubers often set benchmarks for followers to “unlock” previews of their new model until they get to see the whole thing, finally getting to see the whole thing in a VTuber model reveal. This is usually done on Twitter and based on likes, follows, or other metrics. See Model Reveal.

Rig / Rigger / Rigging – A VTuber’s rigger is the technician who configures a VTuber’s avatar to animate fluidly with their tracked movements. For Live2d avatars, they first receive separated layers from the VTuber artist. They then painstakingly set each feature to move perfectly in a time-consuming process. Rigging VTuber models, just as art, is justifiably costly for the work and level of skill involved. Of course, rigging can also be done for 3D models and other files and software.

S

Seiso – A meme word that basically means “wholesome.” English-speaking VTubers (aka ENVTubers) often use this word to mean not to “lewd” them, aka don’t talk sexually or draw sexy images of their character. Sometimes seiso is used to mean the opposite, like ironically calling someone pure when they’re being anything but. It comes from the Japanese for to shine or sweep something clean.

Scene – A scene is any layout in OBS where the VTuber might appear. A streamer might use different scenes each for gaming, chatting, or collabs. Some scenes use stream assets like bedroom backgrounds,  karaoke microphones, and overlay graphic designs.

Segment – Since VStreamers have long streams to fill with content, they might divide a show into planned segments. With creativity and planning, it’s a great way to make interesting shows and hype viewers.

Self-Introduction / Jikoshoukai – The popular self-introduction meme for VTubers is a call-and-response song with questions sung that the VTuber answers, then uploads a video of it online.

Example:

Shipping / Ship – Shipping is usually harmlessly imagining fictional characters in a romance, but is frowned upon in the VTuber world. No Shipping is a common VTuber rule. It can cause awkwardness and intrude on the private lives of people who are just entertainers.

Skeb – Skeb is a popular website where VTubers can commission artists for artwork of their original character. Since artists can take commissions with minimal micromanaging from bad clients, it attracts highly talented creators to provide commissions there. Of course, you can commission more than just art on Skeb, including soundbites, tunes, and voice message requests. See commissions. Visit Skeb here.

Smol – Specifically to VTubers, smol refers not to the net slang for small but to fan gifs of a popular VTubers made by Waflie. The GIF would be called Smol (VTuber Name). 

Stream Assets – Stream assets can be anything from a stream intro, room background, a gaming overlay, stinger transition, or VTuber assets. VTuber assets usually include objects, accessories, or entire models.

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Supa – Supa is short for a Superchat, which is a type of tip or donation on YouTube streams. Supa is the Japanese way of shortening it from Supacha. It’s like a dono or bits during a Twitch stream, but YouTube-specific and very common with VTubers there. See Akasupa for the most expensive tier.

SupaCha – Supacha is one of several Japanese ways of pronouncing Superchat, which is a paid tip/donation with a message on a YouTube livestream.

Sussy – From the slang sus which refers to something suspicious, VTubers use sussy to mean the atmosphere is testing the limit of what’s acceptable, especially if the conversation is getting too lewd.

T

Talent – Cast members of a VTuber Group or agency can also be referred to as the agency’s talents.

Tracking – Tracking refers to the motion capture tools that transfer their facial expressions and body movements to their avatar. Also motion tracking or motion capture, although motion capture typically refers to full-body motion captures suits or studios that are more complex.

Tsundere – Tsundere is a character trope from anime for a character who is reserved and cold, but secretly feels affection for another character.

Twitcasting – Twitcasting is a popular Japanese live streaming site that connects to Twitter and features many VTubers. You’ll find all-Japanese streamers and chats here, and very little English. Visit Twitcasting here. 

TSKR – TSKR means the VTuber did something endearing, and viewers type it in it chat in response. It’s shortened from the Japanese word taskaru (助かる), to be saved, as if to say the viewer needed that. Similar to the English internet slang, “bless,” in that it blessed the recipient.

U

Unarchived – The VOD / live will not be watchable later due to copyright issues or some other reason. You just had to be there.

Utaite – Utaite (歌い手）means singer in Japanese, and in virtual streamers it refers to virtual singers. Some EN utaite call themselves VSingers.

Utawaku – Utawaku (歌枠) refers to a singing or karaoke segment of a JP VTuber’s stream. An EN streamer would probably just call it a karaoke segment. 

V

Vocaloid – Vocaloid is a software that lets producers use virtual voice packs to “sing” using a synthesizer. The word vocaloid can refer to the software or the the style of music as a genre. (Link)

Voice Transformer – A tool to change a streamer’s voice in pitch or quality.

Virtual Group – A cast of VTubers who are debuted together by an agency. Some VTubers form their own groups as an indie effort rather than a corporate arrangement.

VRoid Studio – VRoid Studio is software for creating anime-style 3D models, which can be used with motion tracking apps for live streaming. (Link)

VShojo – VShojo is a US-based VTuber company that has joined indie content creators and allows them to do what they want. Unlike traditional agencies, VShojo creators own the intellectual property to their characters. Famous VShojo talents include Ironmouse, Silvervale, Nyanners, and other successful personalities. See them here.

VSinger – A VSinger uses their virtual avatar to pursue their music career or hobby. That doesn’t mean that they use vocaloid, though some might. The famous VSinger (name) is so famous for her powerful vocal style she was featured in Vogue Japan with images of her avatar. (VSinger is also the name of a company of virtual singers, but this definition is for the general job description.) See also Utaite.

VTweeter – VTweeter is a derogatory word for someone who announces their VTuber debut then only posts on Twitter. Their debut date will remain TBD, to be determined.

Y


Yandere – A character trope in which a fictional character can become overly possessive and lovesick to the point of dangerous obession.

Z

Zatsudan – Zatsudan (雑談) means Just Chatting in Japanese, specifically the type of livestream or stream segment.

VTuber Terms Dictionary Summary

If you enjoy this list of VTuber words, check out our list of Twitch slang here!

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VTuber Content Ideas – Fun Stream Segments that Shine

By
Auri Fern
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An infographic listing VTuber content ideas and VTuber stream ideas. They are separated into Special Stream Events like debuts and subathons, then Common VTuber Stream Segments, then Fun Solo Stream Ideas, then Collab Stream ideas between VTubers or VTuber and IRL streamers.

Want fun VTuber content stream ideas? Use these, but follow a golden rule: Blend common VTuber stream segments with what makes you you. Use the meta to set yourself apart. That’s why I listed these stream ideas from standard to creative.

If you get stuck, come back to this list! See the examples of how other streamers have innovated. Now you can keep your stream schedule smooth and authentic, never running out of content ideas.

Fun VTuber Stream Content Ideas

An infographic listing VTuber content ideas and VTuber stream ideas. They are separated into Special Stream Events like debuts and subathons, then Common VTuber Stream Segments, then Fun Solo Stream Ideas, then Collab Stream ideas between VTubers or VTuber and IRL streamers.

Let’s break these VTuber content ideas into special events, solo streams, collab streams, and the more unusual, creative VTuber stream ideas.

Special VTuber Stream Events

1. Debut Stream

A VTuber Debut is hailed as their most important stream ever. After months of preparation of art and lore, they finally introduce themselves to the world live on air.

2. VTuber Redebut

Indie VTubers especially like to debut new character models, often called a redebut (if not a debut again). It’s a way to keep your stream fresh and bring back viewers, and can continue the lore of your virtual character’s story.

3. New Model Reveal

Whether for a debut or redebut, the buildup phase to a new model reveal usually happens on Twitter. Set benchmarks for followers to “unlock” previews of your new model. For each one, show cropped sections, physics and facial expressions. When you get enough follows, set a date to reveal the whole thing live on Twitch or YouTube.

4. New Outfit

You don’t need a full redebut to have some fun. Even a new outfit can be an event if you post teasers on socials. But ask yourself a few questions: Why is the new outfit interesting to my audience? What in-jokes does it play on? Does it expand my story? These can all make chat feel involved!

5. VTuber Lore Videos

VTubers all approach their lore differently. While some have involved stories, others are irreverent. Whichever you do, don’t miss the chance to create exciting stream events to either introduce yourself as a brand new VTuber or to premier elaborate lore updates. Ironmouse premiered a fully animated lore update to include the Bubi character, created by Merriweather Media.

6. Subathon

A subathon lets you set rewards your chat can unlock when you hit each number of subs. You’ve basically gamified your stream! In addition to completing a challenge every time a goal is hit, you can raise the “timer” on how long the stream will last. If you have a timer, be sure to specify if there’s a limit. When there’s no limit, it’s called an uncapped subathon. VTuber stream ideas abound here, because you need a lot of rewards for your community. Read more about sub goals, subathons and rewards.

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Common VTuber Stream Segments

1. Q&A Stream Using Marshmallow

Marshmallow (マシュマロ) is a popular website for VTubers to answer anonymous questions from followers. Anyone with a Twitter account can use it. VTuber Question and Answer streams are especially fun content either for a live stream or to turn into a YouTube video (preferably both). To do a Q&A stream, first tell your followers to submit their questions, then preselect the ones you’ll answer for quality control. This stream idea is popular with VTuber interview segments, too. As a host, you can ask your guest your own questions, but involve your chat by using Marshmallow so they can “interview” the guest as well. 

2. Free Talk / Katsudan （活談）

A Vtuber free talk (Japanese: Katsudan / 活談) stream segment is just what it sounds like: talking to your chat without a particular topic or plan. Of course, you can always have a few notes written down in advance for loose ideas so you don’t forget anything or have awkward silences. Use a Just Chatting overlay, usually one with the chat visible. Link: VTuber Chat Scenes

3. Gaming Stream (Solo)

Probably the most obvious stream a VTuber can do is play a video game. You can repurpose the streams into gaming content videos and shorts on YouTube. And, of course, there’s the co-op version of this for collab stream ideas (see below).

4. Smol Stream

A VTuber smol stream is a stream done fully in an alternate model that is chibi / smol (small). Smol VTuber models usually match the regular model, but are comically designed.

Solo VTuber Stream Ideas

1. Singing Stream / Karaoke / Utawaku（歌枠)

A karaoke stream segment is popular whether you have the voice or not. It’s fun either way, and your chat can make song requests! Try incorporating it into part of your stream – or even use it as a chat redeem. Read more: Channel Points and Redeems

2. Tier Lists, Ranking and Reviews: 

Rank anything from games to streamers to fictional characters. Keep it in line with your stream’s regular topics and jokes so your chat will have fun. Use TierMaker to make them. You can also make alignment charts, perhaps ranking your friends.

3. ASMR 

ASMR is better as its own stream so the loud noises after the segment ends won’t be surprising, but you can make it a redeem or reward for the end of stream. While ASMR is a serious category for some high-production value streamers, it’s up to you how seriously to take it. Your chat won’t mind if you play it up for laughs if that’s your style.

4. Duolingo

Due to the international popularity of VStreamers, and the inherent anime culture of VTubing, language learning streams have become popular, particularly for Japanese. Duolingo is a “gamified” language learning app, so it makes sense.

5. Crane Games

Crane games are, well, games, so it fits into Twitch. But they deserve a warning: they are addictive, cost a lot of money, and are hard. Don’t do this if you can’t afford it, and set a budget ahead of time if you do. Apps like Toreba let you play real Japanese crane games online. They’re supremely frustrating, so watch some up-to-date tips and tutorials before trying. Proceed with caution!

6. Art Segment

VTubers are creative people, so why not try art streams? While art and commissions are a full-time gig for some streamers (and hard work!), art can also be a low-stakes segment. So how can you stream art without the pressure? Here are some ideas: 

    1. Draw for everyone.
    2. Give each sub or other redeem a doodle. 
    3. Draw together.
    4. Make a list of VTuber friends and let your chat vote on whom you’ll draw.

7. Cooking

You might be surprised this can be done virtually! VTubers like Vox Akuma have pulled this off by splitting the screen between their face and a real-life camera of their hands, which are gloved for privacy. Some smaller budget streamers have done it using only photos, usually with some trademark item in the shots and the shutter sound turned on.

8. Voice Lines & Requests

Ara Ara / Fanservice / Grill Voice or Ikebo / Imitate a Colleague / Do Impressions. Se seiso or tsundere or whatever tropes you normally don’t. Take requests! (Not sure what these terms mean? See the VTuber Terms Dictionary.)

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VTuber Collab Ideas

1. VTuber & IRL Streamer Collabs (Field Trips)

In 2022, Connor (CDawgVA) used his IRL stream setup to “take” the VTuber Ironmouse to arcades and sights around Japan. Since Ironmouse has health limitations that keep her from traveling, and because viewer’s love the duo’s banter, it was a heartwarming moment in VTubing history. Connor won arcade games with Ironmouse’s favorite prizes, hilariously helped her “touch grass”, and more, so both streamers actively created the live experience.

Since then, some other duos have tried the format. For an IRL streamer to “take” you somewhere, their camera can take up the screen and your Live2D / VTuber model can be on the side just like any other gaming stream. The two of you can use a Discord call for a smooth connection.

This story should give you a sense of how many possibilities are out there. When you combine completely different niches, you get something brand new. Network and develop your relationships and let the magic happen.

2. Talk Show / Interviews

Instead of a usual VTuber collab, you could set up your stream and overlays like a real talk show and have other VTubers on as guests. Interview them, chat about how you came to know of each other, and your other VTuber friends. As mentioned elsewhere in this article, check out Marshmallow as a way to let your chat interview the guest as well. You or a mod could pick out the questions that get aired. Have an image of the viewer question for a nice visual result.

3. VRChat for VTubers

VRChat is perfect for collabs between VTubers and streamers. You can meet in real time where every participant’s audience can enjoy it. Most of the other collaboration ideas like challenges, trivia or role playing work well in VR.

You can use any model, but if you’re a VTuber then you might want a 3D version of yourself to use. Warning: Be careful about using anything expensive though, especially in public lobbies, so that it can’t be stolen. Read more: Privacy from Doxxing as a Streamer

4. Co-op Games

Meet up in Minecraft or battle it out in a Battle Royale. Race in Mario Kart. The possibilities are endless, and you probably can think of plenty.

5. Rank each other

If your collab has a large enough group, rank each other on your different traits. Pull out an alignment chart or a tier chart and talk about each others qualities or habits. 

6. Draw each other

Of course, you can work the other types of streams like art, singing, etc into collaborations! Drawing each other is a perfect example. Members of Hololive English have done it.

7. Challenges

There are plenty of stream show-downs for VTubers, from high stakes to low. A game of Dare or Never Have I Ever are much more risky than a typing speed contest, but they all have the potential to be funny. You could play trivia with Trivia Creator, but it’s even more fun to have a mod collect and curate questions from your community. 

One legendary challenge was between CDawgVA and Ironmouse (big fan, so indulge me, but they’re also perfect examples of creative success on Twitch). After Connor took Ironmouse on her virtual “IRL” trip to Japan, they went live on both of their streams and played Japanese crane games through Toreba. The goal was they would each buy $500 worth of tokens, play until they ran out, and whoever won the best prizes won. Who decided what was best? A group of their streamer friends rated them on style and creativity, like more ingredients in a recipe.

How to Involve Chat in Streams

1. Clip Contest

Clips are the perfect way to capture the spirit of your streams. In under a minute a clip will show people the funny, the pro and the personality. What better tool to repurpose for Twitter and TikTok?

That’s why a clip contest is not just a fun stream content idea, but a great way to encourage viewers to highlight your show. There are several ways to host a clip contest:

  • A group of you and other VTubers / streamers have your top clips compared. Chat votes, and one of the streamers wins.
  • Your chat makes clips, a mod helps you curate the entries, and you react to them. A viewer wins.

2. Clip Reacts

React content (watching other people’s videos or content on your stream) has an abundance of material out there. Don’t forget the fun of reacting to clips. You can react to clips of yourself or to clips in your category in general. Let your chat suggest clips for you to check out in a designated Discord channel, a subreddit, or elsewhere.

3. Fanart Review

All fanart is good art – well, assuming it doesn’t break your rules. But what if you could show your gratitude and let your chat enjoy the art too? Give your VTuber Art Hashtag a boost by announcing your fanart review well in advance and mentioning it regularly. Make sure it’s fun, and lavish praise on everyone’s art. Instead of ranking it, think more of praising each piece of art on different qualities.

4. React Streams with Chat 

Let chat send memes. You can do these in themes as well, such as a scary night, having chat submit scary clips. Or have a meme theme where you laugh, you lose. Let your moderators have access to your StreamElements or other submission tool to review what gets shown on your stream.

5. VTuber Challenges 

By letting viewers submit clips, you’ll make normal react content more engaging – and by turning it into a game, even more fun to watch. Some example challenge streams could be scary clips or “you laugh you lose” content. Bonus: If you fail the challenge, you have to send anonymous Twitch gift subs to your community.

6. Game Show

Game shows take creativity and presence. Some built-in options are to spin a Stream Wheel like the one by Streamlabs, use chat voting systems to make decisions, or to use a stream game like Jackbox. But don’t stop there. Make your own game, or a spinoff of a popular one and have chat call in or vote.

7. Play Games with Chat

  • Marbles
  • Minecraft
  • Jackbox

8. Supa / Dono Readings

Supa is short for a Super Chat, which is a type of tip or donation on YouTube streams. Depending on your audience size, you may be able to read supas or donos as they come in. But if you’re a huge streamer, turn it into a segment so that it doesn’t interrupt the flow of your broadcast.

9. VTuber Roleplay (Example: Teaching)

Give your VTuber some teaching props or classroom backgrounds and teach your chat something new. Play it straight or funny. Think, what would your character want to teach chat? Alternatively, what would fit your persona to roleplay?

The Unreal Engine VTuber CodeMiko teaches her chat ambiguous lessons on anatomy and reprimands chat for being inappropriate, egging them on.

You could also use teaching as a collaboration stream and teach your other VTuber friends something or quiz them.

10. Commission 

Have your chat vote on an artwork they’d like to see you commission. Go to Skeb and pick an artist for the job. If you don’t know, Skeb is a Japanese website popular with VTubers. Skeb tends to attract highly talented creators, since artists can take commissions with minimal micromanaging.

Ready to use these VTuber content ideas?

Did you think of ways to blend these VTuber content ideas with your own personality and style? If you still need a little push, make a list of common memes or jokes in your content. Write down what you think makes you different. Then reimagine these VTuber stream ideas with those in mind to get a unique angle on each one.

Make Your Stream Schedule Shine!

You want your schedule to be easy to stick to, and to have ideas ready even when you’re drawing a blank. So start planning a schedule that keeps you energized, one that’s easy to streamline. Be sure to post it to your socials weekly. Pretty soon, the people who love your stream content will be checking it for what you’ll do next!

Get stream assets like overlays, badges, and more here:

Banner that links to an artist's shop for streaming starting soon scenes and other stream design assets.

How to Pick a Good Twitch Name or YouTube Channel Name

By
Auri Fern
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0
Blog post cover image: Text says how to pick a cool username for Twitch or YouTube. A good Twitch name is memorable, easy to say, aesthetic to your style, and available on social media. Use the following article to find aesthetic, available Twich username ideas for your streaming channel.

Can’t decide on a good Twitch name or YouTube channel name? Afraid of commitment? Use this post to cross off bad ideas and pick the best Twitch channel name that’s true to you — and catchy too!

How to Pick Your Twitch Channel Name

First, no pressure: These aren’t rules to pick the perfect stream name. These are checkboxes to narrow down names so you can start streaming sooner! And even with rules, there are exceptions everywhere. 

The most important thing is getting started. So get the clarity you need, then don’t overthink it! You can always change your name later. That said, let’s go!

Blog infographic tutorial to pick a good Twitch username or YouTube Channel name. Text says "How to Pick a Perfect Channel Name so you can start streaming now.". A good Twitch name is memorable, easy to say, aesthetic or cool to your style, has no trademarks, is short or simple, and available on social media. Use the following article to find aesthetic available Twich username ideas for your stream.

Is Your Name Easy To Spell and Say?

Imagine telling someone your channel name out loud – would they understand how it’s spelled right away?

If you need to explain your stream name’s spelling, be brief.
Kind of like saying, “Bryan with a y.” 

This is called the radio test. Imagine if someone heard an ad or announcer who said your name the radio. Would people understand and be able to find you? It’s an old rule, but it still helps people remember you!

Beware: Viewers Will Nickname You!

Nicknames are bound to happen, so use it! If you name your channel based on your content, but not your persona, what would people call you?

Imagine naming your channel BoardGamesLover. What would people call you? Do you want them calling you “Lover”?!

✔️  JanesBoardGames is better because your chat can call you Jane.

So what would people probably end up calling you? Run your stream name idea by friends and ask what they’d call you. See if you like it!

 

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A Good Username is Short—or Simple

But if you can keep it to one word, you make it easy for people to talk about you and grow your following. Short social names always seem to be taken, right?!

So make up a word. Especially if it’s easy to say. Try combining multiple ideas into one word, like Pokimane and Pokelawls did.

▶ (Think of brands. Pin + Interest = Pinterest, or Group + Coupon = Groupon).

Don’t worry! A two-part phrase is just as memorable. So next, let’s generate available Twitch names using ideas you love.

Find Good Twitch Name Ideas with Combos

Ready to brainstorm two-word usernames? Break out a thesaurus and a spreadsheet with two columns.

In the first column, list the name you’d like to be called. In the second, list add-ons words. They could be animals, game job classes, an aesthetic, or generic streamer words like “Streams” or “Plays”. Or try endings like ly or ful.

This is better than random Twitch name generators because you combine ideas you think are cool for an aesthetic Twitch name / stylish stream name.

▶ If you want a “catchy” name, pay attention to sounds. You’ve probably heard that the “k” sound make jokes funnier, or brands more memorable. Think about how your words flow together and sound.

Mix and match words until you find a few favorites and write them down! We’ll narrow them to the best ones, so keep reading!

Search Trademarks for Your Name

Since ya’ gotta avoid legal issues, never use trademarked terms in your name. Search the trademark database for the USA. If you’re in another country, check there too.

▶ Search USA trademarks here

By the way, if you ever want to trademark your own name, make sure you use your own anonymous company to trademark it so you don’t accidentally dox yourself. Trademark filings are published online with the real names of their owners!

▶ Lock down your streaming privacy here

Some sites might help you get your name when you’ve made it big or have a trademark (but be careful! Trademarks can dox you. Scroll on for details). Twitch has also helped Partnered streamers to get a rare name because they’ve made it and the name isn’t active.

Check for Language Conflicts

We’ve all heard of brands messing this one up, so it could happen to an otherwise great Twitch name! Even if you stream in one language, the internet is global and you’ll have multilingual viewers.

Check translation tools to see what alternate meanings might pop up. Who knows? Maybe it’s still pleasant in other languages!

You could also use other languages to brainstorm names. Just make sure it’s still easy for everyone to understand. However, be careful not to choose a real given name from another culture, in case it confuses viewers or seems like you’re mocking them. (In the past, streamer RajjPatel, who isn’t Indian, changed his name to Austin.)

Check if Your Name is Available on Socials

Having the same username everywhere has obvious advantages. People can find you everywhere by typing your name without checking your links. And it makes for sleek Twitch graphic design when you add your socials! Check:

    • Instagram
    • TikTok
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • Snapchat
    • Domain name (.com)
    • YouTube
    • Twitch

Since available usernames are hard to find, don’t worry! Grab whatever social accounts you can, and for the rest add a word or meme. For example, if you stream on Twitch, your YouTube channel could be YourNameVODs. Ultimately, your bios will all link.

▶ Most streamers use Linktree to link all their socials from one page

Do Streamers Need a Website?

A dot-com domain is good to have! It gives you an authoritative place to put your links or open a shop when you grow. (While a .com is the gold standard, plenty of streamers use .tv or .gg names.)

At the very least, try to get your domain name before it gets snapped up by someone else, including a viewer if you get big.

Warning: Always get WHOIS privacy protection with your domain name so no one can look up your name/address. This usually costs money, but Namecheap includes WHOIS privacy for free.

▶ Get privacy protection FREE with a $6.98 domain with Namecheap

A Name with Room to Grow

Okay, so hopefully we’ve brainstormed a lot of names! Now let’s think about your future.

Is your name about a niche you might grow out of someday? If you think you’ll expand categories, maybe drop the BoardGames part of that name after all.

Similarly, good streamer names aren’t trends or fads. How will it look in five or 10 years? 

Basically, don’t pigeonhole yourself. After all, plenty of content creators have ended up creating brands. So if you’re in it for it for the long-term, think for the long-term.

Keep Your Stream Name Sponsor-Friendly

Want to get sponsors and brand opportunities? The income can be worth more than subs and way more than ad revenue.

Luckily, this one’s easy to clear. If your humor is a little edgy, your username doesn’t have to be.

Use these guidelines to pick a good YouTube channel or Twitch name and adjust your content as necessary. Easy as that.

Should I Use Numbers in my Twitch Name?

You can’t deny that successful streamers like 39daph, Jerma985, and moistcr1tikal are doing just fine on Twitch and YouTube.

But that’s in spite, not because of, the numbers in their name. If anything, the benefit is that they got to keep their nickname without having to add another word and more meaning to it.

If you use numbers in your streaming name, treat them as a catchy part of the whole. Since your goal is being memorable, the numbers should feel natural or meaningful.

Quick tip: Learn about lucky and unlucky numbers in different cultures! And use Google to learn about any accidental references (historical, etc) of certain digits. If you decide not to use numbers for your stream’s name, at least you’ll learn something new!

Should I Use TV or TTV in a Twitch name?

Twitch names that use TV are sometimes mocked whether for good reasons or not. But there are practical reasons to avoid it.

First, you might not always be on Twitch. And on other socials, it just takes up space.= when you have character limits.

Going into our next point, you should also avoid TV in a gamer tag. Plenty of people dodge matches with players who stream, stream snipe, or find and troll your channel.

Can I Use My Stream Name in Games?

Not recommended, but it depends on the game and what you do. Just be aware: Doing so has been known to bring trolls, or at least people who aren’t your ideal community.

You might want to avoid anything in-game that shows your channel name or that you’re a streamer at all. You might be avoided by other players, harassed, stream-sniped, etc.

Can I Change My Twitch Name?

You can always change your name on Twitch, but there are side effects.

First, if you change your Twitch username, you’ll either need to wait six months for the old name to become available again, or possibly never get it back.

Your old name won’t vanish necessarily either, since your old name might still show in some connected apps like your donation page or channel stream bots you use.

So if you change your username on Twitch, be sure about the rebrand.

Twitch Name Ideas: Summary

Now that you’ve brainstormed some good available Twitch name ideas for you (or Youtube!), narrow it down. Don’t sweat it and get stuck! Too many creatives wait to think of the “perfect” name, then never start. Remember:

You’re allowed to change your mind later!

Try this: Give yourself a certain number of days to pick a name and go for it. After that, give yourself 3-6 months to change your mind. After all, it’s easier to rebrand early.

Don’t let finding the perfect Twitch username become a way to procrastinate. Go for it today. Get started now!

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Twitch Slang, Emotes, and Streaming Terms Dictionary

By
Auri Fern
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0
Twitch Terms, Slang, Emotes Dictionary

Whether you’re new to streaming and want a crash course on the jargon to know — or you’re just someone who wants to understand the vast array of Twitch emotes that have worked their way into actual human speech — this Twitch terms dictionary is the perfect guide.

Twitch Words, Memes, and Slang Dictionary

If this post enlightens you, check out our VTuber slang dictionary!

A

Achievement – Just like game achievements, Twitch achievements are like trophies for streamers they can access in the creator dashboard. Some achievements track progress toward tangible goals like affiliate and partner status, while others are purely motivational.

Admin – An admin is a global moderator of Twitch. Unlike a mod, they aren’t assigned by the streamer but are a Twitch employee who resolves disputes.

Affiliate – Once a streamer unlocks Twitch Affiliate status, they can use features to get subscribers, cheers, and emotes. You can unlock it once you have 50 followers.

Alert – Stream alerts pop up on the screen to show new subscribers, followers, cheers, donations, and merch purchases. Alerts are powered by StreamElements, Stream Labs, or Muxy.

Andy – Absolutely anyone can be an Andy; what matters is the type of Andy they are. Usually, streamers who reacts to others content might be called a React Andy, or the more refined React Anderson. You might also hear of someone being an 8K Andy or another number meaning the number of viewers they average.

B

Ban – Streamers can be banned for breaking TOS by Twitch. They are usually temporary, as only a few people have been banned permanently from the platform. As a viewer, you can be banned from a channel by the streamer or their moderators, which may be a time-out or permaban. If you are banned, your other accounts will also be shadow banned and your messages will not be visible to them in chat.

Bit – Bits are tokens you can use to “cheer” for streamers, usually causing an alert to show on stream. They contribute to a streamer’s earnings, with 100 bits equaling $1 USD.

Bitrate – The quality of a stream.

Bot – Chatbots add useful or entertaining features to stream chats. They are helpful for moderation settings as well as things like points or commands. Some popular bots are Nightbot, StreamElements, and MooBot.

Botting – Botting refers to fake viewers to create an inflated viewer count on a stream. Botting is strictly against TOS, and is used by some scam streams like fake giveaways.

Bleed Purple – Purple is the iconic color of Twitch, so it’s associated with streaming there. BleedPurple is also an emote on the site.

Brigade – Brigading is a type of trolling where one community sends viewers to another one with ill intentions.

BTTV (See also FFZ) – BTTV, or Better Twitch TV, is a Chrome extension that adds additional features to Twitch chat and lots of control for viewers. If you see people typing nonsensical word strings, they might just be emotes you can only see if you have BTTV installed. FFZ is a similar extension.

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C

Capture Card – A capture card allows you to connect your game console to your computer so you can stream your gameplay online. A good card like the Elgato HD60 S is preferable to streaming directly from the console. You can use software like OBS and an alerts setup to add your gaming capture. (Read How to Use OBS to Stream to Twitch)

Category – Twitch Categories are sections of the site you’ll be listed under in the Browse section of the site. This is usually the title of the game you’re playing, but might also be Just Chatting, Travel and Outdoors, or Art.

Channel Points – Twitch channel points are awarded to viewers for watching and interacting with the stream, and are redeemable for rewards set by the streamer. You can get points for free just by watching, but being a subscriber can add a multiplier to the number earned. Other channel actions like gifting subs and cheering with bits can earn channel points. If you’re a streamer, check out these fun Twitch channel point rewards ideas.

Cheer (see also Bits) – Cheers support streamers with Twitch’s currency called bits.

Cheer Badge – The symbol to the right of a username denoting how many bits the person has cheered in a channel. Streamers can upload custom badges or use the default Twitch badges. Hovering your mouse over them shows the amount of bits cheered. You can also hide the number by editing your chat appearance.

Clip – Viewers can clip sections of a Twitch stream up to a minute long. Just click on the clapper icon or use alt+x to capture the previous minute of the stream, then adjust and title it.

Clip Chimp – Clip chimp is slang for using clips to portray a streamer out of context.

Commands – Commands are words you can type into chat after an exclamation mark to get a result back from the chatbot. Commonly, they’ll give an explanation or a URL. For example, many streamers use !discord to call their chatbot to link their Discord.

Concurrent Viewers – The number of viewers a stream has at the same time. The red “watching now” number shows the concurrent viewers. Concurrent viewers are used for Twitch streamer achievements such as for unlocking Affiliate and Partner status.

D

DansGame – A Twitch Global Emote used to express disgust. 

Dono – A dono is shorthand for a donation, basically a tip, to the streamer. Streamers who accept tips will have a profile panel button or link to do so using a payment processor that shows the dono alert on stream.

E

Elgato – Elgato is a popular brand of game capture cards, stream decks, and green screens.

Emotes – Twitch has its own emotes for users to express themselves, known as global emotes. Streamers can upload their own once they reach affiliate status, and unlock more emote slots as they gain subscribers.

F

F – Viewers in Twitch chat type F whenever a stream has accidentally disconnected, even saying the stream has F’ed. It comes from the meme to press F to pay respects, in this case to our dearly departed stream connection.

FFZ – FrankerFaceZ, or FFZ, is a Chrome extension to add emotes and other bonus features to Twitch chat. See BTTV for another such extension.

G

Goog – Goog means good, at least in the Twitch chat of GTA (Grand Theft Auto) role play and variety game streamer Cyr thanks to his popular Uchiha Jones character.

Gift Sub – Twitch allows you to give gift subs to others in chat. You can choose who to gift the subscription to, or you can let Twitch choose a random recipient. You can buy one or many gift subs at once, and you can choose whether to do it anonymously.

H

Hate Raid – A sore spot on Twitch’s history, hate raids happen when a community outside of the Twitch site sends its users as well as bots to a live stream for purposes of harassment.

Highlight – Streamers can highlight parts of their past Twitch streams, similar to clips but as long as they want, then rename and organize them into sections. Unlike broadcasts that save automatically, highlights can stay on the streamer’s profile permanently.

Host – Twitch users can host other streamers on their own channel page, setting up favorites to autohost when they go live, or manually hosting a streamer when they decide to do so.

Hype – Hype is obviously excitement, but it’s usually about bit cheers, gift subs, donos, or other enthusiasm from a stream community. 

Hype Train – Twitch ran with hype and created the Hype Train, which encourages viewers to jump on board and take an action when there’s a lot of hype.

I

IGN – In-game name.

Intro Video – A Twitch intro video is a standby scene when the streamer goes live, but doesn’t yet appear on screen. This allows chat time to get in before the stream starts, and for the streamer to double-check any last-minute tech issues. What Makes a Good Twitch Intro Video / Starting Screen?

IRL – Twitch’s IRL, or in real life, section was once anything that wasn’t a game or art. Now, there are separate categories for things like Just Chatting or Travel and Outdoors.

J

Jebaited – Jebaited means a streamer or member was baited, or tricked into believing something or reacting. It’s a global Twitch emote.

K

Kappa – A popular global Twitch emote that shows you’re kidding. It has a variation called Kapp.

KEKW – A global FFZ emote depicting the comedian Juan Joya Borja in a laughing fit from a viral 2007 video. “Kek” is a Korean way of saying LOL. 

Kreygasm – The streamer Kreyg in a moment of great … enjoyment. It’s a global emote and has popularized “gasm” emotes with many streamers recreating their own or commissioning artists to draw them.

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L

LUL – On Twitch, LUL is a version of LOL, and typing it pulls up a global emote of the late streamer TotalBiscuit laughing.

LULW – An FFZ version of LUL. 

M

Mald / Malding – To mald or be malding means being angry, the joke being that it’s so much that you lose hair.

Mod – A Twitch mod is a channel’s moderator appointed by the streamer. Mods have powers to ban or time out people in chat, and to control other aspects of the chat experience.

monka / monkaS – A BTTV emote depicting nervousness on Pepe the frog.

Moobot – A popular chatbot streamers can connect to their Twitch chat or to their Discord servers.

N

Nightbot – Nightbot is a popular chatbot streamers can connect to their Twitch chat or to their Discord servers. Connect it to your Twitch account here.

O

O7 – An emoticon depicting a salute, often used as a greeting or departure.

OBS – Open Broadcaster Software, or OBS Studio, is a free, open-source program for streaming and recording video. Here’s our quick-start guide to OBS. You can use it in conjunction with StreamElements for alerts (and a capture card if you’re using a console) to create a full streaming experience.

Overlay – An overlay is a design for your stream. You might have different scenes set up with different overlays, for example a starting, ending, intermission, and chatting scene. You can use overlays that come with StreamElements or StreamLabs, buy one, commission an artist to make one, or make your own.

P

Partner – Partner status is the highest tier streamers can unlock on Twitch, and grants them a partner contract, more perks like emotes and better revenue, and a purple check mark.

Panel – A Twitch panel is the profile section header where you can upload an image.

PepeHands – A global BTTV emote depicting sadness.

Prime – Prime refers to Twitch Prime, which comes with Amazon Prime. You can use Twitch Prime to subscribe to one streamer per month for free, and to get game loot and other perks. If you don’t have it, you can get a one-month free trial. If you’re a student, you can get six months free.

Pog – People say this to show amazement. If you have BTTV installed, it pulls up an emote of the streamer Gootecks.

Pog / PogChamp – People say this to show amazement. If you have BTTV installed, it pulls up an emote of the streamer Gootecks.

Poggers – Another amazement emote, but this time using the Pepe character and associated with BTTV.

R

Raid – A Twitch raid is a Twitch feature that lets a streamer to end their stream by sending their viewers to another channel of their choice. Not to be confused with a hate raid, which usually comes from communities outside of Twitch’s site.

S

Sadge – Sadness or disappointment, usually ironic. It’s usually expressed with the sadge “Pepe” the frog emote.

Scuffed – Just like shoes can be scuffed, so can streams, their framerates, and other qualities be.

SLOBS – Streamlabs is a streaming app that used to be called SLOBS, but after controversy for using the original free OBS and confusing their paying customers, finally took the OBS out of their name.

SourPls – An animated dancing emote associated with BTTV

StreamElements – A service you can connect to Twitch to manage your stream. You can make alerts, overlays, chat commands, and set up merch. Read: How to use StreamElements with OBS.

StreamLabs – A service you can connect to Twitch to manage your stream. You can make alerts, overlays, chat commands, and set up merch. Streamlabs is a re-skinned version of OBS Studio, which is free and runs lighter.

Sub / Subscriber – A subscriber on Twitch is someone who has the paid access to a streamer’s content. This usually means no ads, access to the streamer’s emotes, subscriber-only sections of the Discord, and the ability to watch VODs if they are locked to non-subscribers. Subscriptions are 4.99, but cost more if you use the Apple store. You can also gift people subs, or receive gift subs. Finally, you can subscribe for free if you have Twitch Prime.

Sub Badge – The symbol to the left of a person’s username in chat that shows that they are subscribed to the channel they’re in. Badges upgrade over time, and streamers can upload custom sub badges. If you want to get sub badges for your own channel, check out this guide to Twitch design sizes.

Subathon – A subathon is an event a streamer holds to encourage subscribers, usually doing something out of the ordinary for each subscriber. Get ideas for subathons here: Twitch subathons and sub goal ideas.

Staff – Staff are Twitch employees, who show up with a gear icon to the left of their username. Although people meme about staff being in chat, Twitch staff are not necessarily moderators or in charge of disputes, and may be programmers, for example.

Stream Sniper – Stream sniping refers to a player locating a streamer in-game to unfairly compete, but has also evolved to mean showing up in person where a Just Chatting / IRL streamer is in person. Read how to Stay Private and Anonymous on Twitch.

Swat – Swatting is the act of calling in a false report to police about someone with grave enough accusations to cause a SWAT team to show up to the victim’s location. Be careful with your personal information and location.

T

Tag – Twitch allows streamers to choose several tags to label their stream in addition to the category. They can refer to play style, content focus, language, or rules.

Tip – A tip on Twitch is a stream donation or dono paid through the streamer’s StreamElements, Streamlabs, or PayPal directly. This is in contrast to tipping by bits or using subs, which Twitch takes a cut of.

Troll – A troll is the same on Twitch as anywhere. Beware, because they like to read your rules just to try and bait you by breaking them.

Turbo – Twitch Turbo is a monthly subscription that allows you to watch ad-free and customize your name color and emotes. Some of these features are free if you have Twitch Prime.

V

Video on Demand (VOD) – A Twitch VOD is a past broadcast of a streamer that stays up after they go offline. They are retained for 60 days or until the streamer deletes them. VODs can be saved if they are turned into Highlights.

Views – Streams include a number of total lifetime views, which is the number of times their channel has been viewed in all time. The number of viewers at a given moment while live, on the other hand, is called concurrent viewers.

VTuber – A VTuber is a streamer or YouTuber who uses a virtual avatar that moves with them via face-tracking. There are both indie VTubers and VTuber talents recruited or trained by VTuber agencies. Since this is such a rapidly growing phenomenon, check out our VTuber terms glossary.

W

Whisper – A private message on Twitch is called a whisper.

widepeepoHappy – A happy face emote of Pepe that has become a word that people say out loud.

X

Xsplit – A capture card and streaming app.

Twitch Terms and Slang Conclusion

Was this list of Twitch terms and glossary or emote-speak helpful to you? Hopefully now you’re locked and loaded with new words you can use in Twitch chat today!

Twitch Sub Goal Ideas – Get More Subs with 14 Stream Ideas

By
Auri Fern
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0
Stream sub goal ideas blog post image header

Ready to push for affiliate, partner, or just more subscribers? Riff on these Twitch sub goal ideas. The sauce is that they’re fun and meaningful things to do for Twitch goal milestones of any kind. They work as follower goals, affiliate emote unlocks, path to partner status, or stream anniversaries.

14 Twitch Sub Goal Ideas that Work

The best subscriber goals enhance your community’s values and sense of humor. Don’t be afraid to talk openly with your viewers about your streaming goals and milestones. Do they know what they are and why they’re important?

Goals should also be fun. Take these subscriber goal ideas as inspiration, and throw up a sub goal overlay bar / sub counter widget to display! (Related: My list of Twitch Channel Point Reward Ideas and tips.)

1. New Emotes

Emotes are first on the list since they’re the most tangible for viewers to understand. But I’d ask you to think of new ways to make emote goals fun. For example, make an emote before you’ve even hit your sub goal and display it with your sub goal bar. Alternatively, let them vote on what emote to make. The fun of “unlocking” a reward looks more tangible and within reach.

Twitch streamers unlock emotes at different sub counts. Today, affiliates get five basic tier emotes — each unlocked at sub counts of 0, 15, 25, 35, and 50. You could reasonably choose to make those your first milestone goals.

2. Hair Dye (or Style)

In fiction, haircuts show character development. So in your streamer’s journey, maybe that’s what your story arc needs as well. Use your imagination for cuts, styles, or colors. Theme a goal hair color as “partner” purple or green-screen green. Short hair? Shave something funny in. No hair? Dye your beard. Don’t worry, it grows back.

3. Karaoke / Twitch Sings

Promise a karaoke stream where everyone can play. The free Twitch Sings game lets you sing karaoke, take requests from your viewers, and even do duets with them. Maybe they’ll be blown away by your raw talent — or your jarring vocals. Either way, you’ve got yourself a show!

Get Quality Twitch Overlays & Stream Assets Instantly! Click Here

4. Cosplay

Promise to dress up for a special stream. An artisanal cosplay of a channel favorite works, but so does a costume onesie (aka a kigurumi). After all, artistry is fine but there’s just something timeless about a grown adult in a zip-up unicorn suit. Do what works for your skillset and matches the level of your goal.

The best part of this one is you can mix it into the other stream sub goal ideas here: dress up as a special goal game character, or dress up to dance.

5. Dance

Okay, there might be a theme here: your viewers probably don’t mind if you embarrass yourself a little. Keep it all in good fun and everyone’s happy. So if you’re down to let loose, there are a few ways to make the fine art of dance a stream sub goal:

  • Make it relevant by learning a dance from a game you stream (like Fortnite or Final Fantasy XIV), or one from a Kpop video, movie, or anime your community likes.
  • Barring that, there’s always Just Dance. It’s a party game available on several consoles, so go all in or fully embrace the awkward.
  • Double Points: Combine this with the onesie for max impact.

6. Community Games

Plan for a fun co-op day where the focus is on your viewers.

  • Drawing Games: Community drawing games are fun, if highly troll-able. Make sure you vet who’s allowed to join your game — subs only is usually the way to go. Games like Drawful and Jackbox Party Pack are specifically for party streams, as only you have to own the game and anyone with the invite code can join.
  • Multiplayer: Set up a server in any game like your favorite MMORPG, Minecraft, Stardew Valley, PubG, etc.

7. Horror Games

Horror games are a live streaming staple. So let’s see how you react to one. In the dark. With a heart rate monitor. Yeah, because that’s a thing, too.

Ramp it up with heartbeat monitors or eye trackers.

8. Play That Game or Level

If you have a game you riff on or a level you ragequit, make the pleasure of watching you fail at it the stream sub goal. I mentioned viewer schadenfreude already, right? Don’t have any running jokes about games you hate? Just go with a classic controller-breaking game and give the people what they want: your slow descent into madness. Some famously frustrating games include Getting Over It and Jump King.

On the other hand, you could just do a play-through of a classic community favorite.

9. Create or Commission Art

Promise and deliver an artistic portrayal of your stream and your community. Use your imagination or just go ahead and ask what your viewers would want. Maybe every sub could choose an icon or character to represent them, or you could make a joke or clip from your stream into a masterpiece. Nice, a Twitch sub goal idea that supports artists.

[See also: Twitch Profile Art Size Requirements]

10. Special IRL Stream

If you don’t usually stream outside or do the Just Chatting category, debut your first such appearance. Think of it as a bonding experience with chat.

Already in Just Chatting or outdoors? Make the goal to stream somewhere special like an event, amusement park, or other attraction.

11. Movie Night / Watch Party

Movie nights are a fun way to spend time with your community off-stream every now and then, but you could just as easily make it a sub goal. The current platform of choice for watching videos together is Kast.gg. Just sign up, create a group, and send an invite link to your subs.

12. Stream Improvements

All the talk of gimmicks can’t take away from genuine and transparent explanations of your goals. The wholesome truth is your supporters want you to do more of what you do, and do it well. If you can name the exact impact they can have on your progress, they’ll have tangible reasons to rally behind you. (This is even more true for justifying stream donation goals.)

Remember, stream improvements could be anything from new equipment to your ability to stream more frequently on a set schedule. Explain exactly what the new benefit will be.

13. A 24-Hour Stream

Some streamers use 24-hour streams as a reward for hitting the goal, while others use it as a push to hit their goal during the stream. Just be very prepared. These streams push the limits of exhaustion, and might not be fun, much less necessary, for you.

14. Giveaways

Giveaways take some consideration. On one hand, an offer of free stuff could bring in people who won’t stick around. Just the word giveaway in a stream title can bring in a surge of viewers who vanish after. But if used to either show appreciation to your loyal viewers, or to bring in new social media attention, they can be great.

Try to keep the giveaway prizes relevant to your stream topic, like merch related to the game you play, or tools related to your craft. Then the new people you bring in have a better chance of checking out what else you do, and possibly sticking around. It’s basically part sub goal, part advertising cost — but if the giveaway is part of a sub goal, focus on your loyal base. You can do giveaways with Nightbot.

 

Get Quality Twitch Overlays & Stream Assets Instantly! Click Here

Things to Avoid With Stream Sub Goals

When setting sub goals, just remember to do what makes you happy and energized! If you’re not excited about a certain sub goal reward, don’t set it. Streaming can be a taxing form of content creation, so check in with your energy to avoid burnout.

Of course, it goes without saying not to go too far. Things like heavy alcohol consumption can put yourself at risk as well as break TOS. Be wary of things that could hurt yourself or others, not to mention your Twitch account. When setting Twitch sub goal ideas, follow the terms of service — and that also goes for Mixer, YouTube, or any other live-streaming platform.

Finally, A Few Extra Tips

While working on your stream sub goals, remember the fundamentals of steady stream progress:

  1. Keep a reliable schedule.
  2. Be consistent not only in schedule, but in your channel’s tone and atmosphere.
  3. Sub goals, follower goals, and other goals are also best when they seem in reach.
  4. Boost your stream’s overall engagement. Read: How Streamers Make Money

Twitch Size Guide – Banner, Panels, Overlays & Emotes

By
Auri Fern
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0
Twitch Size Guide for Profile Images: Twitch Panels, Profile Banner, Etc

Ready to make your Twitch profile show what you’re about? Use this Twitch size guide as a quick reference for Twitch profile banner sizes, profile panel sizes, emotes, overlays, and more. You’ll also learn the maximum file sizes and other best practices.

Twitch Size Guide for Profile Design

GraphicDimensionsFile Size
Twitch Offline Banner1920 x 1080 pixels10 MB
Twitch Panels320 x 300 max pixels2.9 MB
Twitch Cover Image1200 x 480px, 1200 x 380, 600 x 20010 MB
Twitch Profile Picture256 x 256 pixels10 MB
Twitch VOD Thumbnail1280 x 720 pixels10 MB
Twitch Overlay1920 x 1080 pixels10 MB
Twitch Emotes / Badges112 x 112, 56 x 56, and 28 x 28 pixels
Webcam1920 x 1080 pixelsN/A

Note: Your files can be uploaded as PNG, GIF, or JPG — I recommend PNGs.

Download unique stream overlay designs like this here!

Where to Get Twitch Graphics

  • Twitch Tags: While you can always browse the art section of Twitch, don’t forget to take advantage of tags. The stream tags Art Commissions and Emote Design are perfect for this.
  • Artist Shops: Check out independent Twitch Overlay artists who let you download designs instantly! There are so many artists offering custom work, but pre-made stream kits are budget-friendly for new streamers and affiliates looking for instant professional Twitch overlays, stream overlays, emotes, and other stream assets.
  • Fiverr: Fiverr has a dedicated Twitch section on their site, where Twitch designers and emote artists offer custom orders. There are a lot of dedicated artists here, but be careful of stolen or copied art on the site.
  • Canva: Canva is an easy to customize graphics on the web if you don’t use graphic design software. Though they are free, you have to upgrade to a paid membership to use most of the better graphics. Use it to mae your own, or to add to pre-made or commissioned assets. You can get a free trial to their pro version here.
  • Twitter: Be careful on Twitter! If you so much as type the word commission or graphic design, your tweet will be flooded by bots, some who have convincing-looking profiles. Try to use your network if you go this route!

Twitch Panel Size

For Twitch panels, use a size of 320 pixels wide up to 300 pixels high. If your image is larger, Twitch will automatically resize it. Most streamers go about 100 pixels in height, but be creative! Tall panels are great to display sub emotes or other details about you and your stream.

Twitch panels are the only way to get images onto your Twitch profile sections. The panel images can act as headers, or be linked to a URL. It’s up to you if you want them to be simple link buttons or to have text under each one.

Why do my Twitch panels look blurry?

If your Twitch panels are blurry, they’ve been compressed by Twitch and likely need a smaller file size. Save the file as a PNG and compress it yourself (meaning to make the file size smaller). If you can’t do this, you can try PNGGauntlet. Another trick people try is making larger panels and uploading them so that Twitch shrinks them down with better results. In general, use good web image file hygiene: a simple color palette and using web colors, for example.

Twitch Cover Image Size

Your Twitch cover image (or profile banner) should have a size of 1200 x 480px. It appears at the top of your profile and can be opened or collapsed by clicking on your profile picture.

The cover image size can be confusing because it looks different on different devices and scales in size with the browser window. This can make the bottom of some banners disappear behind the video player. Sometimes, the chat being open can affect how the banner appears too.

A nice solution is to center your logo and any social media details in the upper half of your image. As of 2019, Twitch officially recommends 1200x480px for the cover image size. Still, some people use a 4:3 ratio rectangle anyway, so feel free to experiment.

Just consider that your cover image appears more places than your cover. It also appears:

  • Behind your profile details in chat when people click on your name.
  • In followers lists behind your profile avatar / thumbnail.

Double check that your banner is visible on as many views as possible: mobile, desktop, full screen, and with chat open or closed.

Twitch Profile Picture Size

Your Twitch profile picture should be 256 by 256 pixels.

Your Twitch profile picture, aka avatar, is important! It’s going to show up in all these places:

  • On the sidebar for viewers to see when you’re online.
  • At the top of your stream.
  • As your friends list icon.
  • In lists of followers of channels
  • On hover and click of your name in chat.
  • As the featured image of your stream if a link to your channel is posted to socials like Twitter.

The profile picture might be small in the sidebar and at the top of your channel, but remember how large it’s going to be in link thumbnails. It’s largest when your stream URL is shared to social media such as Twitter, Facebook, or in Discord.

Twitch Offline Banner Size

Your Twitch offline banner size should be 1920 by 1080 pixels. Your offline banner is shown on the video player when your stream is offline.

The offline banner is a great place to list your social media handles or your schedule. Just keep in mind that Twitch puts a shadow over the top and bottom of the offline banner, and you’d do better by centering your info.

Twitch Thumbnails for VODs Size

Twitch VOD thumbnails have a max size of 1280 x 720 pixels, and must meet a 16:9 aspect ratio.

Do you upload thumbnails for your VODs? It’s easy to overlook, but it’s a great way to highlight the best parts of your stream and get people interested in what you’re all about. Don’t forget about stream highlights, either — one segment of your stream, with a good thumbnail, can make for an awesome VOD library.

Twitch Overlay Size

Twitch overlays should be 1920×1080 pixels. Whether you’re making your own overlay images, or setting them up using StreamElements or StreamLabs, set them to this size.

When using a browser source for images in OBS, you can also set this size. Learn more: How to Stream with OBS Browser Sources

Intro Video and Standby Video Sizes

Your Twitch intro videos also need to be 1920 x 1080 pixels (or a 16:9 ratio). For 4k stream starting videos, use 3840 x 2160 pixels.

Twitch Emotes Sizes

Twitch emote sizes are 112×112 pixels, 56×56 pixels, and 28×28 pixels. Twitch needs all three sizes to approve the emote. The same sizes apply for Twitch subscriber badges and cheer badges. Twitch emotes need to be .PNG files.

Conclusion

Use your Twitch profile images to create consistency and convey what you’re all about. Hopefully, this Twitch size guide helped you set up your design. If you’re ready to move to next steps, check out Privacy for Twitch Streamers to keep yourself safe, and Making Money on Twitch and Sub Goal Ideas that Work.

Have you seen any good Twitch designs that stood out from the crowd? Did I miss something, or is there anything you’d add to this list? Let everyone know in the comments below!

How to Make Money on Twitch: The Complete Guide

By
Auri Fern
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0

When you’re writing about how to make money on Twitch, you want to answer the question without missing the point. Twitch is meant to be fun first, and the numbers take care of themselves. Right?

Just make content you’re proud of.

It’s no lie. Most advice boils down to building a good community for your viewers that makes the stream fun for everyone.

But if you’re already doing that, you can enhance those good times and make it fun for your viewers to support you.

make money on twitch live streaming infographic

How to Make Money on Twitch

If you’re new to streaming, this guide will show you exactly how creators make a living doing it. If you’re already streaming, let’s look at creative ways to grow.

Note:  Would you like to help make this a great resource? Please send a friendly message if you have an idea, or if I’ve missed anything or something has changed. I’ll be updating this guide regularly.

Become a Twitch Affiliate

Requirements to get Twitch Affiliate:

It’s relatively simple to reach affiliate status. Within the past 30 days: stream on at least 7 days, with 500 total minutes of stream time, and an average of at least 3 viewers per stream. You’ll also need at least 50 followers.

Signing up: Once you meet the requirements, Twitch will email you an invitation. From there, you’ll agree to the terms and provide information for receiving payouts, including your tax info. Now you’re ready to start making money on Twitch with these perks:

Twitch Affiliate Benefits:

  • Subscriptions: Now your followers can subscribe to you for $4.99/month. Subs are the heart of Twitch income.
  • Emotes: You can now submit one subscriber-only emote for your chat.
  • Cheers with bits: You can cash out the Bits that your viewers “cheer”. You will get 1 cent per 1 bit you receive. Encourage more cheers with tools we will talk about below.
  • Game sales: If you play a game available on Twitch, a button to buy it will appear automatically. You don’t need to do anything. Sales from the button will earn you a 5% commission. Your viewers will also receive bonuses for buying it through Twitch.
  • Payouts: Cash out your bits and subs every 60 days.
  • Ads not available but may be coming soon, according to Twitch’s help pages on Oct. 31 2018.

After affiliate, you can make partner.

Become a Twitch Partner

Requirements to Get Twitch Partner:

Within the past 30 days, you should have a minimum of 25 streamed hours, on 12 different days, with an average of at least 75 viewers. Details from Twitch’s website conflicts about if you need a certain average viewer count, so there may be circumstances that don’t require one.

The best thing to do is to work your way through the Path to Partner Achievement in your dashboard. Meeting the requirements doesn’t guarantee you make Partner. You’ll just be able to apply.

Twitch Partners get these added perks:

  • Ads become available to streamers who get Twitch partnership. Choose to enable them for non-subscribers, and set times for them that don’t interrupt your content and annoy your viewers. Twitch will tell you the percentage you get in a contract they’ll draft for you specifically. Ads are usually not the most lucrative part of streaming anyway.
  • Reruns and video premieres can be streamed from your channel. This new rule started in September of 2018. It’s a good way to keep interest while you must be away or break schedule.
  • Custom cheermotes: Custom graphics for your Bit cheers.
  • VODs: Past streams can be stored as VODs for up to 60 days.
  • Quicker payouts: Receive payouts from bits and subs every 45 day.

Tip: If your application for Partner is denied, follow up and just ask why. Embrace the opportunity to get valuable feedback. Try again later. Not a week later, but after you’ve had time for significant improvement.

How Do Streamers Make Money on Twitch?

Twitch streamers with affiliate status earn about half of each $4.99/month subscription, plus a percent of their bit cheers, and any PayPal or other tips they receive.

Partnered streamers’ income share is privately contracted between the streamer and Twitch.

Streamers also earn commissions on Amazon purchases made through their gear lists.

Of course, there are also ways Streamers can make money that aren’t through Twitch, including third-party merch, putting up a Paypal donation link, cryptocurrency donations, and Amazon wish lists. Continue reading for more on those!

How Does Twitch Pay Streamers?

Twitch pays streamers revenue earned from subscribers, bit cheers, and ad revenue. Twitch offers payout options including direct deposit, wire, check, or PayPal. If you haven’t specified a payment method or have one disabled, money will be held until you select a new option.

When Does Twitch Pay You?

Twitch sends payouts every 45 days if you’re a partner, or every 60 days if you’re an affiliate. The payment is sent that number of days after the last day of the month in which the money was earned.

One streamer I asked how to make money on Twitch with the least hassle talked about payout times. Cash donations get to you faster than bit and sub revenue. Donations go straight to your PayPal account, and are good immediately (as long as no one disputes the charge).

How to Get More Bits and Subs on Twitch

Twitch’s appeal for viewers is being part of a live event. Interact with your chat and engage them whenever you can, and always show appreciation.

There’s no shortage of ways to make sending bits and gift subs more interactive for your viewers. And it’s easy to do with panel extensions like leaderboards, spin wheels, and special sound alerts.

  • Shoutout Subs Creatively

Breakdancing streamer JoeyKaotyk did a backflip when I subbed to his channel. I then got my own bot command to show the clip of my specific backflip, good for as long as I’m a sub. That’s just one example of a creative incentive that keeps new subs coming.

Now, there’s no need to be a jedi master. You can also read out subs, resubs, and donations with your thanks! I’ve seen people use little extra touches like special microphone effects to doing a little dance. A little acknowledgement goes a long way on Twitch.

  • Leaderboards / Hall of Fame

Subscription Gifting Leaderboard: This panel shows the names of your most generous viewers. They’re ranked by the number of gift subscriptions they’ve passed out.

Bits and Loyalty Leaderboard: This leaderboard from Streamlabs ranks bits and their loyalty points at the same time. This one from StreamElements can rank bits, chatters, subscribers, points, and a lot more.

  • Play a Live Spin Wheel Game

Streamlabs has a spin wheel widget that streamers use in just about any way, but often for rewarding viewers. Other apps have spin wheels as well.

Some streamers spin the wheel to give away a gift sub for every X amount of people who subscribe. Others use the wheel as a reward for bit cheers, with different rewards listed on the wheel. Both ideas get viewers invested in supporting the channel.

  • Prime Sub Reminder

Everyone who has Amazon Prime gets a free sub every month to spend on any channel they want. The catch is that it doesn’t automatically renew. If someone uses Prime, a widget can remind them for you with this Prime Subscription and Loot Reminder. When it’s time to resub, an icon will show. It works out for viewers, your sub count, potentially your path to partner, and your bottom line. You can also mention that students get a discount on Amazon Prime here.

  • Weekly Top Cheers

It’s an old standard, but worth mentioning. At the top of chat, you can show the top three bit donors. Set the amount of time you want them to refresh. I’ve seen streamers refresh every 20 days and other streamers refresh every 4 days. Just go with what your viewers like the most.

  • Sound Alerts

The sound alerts extension lets your viewers press buttons for different bit donation amounts to make custom sounds play on stream. For example, press a button for 101 bit donations and a funny audio plays,

The app developer takes 20% of bits earned this way, but it does seem to work, especially for funny and trolly alerts.

You could also always add plenty of custom amount bit alerts to your StreamLabs or Stream Elements tools. But instead of buttons, you’d have to list the different things that happen at specific amounts somewhere.

  • Bits to Make a Character Dance

The Character Trigger from Adobe is an extension that lets a character dance on your screen when triggered with bit donations. This one also takes 20%. Characters must be made in Adobe Character Animator CC.

  • Show Sub or Donation Goals

You can show a progress bar with a sub goal or donation goal in your overlay. Avoid blatant begging — make it fun and help your viewers understand what the goal will achieve. Maybe it’s a new emote, equipment, a better stream schedule, path to partner, Twitch Con, etc.). For really fun and meaningful ideas, see our post on Twitch Stream Sub Goals.

  • Submit Video or Audio with Donations

Your streaming software likely has a way for your viewers to request a clip with their tips. StreamElements lets your viewers request a YouTube clip. You can also set a cost per second and a max clip length. Use features like this for a video alert box or the audio only.

  • Text-to-Speech Messages with Bit Cheer Amount

It’s fun to hear your message turned to voice on stream. Set up Text to Speech under your alert settings in Streamlabs or Stream Elements.

You can set the minimum cheer amount for a message to appear on stream. A lot of streamers have a 100 bits minimum. On the other hand, Cryaotic has so many viewers that his text to speech is at a minimum of 1000 bits.

  • Sub-Only Polls for Content

Kitboga, the scambaiting streamer, lets his chat vote on polls about what persona he should be on his next phone call. He also lets them vote on strange topics he should bring up during the phone calls meant to waste scammers’ time. Nightbot and Strawpoll can do this.

Gaming creators do something similar when they allow subs only to vote on which game they will play next.

How to Set Up PayPal Donations on Twitch:

Fans can donate money to your PayPal through StreamLabs or StreamElements. These apps will give them a gif and a message to send with their donation alert.

Alternatively, you can place a simple donation URL from PayPal. Doing this will let you get donations, but it won’t interact with your stream overlay.

Privacy Note: Donors will be able to see your name if it is associated with your PayPal account when they look at their PayPal history. You can set up a PayPal Business account if you’d like to avoid this. (Check out this complete guide to protecting your privacy on Twitch.)

To Make a Donate Link Without an App: You can also create your own PayPal donation link. To do this, go to the PayPal buttons page, and select the Donate button. Choose your details and get the URL. Just get the link — you don’t need to customize the button, because you can’t embed it on Twitch. You can use it as a text link, or make some simple Donate artwork and link that.

Show Your Streaming Gear on Amazon:

You’ve probably seen the streamer gear panels. Once you make Twitch Affiliate, you can get one, too. When someone clicks through and buys something, you’ll earn a small commission through the Amazon Associates program. Purchases don’t have to be of your specific items. Anything the person buys after clicking your link within 24 hours, counts. You can get the panel by installing the Amazon Blacksmith extension.

The extension can also be used as an overlay. You can reward viewers for shopping through your links as well.

Wishlists and Gift Cards:

It’s not unusual for streamers to include their Amazon wishlist. Streamers usually keep it limited to hardware for stream improvement, or games to play.

If you post a wishlist, just keep privacy in mind. Take some basic precautions like using a separate Amazon account with your Twitch name rather than your real name. Use a P.O. Box for the delivery address.

Gift Cards: Amazon gift cards are even more anonymous, since all they require is an email address. Place a link to the gift card on Amazon with a note of your stream-related email address.

Sponsorships:

For streamers who become particularly influential, companies may offer them a sponsorship. Just realize these can be very limited opportunities for only a handful of large influencers with great reputations. Companies that offer Twitch sponsorships could be selling games, computer hardware, or streaming equipment and tools. Here are a few examples of how to make money on Twitch using real sponsors / partnerships:

  • IRL Backpack sponsors Jakenbake.
  • PUBG sponsors JennaJulien.
  • Chrono is partnered with Cryaotic.
  • Ninja debuted the new Samsung Galaxy accessories for Fortnite players.

Join Other Affiliate Programs:

If you can’t get a direct sponsorship, you can also search for affiliate programs. It’s not the same as a partnership, but you can earn commissions on referrals. Google the names of companies you like with the word “affiliates.” If you find a program, you can usually find a form to apply. Nerd or Die is one company that has an affiliate program for established and positive creators. Note that for many affiliate applications, you’ll need to send numbers about your traffic and other personal details.

Note: The FTC requires you to clearly disclose affiliate links, and so do affiliate programs. Apply if you already have a following and are qualified, and read through their terms carefully.

Set a Streaming Schedule:

A consistent and clear schedule keeps subscribers engaged. This is part of treating your stream like a business. Show your schedule in your panels, within intro or outro overlays, pinned on your social accounts, and on your own website.

Twitch’s most successful streamer, Ninja, famously lost 40,000 subs when he took off less than two days to go to E3. He later commented that people who subscribe to Netflix can tune in at any time, and that people feel the same way about Twitch streaming schedules.

That’s a lot of pressure. It just shows the importance of frequency and giving your subscribers the value they want. That said, streaming every day is overkill for a lot of people, and lots of successful streamers don’t. Just be predictable.

As a note, once you make partner, you can also use reruns to fill in some of your days off.

Take care of yourself! Time management is important when you work from home. Burnout is real, and you can get overwhelmed quickly if you don’t plan a healthy routine. Try to have a separate space for work and living, streaming and regular internet browsing. Spend time with friends and family. Exercise. Practice good self-care, and balance your time.

Subscriber-Only Perk Ideas:

  • Emotes:

Probably obvious, since it’s the most standard perk: subs get to use your custom emotes. Make them good! Get some help from a designer, a creative streamer friend, or consider submissions in your Discord. If you’re brand new, you can buy a pack from an artists’ stream assets shop.

  • Sub-only Discord channels:

Make your discord fun for all your users, but have one or a few channels for subscribers only.

  • Discord User Roles:

Give a higher rank to subs.

  • Sub-only chat

Although this option is ready to use anytime, it’s not for regular use. Instead, use it for moderation issues like unwanted raids or spam. Your subscribers will appreciate it!

  • Personal Thanks

Acknowledge your new subs! It may seem obvious to say thanks, but appreciation goes a long way. There are some creative ways to acknowledge subs, too. I’ll go over more creative things streamers do down below. When you’re starting out, you can consider sending personal thanks in a message if it makes sense to do so.

  • Sub-only VODs:

This is another one that evokes split opinions, since it can be more of a limitation on non-subs than a perk for subs. Nonetheless, some streamers make their VODs (videos on demand of past streams) viewable only to subscribers.

  • Private Social Accounts:

For example, only subs get added to a private Twitter or Snapchat account.

  • Make a Sub Wall:

Make a wall that celebrates your subscribers either in real life or in an illustration. SleepyMia draws an image to represent each of her subs on a sub-wall. Starbitzychan has a real-life one made of stickers with her subs’ names.

  • No Ads:

Probably the most obvious, but worth a mention. Some streamers choose not to use ads at all, for anyone.

  • Movie Nights:

Subs only get to participate in a Discord channel or other app for watch parties through apps like Gaze or other long distance movie watching services.

Cross-Post to YouTube:

Kitboga is just one popular streamer who also posts VODs to a YouTube channel. This can get you revenue on a platform where a lot of people can see you even if they aren’t using Twitch yet. Cryaotic saves some of his gameplay streams for Youtube by letting everyone know that alerts are turned off during gameplay.

Encourage Clips:

A small creator can just cruise along unnoticed, until one day a clip goes viral and the traffic pours in.

One of the best-known ways to get attention is to be upvoted in the subreddit r/LivestreamFail. It sounds counterintuitive, but funny moments will get upvotes, eyeballs, and new followers and subs. The subreddit isn’t just for fails. The guidelines allow wins and meta posts too, so there’s a fun variety of content. Just don’t post your own clips; it’ll be shut down quickly as self-promotion. So encourage your viewers to clip things.

Clips also inevitably wind up in Youtube compilation videos. Some creators get viewers in chat saying they came because of something they saw on YouTube.

Patreon:

Since Patreon lets people crowd-fund their support for creators with a monthly donation, I haven’t seen a lot of streamers use it. After all, Twitch has a built-in way for fans to subscribe.

But for people who have something extra to offer, or are also active on other platforms than twitch, it might make sense to have one. You could offer art tutorials or physical goods to Patreon subs — something different than what you offer through Twitch and Discord.

A fun art streamer I like to watch, SleepyMia, posts art tutorials on her Patreon. It’s a great way to reach her followers from other sites like DeviantArt. And since Patreon offers different donation tiers, she can also provide merch to upper tier levels.

Either way, it’s completely optional for your viewers, as long as you don’t use it as a way to paywall your regular content.

Sell Merch:

You can always use print on demand services to sell your own merch. Put logos, custom emotes, and in-jokes on your designs.

Streamers can sell merch through Design By Humans or use the built-in merch program that’s now a part of Streamlabs. This might just be the best one, since its new partnership with Twitch will let viewers shop directly from your stream, instead of in a new tab.

People who have a decent following can probably get accepted into Amazon Merch more quickly than a random applicant.

Key Takeaways:

We’ve talked about how to make money on Twitch starting with the basics of affiliate and partner status. We’ve gone over ways to encourage bits and subs using custom alerts as well as Twitch panel extensions. And we’ve gone over ways to accept third-party support from your viewers, including merch, Patreon, and alternative donations.

Above all, making it on Twitch is going to be about building your community, making it fun for everyone to be there and to keep tuning in.

Anything you’d like to add? Please send over a friendly message, and I’ll do my best to keep this guide current and updated.

14 Twitch Affiliate Sponsors for Small Streamers and YouTubers

By
Auri Fern
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0
Affiliate Programs for Small Streamers seeking Partnerships and Sponsors, Table of Contents Image

Twitch streaming sponsorships are usually reserved for big names. But some brands accept small streamers’ partner applications, or have affiliate programs for streamers that pay commissions on referrals.

Stream sponsors and affiliate programs are not the same.

  • A sponsorship is a paid contract for a promotional deliverable.
  • A partnership suggests a company pays a streamer for their endorsement and image.
  • And affiliate programs let you earn commissions for referrals.

For small streamers, many affiliate programs won’t be worth your time. The payouts are low and rely on volume. However, some companies have new and unique ideas to improve options for content creators.

This is a list of companies that either partner with small streamers or offer fair affiliate programs that I believe can do well, with explanations and tips for each. Disclosure: Some but not all of these links use our own affiliate links.

(If you get a bigger following later, you can negotiate a higher commission rate or a sponsorship / partnership. If you already have 10,000+ followers, go ahead and negotiate first.)

Game Affiliate Programs for Small Streamers

HumbleBundle

HumbleBundle is a creator-friendly game and Steam key bundle store that also supports charities with every purchase. If you promote them, your supporters can even allocate more of their purchase price percentage to you during check out. Their donation to charity won’t be affected. Once you sign up you get referral links right away. Post one on your Twitch or other streaming socials. Learn more and sign up for their partner program here.

Chrono.gg

The indie game site Chrono’s partnership program is usually selective, with high-profile partners like Philip Defranco. But now, the brand is launching a unique brand deal for small streamers called Creator Stores. Content creators can get their own branded page to add their own reviews, recommendations, and merch. Streamers can earn generous revenue shares up to 15%. Get on the waitlist here!

Itch.io

Itch.io is a cozy community site and indie game store that connects game devs and content creators like streamers and YouTubers. You can quickly set up a partner profile, make connections, and get affiliate links to earn money on referrals to their games. You’ll get immediate access to a library of games that are free for review purposes. Sign up here.

More Gaming Affiliate Programs:

  • GreenManGaming: Starting at 5% per referral. Link.
  • Fanatical: 5% per referral. Link.
  • IndieGala: 5% on game sales or 10% on bundles. Link.

Internet Services with High Payouts

NordVPN

NordVPN has years of trust and experience helping people surf the web privately. They pay you an amount per referral that can be worth it even for small streamers. 

VPNs make good affiliates or sponsors for smalls streamers and YouTubers because your viewers already understand it. They’re online, need privacy, and like to stream movies. For example, I can watch Studio Ghibli films on Netflix from the USA with NordVPN. Sign up to become an affiliate on their site. Since I’m using Creatoko’s affiliate link, I’m happy to help you set up a VPN promo image for your profile. Just shoot me a message!

Brave Browser

Brave browser is a privacy-centered web browser designed to reward content creators directly. Users can put funds in creators’ wallets just by watching them normally. They can even tip Twitch streamers with a click. Plus, the browser will integrate all your normal Chrome extensions. Their affiliat eprogram is no longer active, but you can get funds when your viewers use it to watch you. When I connected my accounts, I was surprised to find I already had money. Get started here.

Tip Streamer with Brave

Stream Design Affiliate Programs

Fiverr

Fiverr got an early start with its Twitch category, positioning itself as a place for streamers to buy stream designs and emotes directly from artists. Their affiliate program offers from $15 up to $150 per sale (and other revenue models). You can sign up here and put up a link or very clickable graphic on your profile. Need a good banner to put on your Twitch profile? Use my link to sign up then get in touch and I’ll help how I can.

Chairs and Gear

GTOmega

GTOmega is a game chair seller based in the UK with an easy-to-join affiliate program.

Gunnar

Gunnar sells blue-light blocking glasses to reduce screen glare and eye strain.

Pop Culture Stores

LootCrate

LootCrate is a nerd culture themed subscription box full of licensed merch, with different boxes to choose from. They pay $10 per referral, however as a physical product and subscription, I’m not sure how well it will convert. Link.

PlayAsia

PlayAsia sells games, game figures, plushes, art books and more with 12% commissions.

Amazon Associates for Twitch Streamers

Amazon Blacksmith

All Twitch streamers have access to the Amazon Blacksmith extension for Twitch. You’ve probably seen it on streamer profiles showing their gear. Amazon Blacksmith pays different rates for different categories, but digital games do best at 10%. Read about it here.

Other Ways to Make Money

While you’re building your presence on the site, affiliate and partner programs aren’t the end all be all. There are plenty of ways to make money on Twitch.

  • Your Own Merch: StreamElements and Streamlabs both allow you to create merch by uploading your branding / artwork to several print-on-demand items like t-shirts and mugs. You can even connect your merch sales to your stream alerts and set a special on-stream message when someone purchases. StreamElements in particular pays you a better percentage of the item cost than other print-on-demand companies, and requires no paid membership with them to sell. Hire an artist or make your own.
  • Donation and Sub Goals: Donation goals can help you improve your stream and sub goals can help you meet milestones on your way to Twitch Affiliate and Partner status. Check out our list of sub goal reward ideas.

Typical Affiliate Program Rules

Affiliate programs usually require you to follow rules that prevent people from gaming their system with fraud. You will likely need to submit URLs where you’ll promote them, in this case your Twitch profile or YouTube channel. If the program is selective, they might require a minimum number of followers. You won’t be allowed to use your own link for personal purchases. You also won’t be allowed to use promotional methods that are spammy or that compete with their own advertising. Read the program terms of everything you sign up for. They’re usually straightforward.

Furthermore, you should brush up on the FTC and other ruling body’s rules about affiliate relationships. If you post an affiliate link, you should disclose the relationship.

Which Small Streamer Affiliate Programs Work?

In general, affiliate programs for a small streamer rely on volume to be worth your time. If the commission rate is low and your stream has few followers, it might end up taking up space on your profile at no benefit to you. That said, if a program is relevant to your specific audience and pays a decent rate, you could be onto some extra cash each month.

The simplicity of most streamer affiliate programs is that you can put up a link on your profile, look at your reports over the next couple of months, and take the link down anytime if it’s not working.

How Can I Promote Them?

You can post text links or images in your Twitch profile, put a list with links under your YouTube video, and take advantage of chatbot timers.

Red Flags: Affiliate Programs Streamers Should Avoid

Small streamers should be wary of affiliate programs that require you to buy things, commit to showing a product on stream, or to do anything if you only get commissions. If that’s the case, you need to be compensated fairly. These deals are more appropriate for partner contracts and are best handled by your own agent or counsel.

Twitch Affiliate sponsorships are harder to find, but might be possible. If you constantly use a product anyway, or get questions about it often, then check if the company has an affiliate program or see if they have any interest in a stream sponsorship or partnership. Know your viewers, followers, subscribers, and demographics when approaching them.

What do you think? Are affiliate programs worth it for small streamers and creators? Have you had good or bad experiences? Leave a comment below, and consider checking this post again later as I hope to refine and add to this list over time!

How to Stream on Twitch with OBS | The Quick + Easy Guide

By
Auri Fern
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0

Are you ready to get your creative self out there streaming, but overwhelmed by all the bells and whistles? Fear not! We’ll break down how to stream on Twitch with OBS like a pro, all in this handy guide so it’s easy to get set up today!

How to Stream on Twitch with OBS | How to Stream with OBS Infographic

By using OBS and a stream manager like StreamElements, you’ll have all your bases covered. Both are free, and combining them allows you to set up personalized stream alerts, overlays, tipping, and a lot more.

Download OBS Studio | Connect Twitch to StreamElements

How to Stream on Twitch with OBS:

This quick guide will show you how to connect OBS with Twitch and how to set up OBS scenes and sources.

  1. Get your stream key from Twitch.

    First, get your Twitch stream key from your Creator Dashboard under Preferences then Channel. Copy the Primary Stream Key hidden by asterisks.

  2. Turn on Two-Factor Authentication.

    Go to your Twitch Settings then Security & Privacy to enable two-factor authentication. You will enter your phone number to receive a verification code. Twitch only allows you to stream with this enabled.

  3. Enter your stream key in OBS.

    Open OBS and click on the settings button. Click on Stream from the sidebar, then select Twitch from the Service dropdown menu. Paste your stream key in the empty field and click OK.

  4. Create a new scene in OBS.

    Add a new scene by clicking the plus sign button under Scenes and naming it. Some possible names are Starting, Ending, Gameplay, BRB, or Chatting.

  5. Add your sources to the scene.

    Now click the plus sign under the Source column and select a source type. You can layer several sources like your monitor display, a game capture, a webcam, and alerts. (See the sections below for explanations of sources and alerts.)

  6. Set up your audio.

    Under the Mixer column, use the gear icons to open the Properties menus for your desktop audio and your microphone. Select the microphone you want to use and adjust volumes as needed. Advanced Properties will allow you to adjust your monitor settings (how you hear yourself in your headphones).

  7. Test your setup.

    You can test your setup with a practice run by recording a video instead of livestreaming. You might find out that something’s not working, especially if your audio levels aren’t balanced.

  8. Start Streaming

    Finally, click Start Streaming under the Controls. Your stream will start on Twitch, so be sure to have your chat open on your Twitch profile page or from the Dashboard.

Set Up OBS Sources Header

OBS Sources Explained

In OBS, Scenes are the layouts that appear on screen. They might be a BRB scene, game scene, or chatting scene. Within the scenes, you can add and layer sources. So create a new scene and use this guide to OBS sources:

  • Videos: Add a media source, and select the video file on your computer. You can check Loop for animations.
  • Images: Add an image source. You can resize the image and move it around the screen with your cursor.
  • Webcam: Select Video Capture Device and choose your camera or camera filter.
  • Monitor Screen: Add a display capture. This will show the entire screen of one of your monitors. Use the dropdown to select which monitor to display. For full-screen, set the size to 1920 x 1080. You can also drag the corners to resize it.
  • PC Game: You can use window capture or display capture. It’s up to you if you prefer to use display or window capture, but some people have frame-rate issues with window capture.
  • Console Game: Select game capture to access your game capture card.
  • Text: Select text to easily add information you’ll need to change regularly, like a stream topic.
  • Alerts: Add a browser source and paste the URL of alerts you set up in StreamElements. 
  • Overlays: Add a browser source and paste the URL of overlays made in StreamElements. Set the size to 1920 x 1080.

 

Get Beautiful Twitch Overlays for OBS Instantly! Click Here 

Twitch Stream Alerts in OBS

Set Up Twitch Alerts in OBS

Now you might be wondering how to stream on Twitch with OBS and get stream alerts, those handy, sound-effect-laden popups when you get a new subscriber or donation. Luckily for you and me, a free StreamElements account’s got us covered. In fact, StreamElements has an array of features for streamers like alerts, overlays, tipping, and merch. You’ll set them up in StreamElements and get a URL to paste into a new OBS Browser Source.

  1. Go to StreamElements and connect your Twitch account.
  2. Go to your Dashboard and click My Overlays in the sidebar.
  3. Create a new overlay, then click Widgets at the top of the screen and choose AlertBox.
  4. You can now customize and test the alerts, but for quick use, go ahead and save the file.
  5. Click Launch to get the URL from the Export Overlay popup.
  6. Open OBS and create a new Browser Source for your scene. Paste the URL and set the size as 1920×1080.
  7. Name this new browser source layer Alerts.
  8. Copy and paste the Alerts source into all of your OBS scenes as the top layer.
  9. Keep this alerts design as a separate overlay than your actual overlay with other widgets and graphic designs.
  10. If you change it in StreamElements, the change will reflect across all your scenes.

StreamElements is my current go-to, but there are other good services out there like Muxy.

Set Up Overlays in OBS HeaderStreamElements Overlays for OBS

Okay, so you now can set up scenes in OBS, but the real magic happens when you mix design with widgets in browser-based overlays. Widgets are things like chat, activity feeds, and sub goal bars. So log into StreamElements with your Twitch account, head to your Dashboard, and check out the following features:

  • For a pre-made overlay template, click Themes Gallery.
  • For custom overlays, upload files to a blank template in My Overlays.
  • Add StreamElements widgets like chat and recent subs on top.
  • You can upload video files as webm files, but mp4s appear to work, too.
  • Click Launch, copy and paste the link into an OBS browser source at 1920×1080 px.

Safety Note: If you use StreamElements and set up tipping, try to use a PayPal business account in your stream’s name instead of a personal account. Doing otherwise can give away your real name to viewers who tip you. Learn more ways to protect yourself with my guide to Twitch privacy here.

Final Tips Livestreaming Header

Bonus Tips to Stream to Twitch with OBS

Made it this far? Congrats! Now crack into a few bonus tips on how to stream with OBS. These babies’ll help you avoid common mistakes and do cool tricks with OBS scenes and sources, too. Yes! You’re doing the thing. 🏆

  • Use the lock icon next to a source to keep it in place and avoid selecting it by mistake. You can also toggle the eye icons to make it visible and invisible.
  • You can make transitions between scenes smoother with a simple fade in and out effect. Select Fade in the dropdown and enter a 1500ms duration.
  • To use a green screen, right-click your camera source and select Filters, then click the plus sign and choose Chroma Key. There are plenty of other filters to experiment with, like Color Correction.
  • You can copy and paste sources into different scenes. If you do, be aware that changing source settings or filters in one scene will change them in other scenes, too. Recreate a new source manually if you need to avoid this.
  • For alert boxes, copy and paste the same one into every scene as the top layer.
  • Don’t add alerts to your overlay graphics when you make them with StreamElements, as every scene could play the same alert sound effects at once. Instead, make a separate overlay that only contains the stream alerts in StreamElements or Muxy.
  • Check before you stream that your mute function works for your microphone or audio.
  • If desired, you can customize your settings further in the left sidebar. For example, under Output, you can select your streaming size. 1920 x 1080 pixels is fairly standard.
  • A selected source is outlined in red.

Get Beautiful Twitch Overlays & Stream Assets Instantly! Click Here

Congratulations!

You did it! Hopefully this guide helped you set up OBS for streaming on Twitch without too many hiccups. Ready for the next steps? Be sure to check out our guide to how to make income on Twitch and 14 ideas to get more followers or subs. I’ll keep adding to this guide over time, so please let me know in the comments if you have questions!

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