A former Twitch director has responded to Trainwreck's recent claim that Kick's Clip feature will surpass Twitch's. The director explained that the Clip feature cannot function in the same way as TikTok on streaming platforms, despite Trainwreck's statement that it will behave like TikTok. For those who are not aware, Kick was first introduced in December 2022 as an alternative to Twitch and YouTube, promising a superior experience for creators.Since its inception, Kick has attracted attention for its lucrative Creator Program and lenient ban policies, which have helped to grow its user base. To stay competitive with other streaming services, the platform has been continually introducing new features, with the most recent being the Clip feature. This feature has generated significant buzz in the streaming community, with the representative Trainwreck claiming to create a personalized "TikTok-like" experience for users with an emphasis on discoverability.Many in the streaming community have expressed enthusiasm for Kick's Clip feature, and some are wondering if Twitch's Clip feature will ever receive such an upgrade. However, the former director of Twitch, known as djWHEAT on Twitter, has raised concerns about its effectiveness. The director pointed out that Twitch has been grappling with discoverability issues for years, despite efforts to address them. With an overwhelming number of clips generated every minute, most of them are of poor quality and go unnoticed, while only a small percentage of popular clips are shared across social media platforms.
Moreover, the director stressed that the majority of Twitch's viewership is drawn to longer-form content. In terms of Kick's voting feature, the former director explained that the platform would need to address the sheer volume of clips, and simply implementing a like button would not suffice. He highlighted that Twitch attracts 100,000 viewers per hour while Kick has only 10 to 15 clips per hour, making scalability a crucial aspect to consider. This means that Kick may struggle to handle a large volume of clips, and its Clip feature may not be as effective as Trainwreck claims.
While it is uncertain whether Kick's Clip feature will deliver on Trainwreck's promise of a personalized "TikTok-like" experience, it's important to consider the challenge of discoverability in the streaming community. As the former director of Twitch pointed out, Twitch has been grappling with this issue for years and has yet to come up with a solution. Given Twitch's extensive experience and resources, it's fair to assume that it won't be an easy task for Kick to develop an effective algorithm for their Clip feature. However, Kick's effort to compete with Twitch and YouTube is commendable, and many in the streaming community is eagerly waiting to see how the platform evolves.