On September 1, many streamers and people in the community took part in a Twitch boycott, whereby users would not stream or interact with the site for the full day. Much of it has been fuelled by the #ADayOffTwitch movement on Twitter. The reason behind the digital walkout was in protest at the recent "hate raids" that content creators have been receiving, in which streamers would be bombarded by "raiders" who would enter the chat with the express purpose of abusing said streamer and their followers. Many feel that Twitch has done little to prevent these from happening. It appears as though the recent boycott may have sent out a powerful message, as figures come in showing a noticeable drop in the site's activity.

According to statistics and reports, Twitch saw a significant decrease not only in streamers but in community interaction as well. The numbers, according to a graph uploaded to Twitter, show that there were around 5,000 fewer streamers, with roughly 500,000 fewer viewers. An additional tweet also states that, at one point, the website was registering around 12,000 fewer live channels when compared to the previous week, and 13,000 fewer compared to the week before.

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Given that Twitch has millions of broadcasters, and registers tens of millions of daily active users, the drop in numbers yesterday may not have a huge impact, though they are still significant. One report suggests that Twitch's viewership has already dropped thanks to TimTheTatMan's recent move to YouTube. It suggests that people are willing to leave the platform in favor of alternatives, and that people who are still active want the company to take steps to deal with toxic users, particularly against those that target people from the LGBTQ+ community.

Some streamers are unsure that the Twitch boycott will have an affect. Asmongold, for example, did say he was in favor of it, but he didn't feel the amount of people participating in it would be enough to send a big enough message to the site. While the recent figures do show that thousands joined the boycott in solidarity, it remains to be seen whether or not it will make the site take notice.

With YouTube streamer Dr Disrespect planning to sue Twitch over his being banned from the platform last year, the tides may be turning for the company. Twitch has long been known to leave controversy in its wake, particularly in regard to when and how it bans users, which is often not clear. While the company has taken steps to make its banning policy more transparent, it's going to need to up its game in order to make the place a safer environment. Here's hoping yesterday's boycott will have made some impact.

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Source: Dexerto