The final presidential debate of the 2020 election cycle took place last night, and thousands of people watched on Twitch. Once again, the streaming platform makes its mark on American politics.
In the midst of a global health crisis, Americans and viewers around the world have found new ways to engage with politics. With the United States still mostly under lockdown, Twitch has emerged as one of the best ways to interact with the election. It makes sense; according to Streamlabs, people have watched nearly 7.5 billion hours of live-streamed content since July. From April to June, that number was closer to 8 billion hours. More than 90 percent of those hours belong to Twitch.
The trend continued with last night's debate. After the spectacle of the previous debate, it's no surprise that a lot of folks sought out a shared experience once again. Several top streamers, including xQc, boasted viewer counts of 100,000 people and more for both debates. "Thursday's presidential debate is one example of Twitch quickly evolving beyond gaming," said Ashray Urs, Head of Product at Streamlabs. "Top live streamers like...HasanAbi watched both debates with over 100,000 viewers...It is clear live streaming will continue to play a growing role in this and future elections as politicians seek to reach young voters."
It's not just voters and gamers turning to Twitch in these odd circumstances, either. Just a few days ago, Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar stormed the platform, streaming Among Us to about half a million people concurrently. In total, the stream amassed 4.5 million views. Throughout the stream — when she wasn't too busy killing Pokimane — AOC encouraged her audience to vote early and on Election Day. The Representative, herself no stranger to Twitter live streams, also discussed key campaign issues on stream, such as healthcare.
The new approach has bled over into other games, too. Democratic presidential candidates Joe Biden and Kamala Harris made use of Animal Crossing: New Horizons to promote their campaign. The campaign also made designs available for players to show their support on their own islands. Normally, this part of an election year sees candidates constantly on the road, holding rallies and events in states they hope to win over. While President Trump has continued to hold in-person rallies throughout the pandemic, Biden has opted not to do so, instead choosing the virtual alternatives.
Seeing as there's no end in sight to the pandemic or indefinite quarantine, this trend isn't likely to disappear any time soon. With nowhere to go and few things to do besides stay home, live streaming services have a tremendous opportunity to reach wider audiences. The question will be whether or not those new viewers stick around.
Source: Streamlabs