It's no secret that livestreaming, whether it's on Twitch, Facebook Gaming, or YouTube Gaming, offers a very personal look into the lives of streamers. Twitch's "Just Chatting" category has become the platform's most popular in large part due to how deeply personal Twitch streamers can be. A streamer's audience can know more about a streamer than their friends and family. There's perhaps no better example of that than a recent Twitch stream where the streamer told viewers he'd lost his sense of taste and smell.
Twitch streamer EtherealWii was taking a break from playing Pokemon Brilliant Diamond to pour himself some tea. After pouring from his thermos, EtherealWii took a deep smell of his freshly poured tea, letting out a brisk, "Ahh." However, his eyes quickly went large and he pulled his cup up again for another smell. Here, EtherealWii says an expletive and pauses, before ultimately taking another smell of the cup and then of the thermos itself. "No!" is what he finally says before resting his head on his arm. "I just lost my taste and smell. My smell!"
For those unfamiliar, losing one's sense of taste and smell is a common and early sign of having contracted the COVID-19 virus. EtherealWii had previously confirmed that they tested positive for COVID-19 on November 26. What EtherealWii's viewers were able to see is a new symptom hitting the Twitch streamer nearly a week after his first positive COVID-19 test.
EtherealWii's disposition reveals layers of what it means to be a Twitch streamer. Considering the potential severity of the situation, fans might expect a very serious and potentially emotional reaction. Instead, EtherealWii treats the situation with levity, reacting with humor more than anything. This is consistent with how EtherealWii has treated the situation going back to his initial positive test, however, as he's essentially livestreamed being COVID-19 positive over the past four days.
Some who have watched the clip believe that EtherealWii is faking the reaction, or that they already knew they'd lost their sense of smell and taste and decided to make a Twitch clip out of it. That's certainly possible, but it seems more likely that EtherealWii is just unprepared for the situation and is doing their best to stay positive for their viewers.
For the time being, EtherealWii has confirmed that he's genuinely COVID-19 positive, as much as viewers of his stream or this clip might hope it's just a mistaken assumption. EtherealWii explained that he felt much sicker when he first got tested, so here hoping EtherealWii is testing negative soon and doesn't have any further symptoms. It just goes to show that Twitch streamers have real lives, displayed in real-time.