10 Best and Worst Twitch Practices in 2022

Streaming on Twitch is growing in popularity. People have various motivations, from hanging out with friends and overcoming fears to the hope of becoming professionals. However, there is one thing connecting all creators – they want to have fun and grow their channels. Today, we’ll look at the five best and worst practices on Twitch.

Table of Contents:
Best: Interacting with Viewers
Worst: Irregular streaming
Best: Vstreaming
Worst: Botting
Best: Promoting on social media
Worst: +24 hour streams
Best: Adding visuals to the channel
Worst: Mods and VIPs for everyone
Best: Collaborating with other streamers
Worst: Getting into discussions with haters/trolls

Best: Interacting with viewers

Streaming = interacting with others. Obvious, right? Well, not for everyone. Some streamers stay quiet while playing, and it’s the biggest mistake they can make. Your viewers are not watching your stream only because of your gaming skills. They want to hear your commentary, chat with you and live through adventures together, albeit vicariously. 

Just take a look at the most popular streamers on Twitch. Most are not professional players, and some don’t even stream games. So it’s no accident that Just Chatting is currently the most popular category on the platform.

It might seem like you’re talking to yourself at first, and that can feel awkward or uncomfortable. Remember that your personality is what makes you stand out from other streamers. You can practice by talking to yourself while doing chores or by streaming with your friends and family as an audience – try narrating your life as you would a game and see what happens.

Worst: Irregular streaming

If you are serious about streaming, setting a streaming schedule is crucial. Your community must know when your next stream will happen. Otherwise, your viewers won’t even have the chance to join and support you. 

Set your plan realistically – if you work full-time, you won’t be able to stream for six hours daily. Then, create your schedule in Photoshop or Canva using an existing template, which you can find for free online. You can add the schedule to your Twitch channel’s “About” section. This way, everyone will know when you’re planning to go live next.

Best: Vstreaming

Vstreaming and Vtubing are a growing trend in 2022. Vstreaming is a short form of Virtual Streaming. It’s live streaming your content, gameplay or anything else without showing your face and using a virtual avatar instead. 

Unfortunately, Vstreaming requires a substantial financial investment. You need to design (or buy) your avatar and motion capture it, have a high-spec computer and purchase other necessary accessories. However, as a Vstreamer, you can be anyone you want while keeping your anonymity.

Check out our previous article if you want to know more about how to become a Vstreamer. You will find all the necessary tools and equipment, along with average costs.

Worst: Botting

Botting, or Viewbotting, is the act of purchasing or creating bots to increase the number of viewers. It’s against Twitch’s rules and punished with bans. While the idea of having hundreds of viewers from the beginning may seem tempting, a permanent ban is not worth it.

Best: Promoting on social media

It’s essential to have an established presence on more than just Twitch. It’s also good to diversify the platforms in case of bans, shutdowns, or channels losing popularity. So many different social media platforms exist that it’s practically impossible to have an account on every one. The best practice is to choose 2-3 and focus on the quality of the content you post.

Facebook – while it is losing popularity in some countries (like the USA), it’s still a go-to place for others (like Poland). If you want to use Facebook, remember to set up a business profile, don’t use your personal one.

Instagram – it’s the best channel to promote your streaming room, setup, and events from your personal life. People want to know more details about you. Sharing photos from more than your streaming career can bring your viewers closer to you and create a loyal bond.

Twitter – is an excellent platform for connecting with viewers and other streamers. It is a place for discussions, shitposting, memes, or clips from your streams, just to name a few. It’s much smaller than Instagram or Facebook, but many find it more rewarding.

YouTube – This is the best platform for posting clips, recording tutorials, or sharing exclusive content you made for your subscribers.

TikTok – as of now, TikTok is the hottest, most trending platform. The short-form video content gives you almost infinite possibilities. You can post your clips, create videos with trending sounds, post short tips for other streamers, or share exciting events from your life.

Worst: +24 hour streams

The +24 hour streams are kind of a trend right now. People want to do it mainly because the form sounds interesting to their followers. And they are correct. Long streams can be beneficial if you do them with a purpose. They can boost your follower number, build your community and rally them around you.

Nevertheless, if you want to stream for 24 hours just for the sake of streaming on Twitch – don’t do it. Watching you torturing yourself by depriving yourself of sleep, or even worse, sleeping in bed with random YouTube videos in the background, is not as attractive as you may think.

Best: Adding visuals to your channel

Visuals will make your Twitch channel more visible and appealing to visitors. But what can you customise?

Some third-party software also enables you to create custom overlays. It means you can add things like backgrounds and borders, text, audio and video, and other app integrations.

Worst: Mods and VIPs for everyone

Making your viewers mods and VIPs is a great way to recognise the most loyal ones. However, small streamers often cross the line and give that function to every viewer they have. Imagine entering a stream with ten viewers; nine are mods, and only two are active in the chat. It doesn’t feel right, does it?

Try to find another way to appreciate your audience. For example, you can create a Discord server for your community and assign specially designed badges to the most active and loyal among them. 

Best: Collaborating with other streamers

Collabs are some of the best ways that you can grow your stream. While some new creators worry about sharing viewers or being “overshadowed”, others see their competitors as potential allies. Streaming by yourself limits your exposure to your social media networks and Twitch directory, but streaming with even the smallest creators gives your exposure from the best source: Twitch viewers.

Look for more potential collaborations on your social media or Discord servers. You can use websites like DiscordServers or Disboard to find relevant servers.

Worst: Getting into discussions with haters/trolls

Building a safe space on your Twitch channel is half the battle. The platform is plagued by haters and trolls who enter your channel to piss you and your viewers off. Talking to them will result in a pointless discussion at best and a foul mood at worst. 

The only solution to the troll problem is to permanently ban them and laugh it off. Simple as that. You’re a target if you show that it bothers you. Ban the person so they can’t talk back while you laugh about it. It counterargues them for being an idiot.

The Last Word

The list of good and bad Twitch practices is neverending. However, there is one more good practice that’s above anything else – have fun. Twitch and streaming are all about having fun with your friends and randoms from the Internet. If you like (or don’t like) doing some of the above things, you don’t have to! Do what makes you smile, and don’t be an asshead. It’s that simple.