Imane “Pokimane” Anys has commented on the hot tubs and the new “ASMR meta” on Twitch. She fears that in the future, many streams could only be accessible from the age of 18 and have worse advertising. This would be bad for the streamers, but also for the platform itself.
What is currently happening on Twitch?
- On Twitch, there are always boundary explorations by streamers. In April, the big topic was “Hot Tub”. Streamers set up bathtubs in their rooms to stream in bikinis and revealing outfits. This way, some of Twitch’s nudity restrictions were circumvented.
- Twitch responded by creating a new category: Pools, Hot Tubs, and Beaches. However, Twitch’s advertisers can decide for themselves whether they want to run ads in this category.
- Some streamers then developed “a new meta” to attract viewers. “Earlicking ASMR” involves wearing tight clothing, holding a microphone close to the mouth, and moaning and whispering to maintain the ASMR focus. However, the biggest streamer, Kaitlyn “Amouranth” Siragusa, has now been banned on Twitch, for this.
Pokimane, the largest streamer by followers, thinks very little of these practices. In a stream, she spoke about hot tubs and earlicking ASMR and warned Twitch that an “Adpocalypse,” or a problem with advertising partners, could arise.
“You will always have this problem”
What exactly does Pokimane say? At the beginning, the streamer explained that she had already predicted the problem with earlicking. It is pointless to create new categories or ban stream types like hot tubs. Streamers will always find new ways to circumvent these bans.
She says about Twitch: “You are creating an inevitable time bomb. […]. You will always have this problem, they will find other ways.”
The reason for this, according to Pokimane, lies in the unclear Terms of Service and the nature of moderation. Twitch has often been criticized for its ban policy.
What does Pokimane fear? She further explains that all these streams that play with the boundaries of Twitch’s TOS can cause lasting damage.
She cites the “Adpocalypse” on YouTube as an example. This involves a major boycott by advertisers who no longer wanted to advertise on YouTube, with certain YouTubers or before content rated 18+. Among these customers were Coca-Cola, Mars, HP, and Adidas. You can find a detailed article about it on YouTube Fandom (via Fandom).
Pokimane fears that many streamers could then be labeled as “18+” just because they discuss certain topics. This could lead to younger viewers not being able to watch them anymore. She also fears that only the channels that can make money on Twitch will be the ones that are particularly quiet, peaceful, and kid-friendly.
Where does Pokimane see the solution? One possible solution from her perspective would be to label certain streamers explicitly with “sexual content” so that viewers under 18 cannot see them and others are warned. They should also no longer appear in suggestions on the Twitch website to prevent accidental discovery.
However, she implies in her monologue that she would prefer a complete ban on sexual content and streamers.
Not only Pokimane sees problems with advertisers
Could streamers really lead to problems for Twitch? In addition to Pokimane, the largest streamer on Twitch, Félix “xQc” Lengyel, has also commented on the topic. He believes that the behavior of Amouranth and others could cause a lot of damage and destroy trust with Twitch’s partners.
One of the largest German streamers, MontanaBlack, has also spoken negatively about the trends. He called for Twitch to take stronger action against trends like hot tubs.
Amouranth has recognized the problem herself, but has continued:
Streamer explains why Twitch allows “Hot Tub” streams, even though they are harmful
