US politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has discovered the gaming platform Twitch. Her first appearance was a massive event with over 600,000 concurrent viewers. AOC was helped by nearly all the major streamers associated with the left during her first venture into “Among Us.”
This is AOC: The US politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (31) is seen as the great hope of the political left in the USA. The New Yorker with roots in Puerto Rico made headlines when she won election to Congress in 2018.
She won without significant financial resources, as an underdog. Her opponent was in office and had the support of important politicians and the establishment. This turned her election victory into a nice Cinderella story and brought her into the spotlight.
Ocasio-Cortez has established “AOC” as a brand name for herself and is a political star in the USA, especially for the younger generation.
She is also gaming-oriented. It is known that she plays LoL. This seems to be a little sensation for gamers that such a popular politician openly identifies with gaming. Her Twitter posts about her struggles and successes in League of Legends regularly attract the hearts of thousands.
This is how her stream came together: The politician asked on Twitter who wants to play “Among Us” with her. As the US site Kotaku writes, every “somewhat left-leaning streamer on the platform” responded.
In the end, she streamed with people like:
- Pokimane – the biggest streamer on Twitch
- Hasan Piker – his channel “HasanAbi” has nearly 600,000 followers, he is embedded in the Twitch scene and well-connected
- Myth – one of the biggest streamers on Twitch. He became famous with Fortnite, even though he was really bad at it, as he says today.
- DrLupo – a shooter streamer who is heavily invested in charity and takes on an educational role with his audience
- Disguised Toast – he is a big strategy whiz
- Valkyrae – the currently most successful female streamer on YouTube
A colorful mix of streamers, many of whom are friends with each other and all bring a large audience.
AOC is apparently the “favorite representative” of many of these streamers, as they emphasized. For streamer Pokimane, AOC seems to even be an idol.
“I can’t kill Pokimane – she’s so nice”
These were the highlights of the stream: The currently so popular “Among Us” was played. A crew of astronauts must complete various tasks on a spaceship. However, some of the crew members are “Impostors” who aim to kill all the others. In discussions, they speculate who the “Impostor” is, as that person will be eliminated.
Among Us is a game revolving around lies, accusations, betrayal, and claims of innocence. It follows a similar pattern to typical party games like “Werewolf” or “Mafia.” To win, one must be able to lie boldly, deflect blame, and make others appear more suspicious than they may be.
A highlight was that the streamer Pokimane appeared completely fascinated by AOC, following her around, calling her “Ma’am” and asking if she was sure. AOC backstabs her. Whereupon Pokimane bows and exclaims, “It was an honor.”
From AOC’s perspective (via YouTube), the politician only gets startled when she realizes that she is the “Impostor.” Then she struggles with her fate and says: “I can’t kill Pokimane, she is so nice” – just seconds before she stabs Pokimane in the back.
Another scene shows Pokimane discussing Hasan Abi’s “orange game piece” with AOC, saying, “Orange is extremely suspicious, we should throw him out.” AOC adds, “Yes, he gives me a weird vibe.”
A clear reference to US President Donald Trump, who is often referred to as “orange.”
AOC herself gradually discovered the game “Learning by doing,” marveled at the possibilities, and wondered about certain oddities in Among Us, such as “candles on a spaceship.”
In a highlight clip, you can see her often staring in awe into the camera and audibly gasping.
So many tuned in: As the US site Kotaku writes, AOC had a peak of 439,000 viewers on her channel. On numerous other channels, another 200,000 watched. Since streamers like Disguised Toast or Valkyrae are not on Twitch, but on Facebook and YouTube, there were likely some additional viewer numbers there.
The game “Among Us” had a remarkable spike yesterday with nearly 720,000 viewers on Twitch. The game is ideally suited for Twitch because it brings multiple streamers together, creating synergy effects.
This shows that AOC understands Twitch: The stream was not a campaign event, but the three and a half hours showed streamers playing: AOC managed to integrate seamlessly after initial difficulties.
“Among Us” gives streamers the opportunity to showcase their personality, quick wit, and charisma. This leads to exciting situations. AOC did not use her reach to talk extensively about politics but entertained the audience and ultimately encouraged them to “vote and save democracy.”
Other politicians like Donald Trump also use Twitch, but only stream their campaign speeches on the channel. This does not seem to work on the platform.
How far gaming can reach into politics can be seen worldwide, most strongly in South Korea. There, some former professional e-sports players have now become career politicians and sit in parliaments. One politician faced trouble due to alleged misconduct from her gaming days:
Politician should resign for sharing her League of Legends account
