The streamer Imane “Pokimane” Anys (24) is the largest streamer on Twitch by far. She is accused on YouTube and Twitter of exploiting lonely men who see Pokimane as their “girlfriend” and want to take care of her. She defends herself against these allegations.
This is Pokimane: Pokimane is a variety streamer who had her major breakthrough with Fortnite in 2018. In the past 90 days, she has played Valorant, Animal Crossing, CS:GO, and LoL – but she is also frequently seen in Just Chatting, where she talks with her fans. On average, about 18,000 viewers watch her.
The 24-year-old Pokimane has 4.8 million followers on Twitch. This makes her the largest streamer on the platform by far. She has the fifth largest channel worldwide on Twitch: she is the only woman in a top 50 dominated by men.
The next largest streamer, Amouranth, is only in 56th place. Amouranth is the streamer who is always asked, why she hasn’t been banned from Twitch for indecency yet. Pokimane normally does not have such problems – but now she is being targeted.
YouTube video looks at men donating to Pokimane
This was the trigger for the discussion: On May 14, a YouTube video titled “Simp willingly goes homeless for Pokimane” appeared – a man allegedly made himself homeless on purpose for Pokimane’s sake (via YouTube).
A YouTuber looks at discussions around Pokimane, where men talk about what limitations they impose on their lives to donate money to Pokimane.
Such men are known as “simps” on Twitch.
The YouTuber then shows tweets from men who talk about donating large sums to Pokimane: One man donated $500. He hopes that Pokimane sees the donation and knows that he loves and misses her.
The video sparked a back and forth in recent days.
Pokimane could not handle the video at all:
- For her, it was a video that spread nonsense about her for 20 minutes.
- It was a video that portrayed her as a “thot” for 20 minutes.
- She even went after the sponsor of the video.
The conflict apparently simmered over the last few days.
Donations to Pokimane are like an addiction
These are the allegations: The conflict reached a preliminary peak yesterday on Twitter. Pokimane pointed out that one should not criticize her disrespectfully.
In response, a user replied:
“Respectfully said: The way you exploit lonely men for donations is predatory by nature. I think you should set a limit on how much money you accept from them. They get the same kick as if they were gambling by donating money to you. Gambling is an addiction, so donating is also an addiction.”
Another Twitter user explained the allegation in more detail:
“It’s not far-fetched for me to believe that there are probably a few men who treat you like a virtual girlfriend. They donate money to feel like they are taking care of you. They can openly tell you that they love you and will probably receive the same words in response. Such things.”
Pokimane says: She does not encourage this behavior
This is what Pokimane responds: As the site Dexerto reports, Pokimane responded to the tweets in two now-deleted tweets.
She said that just because she streams, it does not mean she exploits lonely men for money. She makes a point of not entering into a personal relationship with her donors or offering anything in return other than a “thank you.”
Pokimane admits that there may be such lonely men out there who see her as a virtual girlfriend. She can only discourage such behavior. She does not support it.
This is what it’s about: Pokimane is not a streamer who presents herself overly sexualized. Therefore, she is normally not the focus of critical Twitch fans who accuse female streamers of trying to get donations through sexual promises or the physical desire of men.
This is often accused of Amouranth or the streamer Alinity.
Therefore, it is unusual that precisely Pokimane is being attacked. She is accused of awakening not sexual emotions in men but partnership needs: Men want to see in Pokimane a woman they can “provide for” with donations, it is said.
As one can tell from her statements, she is well aware that some men see her as a virtual girlfriend and therefore donate money to her. This seems to embarrass her, but she still accepts the money. However, Pokimane does not seem to care much about the money. She once explained that she turned down a $3 million advertising deal.
Pokimane herself once spoke of “parasocial interactions”: viewers feel attracted to someone who is unreachable for them. Pokimane is aware of this interaction. Once, a fan even showed up in front of her house.
