The YouTuber and Twitch streamer Oliver “AlphaKevin” Guthe criticized in one of his videos provocative female streamers who hang around in categories of Twitch. Particularly, he focuses on the ASMR category.
What does ASMR actually mean? ASMR stands for “Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response”, which means a relaxing or soothing feeling. Some people enjoy it, for example, when people smooch into the microphone or eat something crunchy. It gives people a warm, satisfying feeling or even helps them fall asleep.
How does ASMR work on Twitch? The streamer sits very close to their sensitive microphone and makes various noises. Whether with objects or their own body – as long as soothing and pleasant sounds are produced.
There are also specific microphones and attachments that allow streamers to literally lick them. This creates a feeling for the listener that the streamer is really very close to their ear, provided the listener wears headphones.
However, there is a catch that AlphaKevin sharply criticizes. He even says that the entire category is being dragged through the mud.
Provocative female streamers with sexual innuendos in ASMR category
What does AlphaKevin criticize? In his YouTube video “I’ve had enough of these female streamers!” Guthe criticizes that female streamers behave too provocatively in the ASMR category while also making “sexually satisfying sounds”. He considers this unacceptable, as Twitch’s guidelines should prohibit exactly such behavior – in principle.
But when such women stand in revealing lingerie in front of the camera and do any sexualized things, then that’s completely fine again, because, I mean, they also bring in a lot of money for the platform.
Oliver “AlphaKevin” Guthe
He does not understand how such female streamers can be successful, despite them having, in his view, “zero talent in terms of entertainment.”
The female streamers sometimes do not even try, according to AlphaKevin. He went to a female streamer’s live stream to get a sense of it and saw that her donation goal still bore the title “October”, despite it already being February: “She didn’t even bother to change the month of the donation goal.”
Furthermore, AlphaKevin points out that such female streamers inspire many young girls to do exactly the same to potentially earn quick and easy money.
“The biggest problem are the viewers”
Such Twitch female streamers can only succeed because there are viewers who donate money to them, according to AlphaKevin. They offer various “rewards” in their viewers when they donate a certain amount.
For example, female streamers write the names of viewers on certain body parts or somewhere in the room, which is visible to all spectators.
Additionally, they set up specific donation goals to unlock special ASMR content or other “goodies”. Some provide their viewers with a follow on Instagram or their Snapchat, for example.
All viewers who support this push such content further and offer the female streamers a place on Twitch.
But I wonder how someone can sink so low as a viewer to donate to her [the streamer] there so that you get the honor of appearing on her arm.
Oliver “AlphaKevin” Guthe
He calls the content that the female streamers offer as “top quality content”. AlphaKevin does not understand how such content can be successful on Twitch.
However, the YouTuber has nothing against ASMR itself. If the content were creative and well-executed, he wouldn’t have produced the video at all.
Current state of the ASMR category on Twitch
ASMR is no longer unknown: The category has been among the top 30 most-watched categories on Twitch in the last 90 days, with an average of 15,976 viewers.
Thus, the ASMR category ranks above large and well-known games like Final Fantasy 14, Destiny 2, and New World.
In total, over 34 million hours were spent in the ASMR category in the last 90 days, more than in games like Call of Duty: Warzone, Overwatch, or the new hit Pokémon Legends: Arceus.
And the ASMR category is growing, as more and more streamers join – in the last 90 days alone, there were over 18,000 new streamers.
Also, streamer TheDanDangler complained about Twitch: Streamer complains after ban about Twitch’s extreme double standards
