Today, many Twitch streamers are downing tools - or at least, downing mics, keyboards, and cat ear headphones - as part of #ADayOffTwitch. As you might have guessed, the protest involves spending a day off Twitch, which in theory includes both the streamers themselves and their audiences, in the hope that firstly, Twitch will take notice, or more likely, that people will ask what the hashtag and protest is for, and so the movement gains momentum, which means Twitch will /then/ take notice.
ShineyPen, Lucia Everblack, and RekitRaven are the streamers at the heart of this movement, which began as #TwitchDoBetter, aimed at highlighting the problem with harassment on the platform rather than a tangible protest like this one. While harassment and abuse are a constant issue on Twitch, especially for smaller minority streamers, the problem recently exploded thanks to a rise in bot hate raids.
Hate raids have been a low level issue on Twitch for a while - it involves a group of trolls invading a stream, usually of a streamer who is Black, gay, or trans, and posting abusive messages. They're essentially the digital version of a drunkard crashing a six year old's birthday party, throwing the cake on the floor, then running off screaming to enjoy what must surely be a rich, full life. Recently, instead of a drunkard, there have been thousands and thousands of Terminators, with hate raid bots spamming abusive messages and derailing any stream they attack.
Since the issue is difficult for a single streamer to counter alone, and since Twitch has done just two inches more than nothing to help, these bot raids have become increasingly popular. They're difficult to stop, impossible to ignore, can lead to bans by proxy (too many slurs in a chat can get a streamer banned), and are incredibly easy to create once you know what you're doing. Add to that the lack of repercussions or even serious threat of repercussions from Twitch, and it's easy to see why bot hate raids have become such a powerful tool.
Unfortunately, the protest has not received universal support from streamers, and it's disappointing that some major names have not backed it. You might remember Asmongold from his days streaming World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy 14, or possibly that time he ranted about how much he hated Hurricane Katrina survivors. He has 2.4 million followers on the platform, but when asked point blank if he would support the strike, he answered, “Nobody gives a fuck if you take the day off. Nobody knows who you are.” He would do it, he says, if all the other big streamers did it - he's a big believer in “ the power of numbers” you see - but is willfully ignoring the fact that he himself is one of the biggest streamers out there, and has considerably greater 'numbers' than anyone else involved in the strike.
This is particularly disappointing, and Asmongold is not the only one. In some weird way, he possibly even deserves credit for acknowledging the strike, and laying out his reasons - flimsy as they may be - is more than many major streamers have done. It's not just that bigger personalities would mean more attention on the protest, it would also give smaller streamers the support they are sorely lacking from Twitch itself.
People like Asmongold are insulated from this sort of thing on Twitch. Hate raids only work against smaller streamers, with fewer viewers in the chat, with smaller reputations, with less access to tailored moderation, whose streams can be overwhelmed by a few quick trolls that would get lost in the sea of support that the biggest streamers find themselves floating on every day. It's not just that, though. The likes of Amouranth, Pokimane, and Neekolul are all household names - at least in houses that have two consoles and a dozen FunkoPops - and have big enough audiences to withstand a hate raid, but they still get plain old regular hate every day. People might not like Asmongold (or Shroud, or xQc, or Ninja, or...), but it's rare that they get hate. Criticism? Yes. Haters? Sure. But it typically comes from their actions, their personality, and admittedly, sometimes just from jealousy. But they don't experience the misogyny, the racism, the homophobia, or the transphobia that is now, unfortunately, just par for the course for far too many streamers on Twitch.
These huge streamers wouldn't even need to actually go through with taking a day off Twitch. Many smaller streamers, targeted by these raids, cannot afford to, both in terms of literal monetary income and because Twitch's growth algorithm necessitates constant interaction in order to even maintain footing, let alone build momentum. Those still streaming while supporting the protest are using the day to talk about issues on stream, to raise awareness for the hate raids, and to try and explain why the protest itself matters. Asmongold, and the streamers who haven't mentioned it at all, can afford to miss one day. Even if they feel they can't, they could talk about these issues on stream and introduce them to their huge audiences.
Though there were some questionable parasocial issues with the hot tub meta, it's weird that when there's a trend smaller streamers are able to engage in positively, raise their profile with, and draw a crowd, the major names like xQc can't shout them down fast enough, but when people being targeted day in, day out by hate just want some assistance, they're met with silence.
#ADayOffTwitch matters because these streamers aren't getting support from anywhere. Their audiences are trying to help, but the whole point is that these hate raids target streamers with audiences they can overwhelm. Support needs to come from elsewhere, and with neither the platform itself nor the most recognisable faces on it willing to help, drastic action has been needed.