Hot tub streams might be a part of the “meta” on Twitch right now, but Marcus “djWHEAT” Graham attempted to defuse the notion that they could lead to explicit content on the platform.
Hosting a stream on Twitch’s official account yesterday, Graham, who heads community productions, answered questions and discussed hot-button topics in streaming.
With the rise of female broadcasters on the platform streaming from a tub wearing bikinis, Graham was naturally asked about the “hot tub meta.”
While he didn’t say that those streams broke any community guidelines or terms of service, he acknowledged that to some degree, they walk a fine line.
“We have been watching closely,” Graham said. “Our nudity and attire policy does allow bathing suites in an appropriate context, and hot tubs do fall under that criteria.”
But Graham added that sexually suggestive and explicit content is still against the platform’s guidelines and Twitch will “take action” if instances are reported.
So far, “hot tub streamers” haven’t been disciplined by Twitch, suggesting that their content has not yet broken any guidelines.
Graham’s statements don’t suggest that anything will change in the near future regarding these hot tub streams. In fact, the new form of content will likely be one more step toward the expansion of content on the platform.
“One thing that I would hope communities wouldn’t do to other creators is content shame,” he said. “The content landscape is constantly evolving… There was a time where I could not even talk to you like this for more than 30 minutes because I was at risk of getting a ban.”
As a way to ease the minds of those who might prefer to not see those hot tub streams on Twitch, Graham went on to point out how viewers can keep certain content off their homepage with the “Not Interested” feature.
“We think that it is important for you to control the content that you see,” he said. “Whether it’s a hot tub stream or a game that you don’t particularly like or a creator that you don’t necessarily fancy.”
Graham also walked through the feature that allows users to keep certain games, streamers, and categories off of their homepage. By clicking on the three vertical dots next to a stream title on the Twitch homepage, people can report streams or identify them as “Not Interested.”
Once someone says they’re “Not Interested” in a stream or game, Twitch won’t show that type of content on the homepage, catering the viewer’s experience to exactly what they want.
So if you don’t want to have a hot tub stream pop up on the homepage when you open Twitch, all you need to do is click “Not Interested” on those content creators’ streams and you won’t have to worry about that content showing up.
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