Her streams aren't only water-based: she also hula-hoops, exercises, and does pixel art. Spoopy Kitt, who does not use her real name online to protect against harassment, told Insider t hat "hot tubs have become the new and effective way streamers are using to 'win the game.'" During her streams, Spoopy Kitt sits in an inflatable pool and talks directly to viewers during streams, sometimes while riding an inflatable lobster. "Hot tub meta" streams can help increase viewership.ĭ defines "meta" in the video-gaming world as "using knowledge about the game itself to beat the 'game' of mastering that game." The "meta" is the tool that can be used to gain support and "win the game" of viewership: having more viewers on a stream, pushing you up the channel directory, and earning more paid subscribers. On Twitch, which is known for its video-game streamers, creators earn more sponsorships, brand deals, and money by being more popular. 'Hot tub meta' streams help Twitch creators gain viewers "I think it's pretty universal that people like seeing pretty ladies in bikinis," Spoopy Kitt, a streamer who has 60,000 followers on Twitch, told Insider. Statista, which tracks consumer data, reported in 2019 that 65% of Twitch users were male, though that figure was down from 81.5% in 2017, according to numbers released by the platform. The comments sections on the Livestreamfails Reddit page, where users chronicle drama in the streamer community, are full of claims that Twitch is now a "glorified softcore" porn website and that this is "bad for the community."Ĭritics say the trend creates unrealistic expectations for other female streamers and showcases sexuality on a platform that has a younger audience - users can register for a Twitch account at age 13 - while others say the criticism demonstrates the misogyny on the male-dominated platform. The trend has been dubbed "hot tub meta," and it has created a divide among Twitch users. These streams have exploded in popularity over the past five months, regularly pulling in thousands of concurrent viewers who watch creators broadcast in bathing suits. This year, livestreaming platform Twitch has seen a wave of women creators who sit in hot tubs or pools while talking to their viewers. This new development is just another example of just how much more work is ahead.Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders. In the streaming platform’s post about hot tub streams, Twitch acknowledged that its team has “a lot of work to do” with regard to moderation. The ban follows the ongoing push and pull between Twitch and its creators, as the company attempts to define and moderate what it sees as “sexually suggestive content.” Earlier this year, the “hot tub meta” - a kind of content that involves people streaming in a hot tub, usually wearing swimsuits - prompted Twitch to create a new category for the streams to address complaints from viewers and advertisers. She also emphasized that she was not the first person to do an ASMR yoga stream.Ī representative from Twitch declined to comment to Polygon and sent a link to Twitch’s blog on hot tub streams. “I think I will have to be more careful - the atmosphere around moderation seems to be to let things ‘fly’ until they are impossible to ignore,” Siragusa told Polygon over email. Siragusa told Polygon that Twitch told her the reason behind the ban was “sexual content.” Prior to the ban, the streamer did an ASMR yoga stream during which she held various yoga poses and simulated the sound of having your ear licked using a microphone. The ban is another example of Twitch’s ongoing process to moderate what it deems as “sexually suggestive content.” Siragusa and Dagres had roughly 3.15 million and 934,610 followers on the platform respectively, per Streamscharts.īoth channels are still down at time the time of press. Late Friday evening, Twitch banned content creators Kaitlyn “Amouranth” Siragusa and Jenelle “Indiefoxx” Dagres, two major streamers on the platform.
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