Remember Stories? That feature that everyone stopped using when TikTok launched? Well, get ready, y’all — Twitch is bringing Stories back.
In a recent blog post, Twitch announced its latest update to its mobile app, introducing Stories to both iOS and Android platforms. Eduardo Fenili, a senior product manager at the company, unveiled this feature as a way for creators to deepen their connections with their community, all without the need to venture out to other platforms.
Fenili explains, “We’ve heard from you that trying to connect with them through multiple services limits your reach and can feel rather disconnected from your shared experiences on Twitch.” With Stories, Twitch users can craft short-lived, engaging narratives directly from within the Twitch app, much like the Stories that have graced other social media platforms for years.
While the feature launches today, it will initially be limited to streamers who hold the title of Partner or Affiliate with Twitch. You can find Stories under the Following page in the app. Users with the latest version of the app installed will notice the new Stories shelf at the top of the Following page. The ability to create stories is currently reserved for Partners and Affiliates who have recently streamed at least once in the last 30 days. As Twitch continues to roll out the feature, access will gradually expand as streamers meet the minimum eligibility requirements.
Creators are in for a wealth of features when crafting their stories. According to Twitch, creators can share “photos, clips, or freeform content using text, custom channel emotes, and backgrounds.” Furthermore, creators with a minimum of 30 subscribers can produce Stories exclusively for their subscribers, offering an additional monetization avenue for their content while charging viewers for access.
Twitch is also rolling out push notifications that will alert followers when a new story is created. Additionally, stories-specific notification settings will allow viewers to control how frequently they receive these alerts. Initially, stories will expire after 48 hours, allowing followers more time to engage with each unique post. In the coming months, Twitch has plans to further develop the feature, including the ability to discover stories through your Channel page, mentions of other Twitch users, creating polls, uploading videos, clip editing capabilities, and more.
It’s indeed intriguing to see Twitch adopting the Stories feature in 2023, especially since other platforms like YouTube and Instagram have pivoted away from it in favor of their own short-form video formats in response to TikTok’s popularity. While Instagram still maintains its Stories, it has increasingly emphasized its TikTok-inspired Reels feature. YouTube, on the other hand, has fully embraced Shorts, its TikTok counterpart, and eliminated Stories from its app.
The reception of Stories on Twitch remains to be seen, but if successful, it could potentially lead to increased app usage and more frequent engagement—a development that would likely please Twitch’s stakeholders.