Twitch
Twitch (also Twitch.tv) is an online livestreaming service. The site was founded in June 2011 for streaming video game playthroughs and competitions, but has branched out to include other topics, including political discussion. A number of left-wing streamers use the site to distribute content and propaganda.
In 2014, Amazon, Inc. acquired the platform for US$970 million.[1]
Political content
Political content on Twitch took off when the popular Starcraft II streamer Destiny started debating political topics as side-content on his gaming stream. He was frustrated with the anti-intellectualism of the online anti-SJW movement and alt-right. A major breakthrough of his into political debates was just after the presidential election of 2016, when he debated anti-SJW YouTuber Carl Benjamin, better known as Sargon of Akkad.[2] After Destiny showed that political content on Twitch was viable, other personalities became attracted to the platform.
Destiny helped The Young Turks journalist Hasan Piker make his entrance to Twitch, where he now figures as the largest left-wing political streamer. The former campaign organiser Central_Committee (also known as "Mike from PA") came to prominence on Twitch by debating Destiny from the left, after already being known on the The Majority Report program as a regular call-in. Former Twitch streamer Vaush emerged from Destiny's online community, where he regularly participated in debates, later becoming a YouTube streamer after being banned from Twitch.
Left-wing Twitch streamers generally followed Bernie Sanders' program of democratic socialism in order to push left-wing political ideas.
See also
References
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20181116173259/https://www.businessinsider.com.au/amazon-buys-twitch-2014-8
- ↑ Quirk, Trevor. "Can This Notorious Troll Turn People Away From Extremism?". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2020-05-30.