The Rise of Streaming: Just Chatting IRL

When you think of streaming, what’s the first thing that comes to your mind? We bet it’s gaming. For most people, streaming equates to someone playing Fortnite for hours while others watch and comment. It may seem like gamers are the only ones broadcasting their success online. However, streaming doesn’t end with gaming. There’s a whole new world of Twitch streaming that goes beyond games that we’ll break down.

Isn’t Twitch for video games only?

Launched in June of 2011, Twitch started as a streaming platform for gamers where they could watch others play their favorite games in real-time. The live broadcast of e-sports competitions soon followed with the addition of music and creative content streaming in the moment.

Although one the best Twitch channels (which really translates to the “most watched” if we’re getting into the nitty-gritty of the algorithm) is Ninja, a gamer from the United States who specializes in Fortnite and League of Legends, there is hope for those who are looking to get in on the action. What was once a haven for video gamers is now an all-encompassing platform for anyone that wants to go live with anything and everything. From artists to students creating thousand-strong study groups to bike couriers who strap on cameras as they navigate the treacherous streets and sidewalks of New York City, Twitch’s non-gaming live-streaming is catching up to the gamers.

Twitch vs YouTube: Where is everybody streaming?

Although YouTube has been around longer than Twitch, the latter is on pace to slowly lure away the former’s audience.

YouTube is all about long-lasting content that can sit on the platform ready to be viewed by anyone looking for it. Moreover, YouTube provides users with its own search engine to allow for niche searches on specific topics. Looking for a video of a dog playing with a rabbit? You’ll find it. Looking for a dog playing with a rabbit on a waterslide? You’ll find that too. Looking for a dog playing with a rabbit on a waterslide set to the theme from Jurassic Park? Yup, it’s on YouTube.

Conversely, Twitch caters to the now – as in right now. As the largest live-streaming platform in the world, by opening its doors to non-gaming content, creators now account for 50% of Twitch’s user base. Compared to YouTube where creators make up only 20-30% of users, this is a very low number. More on creators in a bit. But first, how will YouTube catch up? By launching their own live system for streaming. However, if you want to watch the majority of non-gamers, you’ll need to be on Twitch.

2022 Twitch stats: streaming for the masses

Twitch users, most of which skew male (65%) are deeply loyal to the platform and are known to engage heavily with not only their top streamers but pretty much anything they find interesting. Twitch rewards streams that get the most views and with millions of daily watchers, it’s no wonder the platform is turning into the go-to for those who have something to say or do or teach beyond gaming.

In 2022, Twitch boasts:

30 million daily active users
140 million monthly active users (compared to 2015 when the platform only had 55 million active users)
2 million active streamers monthly
71 million hours of daily content viewed by users
2 million users take advantage of the stream feature each month
the largest viewership ever on the platform is 6.5 million views

Live in the now: Twitch non-gaming content

Between April 2019 and April 2020, the live-streaming market exploded with a 99% growth in hours watched. And that’s just the beginning. Grand View Research predicts that this growth won’t stop. By 2027 Grand View says we’ll see live-streaming reach more than $180 billion US in revenue. Is Twitch coming for YouTube’s audience with their non-gaming streaming? We think so, especially with the Just Chatting category.

Let’s Talk: What is Just Chatting?

In March 2017, Twitch decided it needed to get real and created a new streaming category aptly titled IRL, an acronym for “in real life”. This new category allowed streamers to broadcast themselves doing whatever they wanted instead of gaming. Cooking, walking around, sitting on their couch waxing poetic – anything from everyday activities to leading political discussions can be found under this banner.

As the IRL category evolved, Twitch was able to split the content into multiple categories in an attempt to more accurately label its content. Thus, Just Chatting was born in late 2018. However, this sub-category often houses gaming content that wasn’t properly labeled. This could be a mistake or intentional because the labeling of individual streams is done by the streamers themselves and can be altered every time they stream based on what they’re streaming at that moment.

Over the last four years, Just Chatting exploded by growing tenfold. Part of this explosion is due to the global pandemic since we were all stuck at home yearning for human connection. However, now that we’ve been out and about, it doesn’t seem like Just Chatting is destined to fail. Consider the stats below and you’ll see that even though this category only makes up approximately 13% of all Twitch streams now, it’s a huge jump from the 3% it held back in 2018.

Type	September 2018	September 2022
Viewers	31.8k	344,6k
Streams	319	3919
Hours watched	3.8 million	245.3 million

With this kind of hypergrowth, it’s safe to say that the connection we yearned for during lockdown is still needed even though we can see our friends and family in person. Although Twitch lumps gaming into one category, if you look at each game on its own, Just Chatting has more individual viewers than League of Legends, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Overwatch 2, and Grand Theft Auto V.

Can anyone just chat?

The growth of Just Chatting makes sense considering that it’s open to anyone. With an internet connection, a camera, and a microphone, you’re ready to start your own stream. No game purchases are necessary, neither is broadcasting software. All you need is a topic and the followers will come in time.

A Twitch popularity contest: where to find non-gaming channels

According to the Twitch.TV directory, non-gamers are streaming their little hearts off. For instance, the music category currently boasts 8.7 million followers. Bands, singer/songwriters, and those who can simply carry a tune may not need to rely on record labels to put out their music anymore since it can be broadcast via live stream whenever the artist desires.

Besides music, the other non-gaming Twitch streams are:

*whispers* ASMR – 4.1 million followers
Art 3.4 – million followers
Talk shows and podcasts – 3.3 million followers
Sports talk – 8 million followers
Food and drink – 842 thousand followers
Science and technology – 700 thousand followers
Makers and crafting – 581 thousand followers
Pools, hot tubs, and beaches – 528 thousand followers
Travel and outdoors – 454 thousand followers
Politics – 192 thousand followers
Software and game development – 183 thousand followers
Beauty and body art – 180 thousand followers
Animals, aquariums, and zoos – 134 thousand followers

Streaming Teachers: Education via Twitch

If the pandemic taught us anything it’s that teachers are one of our most valuable resources. They’re crafty, smart, and had to learn to evolve their educational methods to reach their students.

Can you imagine having to digitally wrangle 30 kids at once while they’re in the privacy of their own homes? Besides the distractions of pets, parents, siblings, and whatever shiny objects are lying around the house, keeping the attention of today’s kids seems impossible. However, with platforms like Twitch, teachers are proving to be a valuable addition to the live-streaming community.

How are teachers taking advantage of streaming?

The average Twitch user devours approximately 95 minutes of live video per session. YouTube viewers are only watching about 40 minutes of video. The key here is that most people watch YouTube on their phones compared to Twitch viewers that watch content on their laptops, phones, tablets, desktops, and any other device that can support a live stream. Because of how Twitch is viewed, teachers can tap into an audience that is already on the device they’d be using for schoolwork (laptop, desktop).

Unlike Zoom or Slack or other video and chat programs, Twitch lets teachers customize their streams to make their lessons appeal to their exact audience. On Zoom, you can raise a virtual hand or give a thumbs up (or down) but with Twitch, educators can craft personalized mascots for their classes, give students a virtual waiting room where they can chat before the lesson begins, set up attendance goals, and create an atmosphere of group learning that allows for collaboration in real-time. Because Twitch is all about living in the now, teachers can meet their students where they spend most of their time anyway, online.

Even as schools and universities have gone back to in-person learning – whether it’s a hybrid model or five days a week – teachers are still making use of Twitch’s live streaming powers. Some are even live-streaming their in-class lessons for students who can’t get to class. As for students, they’re taking a cue from teachers by using Twitch to study.

Streaming your studies

A good study stream on Twitch can go a long way. More and more students, especially those trying to break into the medical field are live streaming their study sessions to create a sense of community and to avoid spending hours upon hours in a stuffy campus library.

When the pandemic hit and libraries and schools closed their doors, teachers weren’t the only ones who had to adapt. Students also needed somewhere to go to get their work done without distractions while still keeping in touch with their peers. Dubbed the “study with me” phenomenon, students from all over the world are live-streaming their study time with not only their fellow students but people who are simply interested in the subjects. Oh and, there’s cash to be made.

According to Business Insider (BI), the study streamers are mostly women and use the Pomodoro method. Here’s how it works: you set a timer for 15 minutes. For those 15 minutes, you study. When the timer goes off, you have a conversation with your audience about what you’ve just learned. Your audience engages with you, asks questions, helps you solve problems, and often gives you a few bucks.

Ana Blanca, a medical student has over 46,000 followers on Twitch and claims she can earn between $1,100 and $1,700 a month by simply streaming her study sesh. She’s not the only one. One study live-streamer made enough to buy a new computer and a microphone to enhance her live study session. Plus, according to BI Twitch’s algorithm offers more visibility than YouTube’s to allow for more people to find and join these online discussions and in turn, create a community of like-minded students who want companionship, help with their homework and upcoming exams, and to simply shoot the breeze.

Are educators the new content creators?

Content creators provide more than aspiration and inspiration, they can set trends and shill products to boost sales. Now that you can watch teachers online, does that mean they’re the newest type of content creator?

We could see a day when even teachers can monetize their Twitch streams by selling content or tutorials to students that aren’t in their class. The average public school teacher in the United States takes in about $65,090 per year. That’s a decent salary until you take into account that most have to buy their own classroom supplies and the majority of public schoolboards are so strapped for cash that raises are few and far between. If study sessions can rake in dollars, teachers could be next.

Who knows, one day we may get a collab between a 6th-grade teacher and a big brand. Why not have educators shilling products while they teach? The future is bright, especially for those teachers who are able to reach their students (and many others) online without sacrificing their lesson plans.

Looking forward to KFC sponsoring Mrs. Washington at PS 32 because spicy chicken sandwiches and intro to algebra are meant to be together!

Sources:

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Elisabeth Galina Tech Tip Writer

Elisabeth Galina, Concordia grad & tech expert with a flair for engaging content. Worked with giants like Toyota & TechWyse. Adept at IoT, NLP, cybersecurity, she's a former strategist for Addictive Tips, now shining in SEO writing.

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