YouTube Swearing, Campaign 4, Twitch Targets Viewbotting, and 200 Gift Subs

Welcome to August! A ton of updates this week, so I'll be keeping the intro short (but there's some analysis on Twitch's July stats below in case that intrigues you!) So, let's jump right into it.

PS. No, Twitch is not explicitly targeting Vtubers and their lurkers with their new viewbot measures. Okay, now let's get started.

🟪 TWITCH

• Twitch has announced plans to address viewbots and other inauthentic viewership over the next few weeks. You should watch my video about this and why they're doing it now.
• Twitch CEO Dan Clancy added additional details to the discussion about view botting.
• The CEO in a recently released podcast says that most viewbotting occurs among small streamers.
• The Monetized Streamer Agreement was updated last week. Here is the breakdown of all the changes.
• The official launch of Day One Monetization was shared on the Twitch Blog.
• There are now FOUR creator types on Twitch. Here is a breakdown of the features each has access to.
• Shared Chat on mobile will soon be a standalone feature, unanchored from the deadweight of Guest Star.
• Some users can now gift up to 200 subs at a time.
• A new experiment offers a 30% discount for two months when you attempt to cancel an active subscription. Interestingly, this would extend beyond SUBtember... intentional?
• TwitchCon tickets have increased in price by $10.
• The Twitchcon San Diego 2025 Schedule has been released.
• The StreamElements Sponsorship Dashboard on Twitch is expanding to Spanish and Portuguese language creators.
• The DJ program officially launched one year ago, so Twitch is hosting an event from August 4 to 8.

🟥 YOUTUBE

• Strong Profanity within the first 7 seconds of a YouTube video is once again eligible for monetization.
• YouTube is experimenting with a Collaboration feature that allows you to add other creators to a video, which then recommends the content to each creators' audiences. Here is how it looks.
• On August 13, YouTube will launch an age estimation model for U.S. users regardless of the birthday a user entered when creating the account. Age verification will be possible for those accidentally caught by this system.
• YouTube is testing a mobile experience that hides the comments section entirely.

⬛ TIKTOK

• TikTok has launched new tools to protect and support creators, including Creator Care, Mute for Live, Chat Rooms, Inbox, and Content Check Lite.
• TikTok LIVE is hosting the "Next Up Live Music" competition.

🟦 DISCORD & TWITTER X

• New Discord Server Tag icons will cost 3 to 6 Boosts to unlock.
• Vanity URLs will soon be unlockable with 5 Boosts.

🔲 OTHERS

• Instagram now requires a public account with at least 1,000 followers to go live on the platform.
• Baidu is aiming to transform live streaming in China with AI.