Twitch Allows Combined Chat, Discord Age Update, Amazon Wishlist Change + National Geographic Creators

Hello, and welcome to this week's newsletter! I'm going to keep the intro short and get right into it - but will add that if you are interested in some Twitch analysis based on the first two months of the year, join Premium for an exclusive newsletter later this week! And with that, let's get right into it!

🟪 TWITCH

• You can now do combined chats (when multistreaming) as the platform will no longer enforce the rule against it. I have complained about this rule since 2023 - finally, common sense won. Check out Streamlabs Chat Box to add a combined chat to your stream! #Partner
• Suspensions are now split into two categories: Streaming Bans and Chatting Bans. Each has a different permission-set loss.
• Twitch experimented with a new non-ad interstitial that tells you to unmute or unminimize the player. It appears they have paused the experiment.
• New Badges for Twitchcon Rotterdam 2026: Windmill and Row Houses.
• New Global Badges: Silkworm (Free), Witch Hat ($), Toxic Zombie ($), Pokemon ($), Raccoon ($), Aang ($), Marathon ($)
• Twitch is testing a new way to show Bits volume discounts. It is not a NEW discount; just a new visualization.
• Twitch clarified that its partnership with Persona is limited to a small number of affiliates, and only related to payouts - not age verification.

🟥 YOUTUBE

• YouTube Premium Lite is getting background play and downloads.
• Voice Replies is now available for all creators.

⬛ TIKTOK

• TikTok is aiming to increase the number of musician livestreams on the platform, according to a new job posting.
• TikTok shared its Discover List for 2026, featuring 50 creators to keep an eye on.
• TikTok formed a multi-year partnership with MLB.

🟦 OTHER STREAMERS

• Discord has ended its relationship with Persona and delayed Age Assurance until the second half of the year. They also shared additional insight into the bad communication (though they do not appear to be backing down).
• Kick released its 2025 Transparency Report.

🟧 SOCIAL PLATFORMS

• Snapchat is launching its own award show called the Snappys.
• Twitter X is testing a topic filter for the For You Page.
• Twitter X has launched a Paid Partnerships label for posts.
• Threads has added rich link previews for podcast clips.
• Instagram teased the new customizable grid layout.
• You can now post Threads to your Instagram Story without leaving the app.