A Big Step to a TikTok Ban, Kai Cenat Feuding with Kanye West, and Twitch Deprecations

This weekend, I talked with a creator about their long-term plans, and it didn't go as expected. Their short-term goals were great! They had content plans for the next month, some short content, community events in their Discord, and a couple of events they planned to attend in the next few months. But when I asked about one year from now, three years, five years - they had no answer. When pressed, they said, "Maybe still streaming, hopefully." To me, that was a shocking answer. Not because they needed to have detailed plans or goals, whether financial or metric drive (CCV/Followers, etc.) But because they had no answer.

I've been in the creator space since it kicked off in 2009-2010, and I've always had longer-term plans. To me, it feels second nature to think about the future and how my short-term plans get me closer to that. I'll throw this question up on Twitter later today, so if you see it, answer there: Do you have long-term plans as a creator? How far out are those goals? Or is the focus just on 'surviving' as a creator for another month? It's tough in the creator space right now, especially streaming! With that, let's get into this week's news!

Twitch News

• Watch Parties, a feature that allows streamers to watch and react to some content available on Prime Video with their communities, will be shut down on April 2, 2024. The feature has received few updates since launch, and Twitch says it has seen "declined usage over the years."
• The Reaction feature on channel pages is being deprecated. It let live viewers click the "React" button every five minutes with a sentiment about the content they were watching: Hype, Funny, Love, Whaaat?, and Oh No!
• I added both of the above and a few others to the Twitch Graveyard! Check it out if you want a hit of nostalgia for what once was.
• Twitch gave Korean streamers some merchandise before they shut down. HAchubby received a 2022 calendar, a 2021 Year-End gift set, and a hat.
• Patreon has hired another ex-Twitch comms person, this time bringing on Adiya Taylor as Corporate Comms Lead.

Streaming Industry News

• The US House passed a bill requiring ByteDance to divest from TikTok or potentially be banned. It will next go to the Senate where it will likely experience a slower process.
• Patreon has updated its Community Guidelines to reflect its recently launched features.
• Logitech's Mevo is set to release a new streaming camera that uses a Micro Four Thirds mount.
• Loaded, the talent management company has acquired the GG Talent Group.
• TF1 plans to work with more Twitch streamers to attract audiences to its streaming platform after struggling to grow its own channels on Twitch.
• Aftermath, the journalist-owned gaming news outlet, has hit nearly 3000 paid subscribers.
• 100 Thieves is shuffling its management team.
• LiveSpace will soon launch on-stream interactions like Trivia Cards and Overlay Effects.
• Zegocloud has announced they have achieved a 90% success rate at delivering millisecond live video streaming.

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