Report Twitch 2b Wildegeekwire – Twitch, the popular streaming platform that has become a mainstay of the gaming and online entertainment communities, has come under fire in recent months for a number of alleged failures in its handling of abuse and harassment on the platform. One of the most prominent of these incidents was the publication of the “Twitch Leaks” report by journalist and researcher Shannon Liao in 2020, which detailed a range of concerning trends and behaviors on the site. Now, a new report from journalist Kurt Wagner at GeekWire has once again shone a light on the ongoing issues at Twitch, highlighting both the company’s attempts to address these problems and the continuing difficulties it faces in doing so.
The report, which was published in February 2023 and titled “Twitch 2B: The Challenge of Creating a Safe and Inclusive Community,” is a comprehensive look at the many ways in which Twitch is struggling to create a space that is welcoming and secure for all of its users. Wagner’s piece is based on interviews with dozens of current and former Twitch employees, as well as with external experts and members of the Twitch community, and offers a nuanced and detailed portrait of the challenges that the platform is facing.
One of the key themes of the report is the tension between Twitch’s desire to foster a sense of community and the reality of the often-toxic environments that can arise on the site. As Wagner notes, “Twitch has long had an ethos of being a welcoming and inclusive place for people to watch and play games together,” but this ideal is frequently undermined by harassment, hate speech, and other forms of harmful behavior. Many of the people interviewed for the report spoke about the difficulty of balancing the need to protect users from harm with the desire to allow for open and free expression.
This challenge is made all the more difficult by the sheer size of the Twitch platform. As Wagner notes, “Twitch has more than 140 million monthly active users and 7 million creators streaming each month,” making it an enormous and complex ecosystem to manage. This scale means that even well-intentioned efforts to combat abuse and harassment can be difficult to implement effectively, and that even small lapses in oversight or moderation can have significant consequences.
The report also delves into some of the specific challenges that Twitch has faced in its efforts to create a safe and inclusive environment. For example, the platform has struggled with the issue of “hate raids,” in which users flood a streamer’s channel with abusive comments and messages. While Twitch has implemented new tools and policies to try to address this problem, many users and streamers feel that the company’s response has been inadequate.
Similarly, the report discusses the ongoing issue of sexual harassment and assault on the platform, which has been a major concern for many users and content creators. As one Twitch employee told Wagner, “We’ve had a lot of feedback from streamers, both male and female, that they don’t feel like they’re being taken seriously when they report sexual harassment or assault.” The report suggests that Twitch has made some progress in addressing this issue, but that much more work remains to be done.
Throughout the report, Wagner highlights the efforts that Twitch has made to address these issues, including new moderation policies and tools, increased investment in safety and security, and ongoing conversations with external experts and members of the Twitch community. However, he also notes that many users and content creators remain skeptical of these efforts, and that some feel that Twitch has been slow to act or insufficiently transparent about its plans and progress.
In conclusion, the “Twitch 2B” report from GeekWire provides a detailed and nuanced look at the ongoing challenges facing one of the internet’s most popular platforms. While Twitch has made some progress in its efforts to create a safe and inclusive community, it is clear thatmuch work remains to be done. As Twitch continues to grow and evolve, it will be crucial for the company to maintain a focus on these issues and to work closely with users, content creators, and experts in order to address them effectively.
Ultimately, the success or failure of Twitch’s efforts to create a safe and welcoming community will depend on the actions it takes in the coming months and years. As Wagner notes in his report, “Twitch is at a critical point in its history. It has the potential to be a place where people feel welcome and safe to be themselves, or it can become a platform where hate and harassment go unchecked.” The responsibility for determining which path Twitch takes falls not only on the company’s leadership, but on every member of the Twitch community. By working together to combat abuse and harassment, and by holding Twitch accountable for its actions, users and content creators can help to create a platform that truly lives up to its potential.
