Over the past two weeks, I’ve gotten lots of questions from my fellow content creators and twitter followers about the “whys” of the Twitch: Alternate Thoughts post so here are some answers:

 

Q: Why are you talking shit about Twitch? You’re an affiliate, you can get into trouble.
A: I’ll do what I want. Also, I went through the off-boarding process/ rescinded my Twitch Agreement so I am no longer an affiliate.

The culture of #BleedPurple is conditioned into you for the same reason that jobs love to refer to you as “family” while not treating you with any respect or kindness outside of getting your paycheck to you on time.  When I was an affiliate of twitch – I could still say whatever I wanted in critique of the platform; if that was a reason for me to get suspended or banned; please believe I would have been out of here years ago.

I try my best to be fair in my criticisms of Twitch and every other platform I’m on. I’m very upfront about my biases and what I dislike/like.

Q: I want to be a Partner; should I rescind my Affiliate Agreement?
A: No.*

* I never wanted to be a Twitch Partner, that was not a part of my long term plan when it comes to content creation. It did not hurt or change my trajectory. I simply no longer wanted to support a site monetarily that did not have my best interests at heart.

It is okay if YOU decide that you want to remain as an affiliate, have hopes of being a partner or want to remain on the platform in any capacity. I am still streaming content over on Twitch without affiliate status.

There’s nothing ::wrong:: with being an affiliate. My post was exactly what it said – alternate thoughts for those who were uneasy, not comfortable and were having issues reconciling what Twitch says versus what they do when it comes to black folks and other marginalized communities.

In fact, some of the most successful folks that I know on Twitch are Affiliates (quite a few are cashing out more than partners) and have more influence than a check mark. I’ve spoken about making your Affiliate Status work for you. There’s money to be made – if that’s the lane you would like to take.

It simply was not mine.

Don’t use my plans to build your house.

The point of all of this is to present you with the information you need in order to make the best decision for YOU and your content.

Q: What do you plan on doing now?
A: I’m continuing to create content across all of the platforms that I’m a part of. Nothing much has changed for me – I’ve provided my community with an update for how they can best support me. I’ll have my Patreon, my Cashapp is readily available. I’m not worried – I’m confident I made the best decision for me.

Q: If you hate Twitch why are you still on there?
A: I don’t hate Twitch – the enforcement of their own named policies leaves a lot to be desired though. I’m going to use the platform the way it was intended – I’m going to post my streams and go the same way they’re going to take their ad money and go.

They aren’t obligated to me and I’m not obligated to them.  I do hope that they listen to the marginalized communities and make changes that are long lasting and have a positive impact instead of using them like PC mascots to perform diversity and inclusion.

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Since they still have the best UI and UX and really don’t have that many serious competitors now that Mixer has been sold to FB gaming; there are going to be a lot of folks who remain on the platform for various reasons – I’ll be here until not being here in any way is a good decision for me. My long term plan definitely involves streaming directly from my website and eliminating any third party, but we’ll talk about that later.

I’ll be here to support my friends and the amazing content creators who have worked hard over the years to give us consistent and unique content.

I’m not trying to throw the baby out with the bathwater; I did however draw a line in the sand for what I would be willing to accept or tolerate.  A 12 hour boycott of Twitch or not buying from Amazon for a day didn’t sit well with me as a call to action;  being sure I wasn’t paying into Twitch with half of my sub money did.

Again, I advise you to think about what works for you and what feels appropriate when you think of your overall vision for you and your content’s future.  

Love,
Lux.

 

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