To improve overall creator discoverability for gaming and non-gaming channels, Twitch is throwing out Communities and the IRL and Creative categories to make way for a new categorization structure.
Narrower Search Results
A report from Videoink claims Twitch is narrowing down search results by replacing IRL and Creative with 10 new categories to help streams be discovered more easily.
The ten categories will include:
- Art
- Hobbies & Crafts
- Food & Drink
- Music & Performing Arts
- Beauty & Body Art
- Science & Technology
- Just Chatting
- Travel & Outdoors
- Sporting & Fitness
- Tabletop RPGs
- Special Events
- Talk Shows & Podcasts
- ASMR
“As Twitch continues to grow and attract new streamers every day, finding and choosing which stream to watch becomes more and more challenging for viewers,” reads an email sent to Twitch’s partners.
Up until now the search categories on the gaming platform have been pretty general. Those looking in the Creative sections see artists working across different mediums — musicians and fine arts streamers currently show up together. The updates should make finding a stream in a specific genre easier. We can expect these changes take effect mid-September.
Goodbye Communities
Twitch is adding tags to streams, and as a result, Communities will soon be no more. The tags will allow streamers to describe their stream. In conjunction with the new categories, there should be more logic as to why a stream appears in a certain category.
A better search system on Twitch is needed
Discoverability for streamers on the platform has been an ongoing problem. While it’s tough for game streamers to build their audiences, it’s even harder for non-gamers. A lot of the non-gaming streams go unnoticed because Twitch is one of the go-to game streaming platforms and game streams cloud the searches. With the new categories and tighter searches, it will be easier to find Twitch streamers outside of the gaming scene.
Hopefully, when the new categories come in mid-September and tags are released, more niche Twitch streamers will see a boost in their audiences.