Sunday, July 16, 2017

General video and clip info for Twitch.tv

Listed here are some general info for videos and clips on the Twitch.tv platform.

A while ago twitch introduced a way to upload videos to the platform. What they didn't really make clear is how much of a priority uploaded videos get over highlights and past broadcasts.

If you are searching for videos on the platform, uploaded videos are shown first over other types even if other highlights have more total views.

Here is a example using the top search bar on Twitch and the video game Star Citizen.


Click image to enlarge

All the top listed videos are uploads, even thou the default filter for "popular" is listed its not working as intended. Another thing to note about upload videos is monetization, how that works is a mystery.  I speculate it only will do a pre-roll ad but nothing else so be aware if your creating hour long videos.

Uploaded videos also get the top spot in some game directories. Looks like any uploaded video from the past week or two are displayed.

Here is a screenshot from the videos section on battlefield 4 showing the trending uploads.




A quick tip that many streamers probably don't realize is happening on Twitch in regards to videos. At the end of your videos, it will automatically transition to the last "past broadcast" your channel has available.


Go investigate many of the top broadcasters on Twitch and see how most of their long session "past broadcasts" have thousands of views. The more you can syndicate short videos on twitch and around the internet that get consumed will help overall in boosting numbers for that video and past broadcasts. This is what generally is occurring for many top tier streamers.

Clips
Check clips that viewers generated during your stream session and combine them into a montage for uploading. Delete the clips afterwords so all views go to the uploads and not the clips. Clips from what I have seen are not monetized and create in a way leaks leading viewers elsewhere.

This is a major difference from creating highlights or uploads which when finished autoplay your last broadcast. 

Another option that clips can be very handy for is for use on twitter. Since downloading clips is very easy, this offers you a quick way to get some video content onto your twitter.

VodCast
Everytime someone is watching a VodCast on your channel, the video that is currently playing will get a view and also your channel's total viewcount.

Realtime viewer numbers during VodCast is exactly the same as if your live, if people are watching the VodCast, the viewer count will show how many are currently doing that on the channel

One thing to note, transition from VodCast to Live or Live to VodCast resets the realtime view count even if you time it to switch between each session really fast.

Personally I found extreme success with VodCasting and having the channel going for almost 24/7.  I previously was on the playlist beta, which was similar to vodcast expect that you were not listed on the game directory and view counts didn't count for the videos.

With the latest mobile app changes using VodCasting during times where your not able to stream can potentially gain you a major amount of followers.

Here is a peek at my channel stats from when the mobile app changes happen.


The app changes started around 6/30 - note the yellow marker on the image. Follower count has skyrocketed from what I usually have been receiving on the platform. Majority of this is happening during vodcasting sessions.

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Ok well thats all that I can think of at the moment for this topic! I hope someone out there gets something useful from this post. If you have any questions or comments fill free to write them below. 
Sunday, July 2, 2017

New Twitch app auto follows streamers

Did you know the new Twitch app for ios and android auto follows channels based on which 3 games they have to pick in the start screen?



So this is something new that I haven't seen happen on Twitch before via their app.  I loaded up the new Twitch Andriod app on bluestacks to test it out to verify. Bluestacks is a android emulator, which is very handy for testing apps.

After you login (I used a freshly created Twitch account, this may make a difference), you have to pick 3 games to follow. For my test I picked EVE Online, Star Citizen and Elite Dangerous.

Here are the listed streamers that the app automatically followed for each game:

Elite Dangerous Auto Follow Streamers:

Star Citizen Auto Follow Streamers:

EVE Online Auto Follow Streamers:


Twitch Support tweeted out the following:

Interesting keywords here is "new-user onboarding flow" which I believe for the app is to get users to quickly see the benefits of following games and streamers.

At first glance it seems to pick channels with the most viewers most followers that are currently online for the game.

Update 7/7/2017 - Its picking the top three streamers in the game directory now, not most followers.

Update 7/25/2017 - You need at least 10 Viewers to be included in the top 3 of the game. If the top channels are all under 10 viewers, no one will be auto followed.

Tip:
Knowing the above fact makes this exploitable via the vodcasting feature. If your channel has generally more viewers (total followers) then others who are currently streaming the game you will benefit from the twitch app auto follow system.

Update 7/25/2017 - The tip above is no longer available, Twitch removed Vodcast streams from follower onboarding.

Twitch Support tweeted out the following (7/24/2017):
Mobile App Vodcasting avoidance


How do you feel about the Twitch app basically follow botting certain channels? Leave a comment below, thanks!