What Twitch Streamers Need to Know About Viewbotting Rules
Understanding viewbotting rules on Twitch can help you avoid suspension or bans. While the network is quite strict against such practices, the truth is everyone uses them. And believe it or not, even the most famous streamers on the platform have used view and follow bots at some point in the past.
While no one’s trying to get suspended, the truth is there are ways to gain popularity and work on Twitch’s algorithms without getting caught. These being said, here’s what you need to know about viewbotting rules, how to avoid them and be safe.
But First, What’s Viewbotting?
Viewbotting Twitch refers to manipulating numbers and stats by using bots. Most people have no clue how to develop an army of bots themselves, so in most cases, such services are offered by different companies operating on Twitch.
These robots are basically automated programs. They will inflate the amount of viewers on your stream, but they can also be used to follow you, so they’ll work on your follower count as well. In theory, these inflated numbers are nothing but a fake form of celebrity.
The benefits go in more directions though. From an ethical point of view, people use view bots to look more popular, draw more organic traffic, grow naturally and even increase their visibility in the search function or game directories.
When a streamer’s numbers look impressive, real viewers are more likely to click, stay awhile, and even tell friends about the channel. This snowball effect can sometimes help a streamer break through the noise and gain authentic followers.
From a less ethical point of view, view bots can also be used to trick advertisers into spending money on a fake form of celebrity. There’s nothing wrong with trying to become more popular, but Twitch is mainly focused on preventing the idea of deceiving advertisers.
What Are Twitch’s Rules?
There are a few reasons wherefore Twitch doesn’t agree with viewbotting. First of all, it has strict terms and conditions against such practices. Using view bots is basically against the platform’s policies and may lead to penalties. The platform is committed to maintaining a fair environment, which is why it takes these violations seriously.
Other than that, using such bots can deceive both viewers and advertisers. It’s a false impression of popularity. In the long run, it does help, as it attracts more organic traffic and can help you gain notoriety much faster than normally.
However, Twitch seems to be stricter when it comes to deceiving advertisers because there’s more money involved there.
Based on all these, a high number of robots can undermine Twitch’s integrity. Twitch tries to pose as a solid platform with no flaws whatsoever. There’s no need for artificial boosts, as it’s already synonymous with video game streaming.
But when it comes to using bots, they’re said to affect the ecosystem of the network, so it has an impact on the natural growth of channels, yet it only affects people using them. And in a positive way too.
A Modern Approach to Viewbotting
Hiring hundreds of bots or even thousands of them to pop up out of nowhere can lead to suspension. Twitch can’t really figure things out and can’t prove anything, but moderators often rely on common sense when they make decisions.
For example, if you only have about 50 followers. Having 10,000 views on your streams looks a bit dodgy. Normally, these numbers should be similar. In fact, you should have more followers than actual viewers, for the simple fact that not all your followers will be online at the same time to watch you.
Other than that, signing up with Twitch today and gaining 10,000 followers or views within a few weeks is less likely to happen. Unless you’re a public figure or celebrity, you’ll have to start from scratch and work your way up.
Your viewing count should be directly proportional with your quality standards too. If you stream basic things that hundreds of other users stream about, chances are you won’t grow naturally. Therefore, you need something that definitely stands out. In that case, it would make more sense to become popular.
The good news is that modern bots these days are usually drip fed. In other words, you’ll get a few viewers at a time, rather than thousands of them over half an hour, which looks dodgy. It looks natural and makes things more authentic.
Furthermore, when looking for a service to buy view bots or followers, make sure they look like real people, with believable profiles and occasional chat activity, as this helps avoid detection and keeps things appearing authentic.
In other words, you need bots with actual profiles, pictures and descriptions, pretty much like real people. Then, you can’t be popular for one stream only. If you go down this path, you’ll need to maintain this false form of popularity until organic traffic slowly starts to replace bots. It takes time, but it’s totally doable.
As a short final conclusion, Twitch is strongly against viewbotting techniques and for a good reason. While they can be misleading and may cause a series of problematic situations, the truth is they also have their benefits.
If used correctly, view bots can actually help streamers gain popularity and organic traffic quicker than normally. However, these perceived advantages are short-lived and come with significant risks.
