Live streaming Content versus Pre-recorded Content

Most people would agree that YouTube creators are content creators. However, there isn’t as much of a consensus about Twitch streamers. So, are Twitch streamers content creators? The answer is yes.

What is Content?

First I want to define what content is. Anything that somebody wants to watch is content. So basically, if there is an audience that would watch it, it’s content. I’m intentionally leaving this pretty generic because breaking down different types of content wouldn’t help the comparison between Twitch and Youtube.

Now with that in mind, the fundamental difference between YouTube and Twitch is that Twitch involves live streaming content whereas YouTube is all pre-recorded. And I’m ignoring Youtube’s live streaming feature for this argument. I know there are other live streaming platforms, but since Twitch is the biggest one that’s the one I’m mentioning.

The Crowd Goes Wild

Audience engagement is a huge part of what makes Twitch content different from YouTube content. Since everything is live this enables an audience to be participating in whatever is going on. This turns all Twitch content into almost an event in itself because there’s a crowd. With YouTube content you’re watching a video by yourself most of the time. Knowing there are other people with you when you’re on twitch creates an almost community feeling.

Streamers can see the usernames of people watching them. This allows for audience interaction. In recent times, YouTube has tried to capitalize on this as well by allowing creators on their platform to create premier events of their new videos. This allows for a similar audience engagement in some circumstances.