A Twitch streamer with Tourette’s syndrome recently had a number of clips from her stream go viral, and it has resulted in her following growing massively on the platform.
Anita, who goes by ‘Sweet_Anita’ on Twitch, is not even partnered yet, but is fast approaching 100,000 followers – currently at 80,900, an increase of over 70,000 in October alone.
She is very open and humorous with her Tourettes, often laughing it off and using it to create hilarious moments which have then been shared on social media and Reddit.
In one such moment from October 19, Anita is explaining what games she plays, primarily Overwatch, when suddenly a tick occurs and she goes with the flow.
The clip made it to the top of one of the biggest sub Reddit communities, r/Videos, garnering over 1 million views in a matter of days.
Embracing her Tourette’s and using it to her advantage in streaming sets Sweet_Anita apart from the crowd on a very saturated platform, as Twitch continues to grow and more people attempt to embark on a streaming career.
Support from her ever-growing community has now donated enough money for Anita to invest in a better PC setup, improving on what she called the ‘potato PC’ she is using currently.
Her following count has shot up in the month of October, as statistics from trusted social metrics website SocialBlade show.
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In another clip, Anita speaks about how streaming has helped her with the syndrome, boosting her confidence enough to do public speaking.
This clip too went viral, thanks a particularly blunt ending, but if anything only helped Anita convey her message.
In the description of her stream, Anita describes what it’s like having Tourette’s, and her most awkward tick ever.
“[Tourettes is] kind of like having obscene hiccups. I’m not thinking most of the things that I end up saying when I tic.
[On most Awkward tick]: There are too many awkward ones to list here. The best ones involve firemen, nurses, and customer service workers.”
As for the risk of saying something against the Twitch Terms of Service due to her Tourette’s, Anita says she hopes Twitch would tolerate it provided it was a tick and not an intentional comment.
You can watch Anita stream regularly on her Twitch channel, where she often streams Overwatch or simply talks with her viewers.