Twitch streamer ‘Fleeksie’ has come under fire after advising viewers on how they should and shouldn’t interact with their favorite content creators, leading to backlash from many among the streaming community.
With over 30,000 followers on the Amazon-owned platform, Fleeksie labels herself as the “world’s most pointless Twitch streamer.” While she dips into a variety of games here and there, she’s most often found in the Just Chatting category, watching videos and keeping up with her chat.
Plenty of viewers jump straight into her broadcasts when she goes live. However, the 26-year-old streamer has a few guidelines on how she wants people to act in her chat. None of these recommendations are listed in her Twitch biography. Instead, she revealed her biggest pet peeve in a September 5 tweet.
“Small talk” is something that should be kept in the Twitch chat, not directed towards the streamer, according to Fleeksie. This mindset led to a wave of backlash from her community and even saw her come under fire from some hugely popular names on the broadcasting platform.
https://twitter.com/fleeksie/status/1302425936583897088
“Stop going into [people’s] live streams and asking “how are you,” she tweeted after her latest broadcast. “We live. We streaming. Other people are watching. The room is not on fire. Things are ok… just comment on what’s happening,” she said.
“Ask someone else in the chat how they are doing if you want small talk,” Fleeksie continued. “Every time I say ‘I’m good how are you’ I feel a little puke in the back of my throat rise up. It’s actually painful responding to that question.”
Her opinion soon caught wind and blew up within the streaming community, as others shared their takes in response. “Be grateful you’re getting engagement,” a fellow Twitch streamer responded. “This suggests you’re unappreciative of your viewers. They’re just being polite.”
Be grateful you’re getting engagement. This suggests that you’re unappreciative of your viewers. They’re just being polite
— katie (@SimasaurusX) September 6, 2020
“I don’t think you belong on the platform if ‘how are you?’ is too much,” another replied.
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sweetie i don’t think you belong on the platform if “how are you?” is too much.
— caylee 矜 (@cayswoah) September 6, 2020
While many dug into the controversy and piled on with further backlash, others tried to be a little constructive too.
“When they ask, if you don’t feel like answering directly, don’t,” Diegosaurs commented. The streamer, who has 500k followers of his own on Twitch, advised Fleeksie to simply acknowledge her viewers instead of responding to the same question over and over.
So when they ask, if you don’t feel like answering directly, don’t. Just say “Hey X! Good to see you.” or ask them how they’ve been or tell them you hope them well, all they’re asking for is acknowledgement.
— DIEGO (@diegosaurs) September 7, 2020
The controversy hasn’t quite ended though, as Fleeksie followed up multiple times amidst the backlash.
“People with no stream or 15-viewer Andy streams telling me how to run mine. Don’t quit your day jobs and don’t come for my wig if what you’re doing isn’t working for you,” she said. “Maybe it’s because you ask everyone close-ended, meaningless questions, and think it’s ‘caring’?”
Welcome to twitch, where teeny bopper, misogynistic boys wanna tell women what they should be doing and how. Wahhh wahhh b*tch! Stick to chasing internet clout and using pleasantries that work in high school settings 👉 clearly it’s working for you since you have so much to say
— fleeksie (@fleeksie) September 6, 2020
She also added she’s now anticipating her chat would now be filled with “how are you?” spam for the next few broadcasts that she hosts, at the very least.