Twitch has revealed a new “knock” button that lets creators request collabs, and streamers have taken to social media to slam the “terrible” feature.
The new ‘Drop Ins’ feature revealed by Twitch allows users to “knock” on the streams of other actively-broadcasting creators to ask for a collab.
“I am excited to announce the launch of the Drop Ins feature for Stream Together. This feature is designed to make it easier for people to just ‘drop in’ on each other while they are streaming,” said Twitch CEO Dan Clancy in a blog post.
They also revealed the new feature on Twitter/X, but many streamers have taken to the replies to slam the announcement. Many believe that collabs should be organized through Discord or other means, not in the middle of a live stream.
Knock, knock! Streamers can now collaborate with other Twitch streamers who are live without any advanced setup or planning. Look for the collaboration icon to find a streamer in your network who is open to collaborating with you and click ‘Knock’ to get started.Learn more:… pic.twitter.com/ZFnyomqDDm
— Twitch (@Twitch) August 19, 2024
Popular VTuber Shylilly called the feature “unwanted” and requested that Twitch offer an opt-out option for Drop Ins.
“Knock knock! Who’s there? Unwanted feature! for real tho, please let us opt out of these,” they said.
Another remarked: “This is going to get heavily abused unless there is moderation involved. A lot of people may misuse this in order to harass other creators/to cause drama. If this launches please make it heavily moderated.”
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“Am i crazy for thinking this is f**king weird??” a third commented.
Not everybody hates the feature, however. Popular Twitch streamer SweeetTails claimed she ‘loves’ the idea and dismissed the “negative energy” from others in the replies.
“I actually love this idea. The fact I can knock on smaller streamers doors to say hi and meet some new people is amazing. Or crashing into a friends stream without having to join their discord voice chat. Ya’ll are missing the point. It’s a step in the right direction,” she said.
“Gotta walk before you run so everyone needs to stop hating life so much and appreciate that new features are being worked on and effort is being made. This negative energy band wagon sh*t is so annoying. It’s like nothing makes people happy anymore. Appreciate it for what it is smh.”
I actually love this idea. The fact I can knock on smaller streamers doors to say hi and meet some new people is amazing. Or crashing into a friends stream without having to join their discord voice chat. Ya’ll are missing the point. It’s a step in the right direction. Gotta walk…
— TAILS (@SweeetTails) August 19, 2024
Many others in the comments called for Twitch to revert the TikTok-like mobile app update released in early August, yet another addition to the site that’s proven to be controversial.