Twitch Update: VIP Role & Subscriber Badges
As I continue to change focus and refine my purpose in streaming on Twitch, I have made a couple more minor changes I wanted to make you aware of.
Retiring the VIP Role
I have decided not use VIP role in my Twitch chat from now on. I don't want there to be any feeling of “us-and-them” in my channel, so I felt the best thing to do was to just not use it.
To those who have been VIPs, please know this decision is not intended as a slight against any of you! If I could, I would make everyone a VIP, but I only have a limited number of VIP roles that I can give out. Please know that anyone who chooses to spend their time tuning into my stream is a VIP in my book.
Subscriber Badges Simplified
Since I'm no longer focusing on the monetary aspect of Twitch, I have removed all subscriber badges except for the custom base badge. As with my decision to remove the VIP role, I don't want there to be an “us-and-them” dynamic to subscriptions on my channel. I don't want anyone who isn't subscribed to feel unwelcome or unappreciated. Likewise, I don't want long-time subscribers to feel any more valued than new subscribers or non-subscribers. You are all important and appreciated!
I won't demonetize my channel, as I believe in supporting the Twitch DJ program in some way, if only through ads. So, since I can't prevent people from subscribing if they choose, I'll keep the base subscription badge there as a little “thank you” for the support.
Emotes and Channel Point Rewards Are Staying
Emotes are one of my favorite things about Twitch. They're fun and expressive. I'll keep custom emotes around as another little “thank you” for followers and subscribers. But I don't care one bit if people want to use emotes from other channels. Spam those emotes!
I also like the channel point system. Points can be earned by all viewers regardless of whether they follow or subscribe, and they are fun way to interact with the broadcast. I may be rethinking and revamping channel point rewards as time goes on, but I'll definitely keep using them!