Twitch Removes Friend List Feature

Twitch is getting rid of its Friends function in its livestreaming platform. The reason for the withdrawal was cited as a lack of utilization, yet the announcement has divided fans and streamers alike.

Despite fierce competition, Twitch remains the streaming leader for the time being. Showing that the livestreaming service is still attempting to enhance itself, or simply mix things up. The Amazon-owned corporation is now making changes to its features. Twitch announced in an extended statement on April 29 that the Friends list has set expiry dates for mobile and onsite. Claiming “very few viewers regularly [use] Friends to actively connect with each other.”

Twitch clarified in a statement that “by deprecating this feature, we are able to further focus on building connections among communities while streamers are live,” implying that alternative forms of user-to-user contact may be in the pipeline. The Friends list function will be deactivated on May 16 on mobile and May 25 onsite. With the termination of the Friends list, there will be new limits in place for Twitch’s Whisper messaging system. 

The announcement said, possibly in response to hate raids and Twitch being used as a venue for negativity; “If you block whispers from strangers in your privacy settings, anyone who is currently on your Friends list will lose the ability to send you whispers once the feature is removed.” 

Twitch streamers flocked to Twitter to express their opinions on the incident, including both the positive and negative aspects. The inability to use the Friends list to keep track of what streams your friends were watching was a major complaint. 

On the other hand, some users agreed that the Friends list was underutilized.  The general consensus seemed to be that those who used the service were disappointed by its demise, with the greatest reason being that it harmed small streamers’ discoverability.