Pokimane condemns Twitch stars who ‘beg’ for subs: “It’s not necessary!”
Twitch: PokimanePokimane ‘Anys’ Imane has called for other big-time Twitch stars to stop using “marketing tactics” to build their subscriber base, dubbing efforts like milestone goals and on-stream sub counts both “greedy” and “unnecessary.”
There’s no denying Twitch has become an entertainment juggernaut in recent years, with the biggest streamers on the Amazon-owned platforms now certified online celebrities.
Like any entertainment industry, focus for many of those stars have turned to ‘getting the bag’ — that is, turning followers and fans into subscribers. It’s led to ever-wealthier stream stars adding sub counts, setting fan-driven milestones, hosting subathons, and generally using “tactics” to get their loyal viewers committing to a month or more of backing.
According to Twitch superstar Pokimane, this trend of ‘begging’ and ‘tricking’ followers into paying up has to stop.
“People who have like 50k subs and they’re saying ‘let’s get to 51k!’ all the time — and I hate telling people what to do — but I find that off-putting,” she said.
“You make so much money… you must be very, very well aware doing that is such an easy and clear marketing tactic to convince people to give you even more money. That’s crazy. Is that really necessary? It’s just really not!”
Pokimane conceded “greediness” was always going to play a part in any entertainer’s ambitions — on Twitch or otherwise — when they’re looking to earn a living, and that’s not “that bad of a thing.”
Where the issue arises in her eyes, however, is where the majority of streaming income for online personalities actually comes from; donations, subscriptions, and tips on the Amazon-owned platform all flow straight from regular viewers to individual stream stars, minus Twitch’s slice.
“You have to consider, when you’re a streamer, a lot of the wealth you’re earning is from other people’s pockets [and] typically from people who make less money than you too, in most cases. It just feels so unnecessary.
“That’s why, if I don’t need the money to sustain myself, I [try to avoid] using those ‘tactics’ to squeeze more money out of people. There’s a balance.”
Pokimane has been quite vocal about limiting donations on her Twitch channel in the last few months, and capped her tips at $5 a pop. According to TwitchTracker, she boasts a touch under 7.7m followers and has nearly 9,000 subscribers.
“I’m really lucky to be where I am… I really want to thank you guys for supporting me from when I was in high school [and] when I was $20k in university debt,” she said when she capped her donos, “to the lucky place I am today where I consider anything more than five dollars unnecessary.
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Anys was only recently overtaken by housemate Valkyrae as the world’s most popular female streamer, but remains Twitch’s top female earner.