Pokimane says viewers calling her by her real name makes her “cringe”

The world’s most popular female Twitch streamer, Imane ‘Pokimane’ Anys, has explained why she finds it “cringe” when viewers use real first name, during an Offline TV podcast. 

When it comes to the gaming community, nearly every popular character goes by an adopted gaming nickname. From Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevins to Seth ‘Scump’ Abner, the world’s best gamers regularly go by their chosen pseudonyms.

Anys is no different to this, known to her fan base as Pokimane or simply Poki. However, it seems that some viewers do choose to call her by her real name, much to the streamer’s displeasure.

During an appearance on the Offline TV podcast, the topic arose of viewers referring to Pokimane by her first name, to which the US-based streamer had some strong words.

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“Yeah that sh*t is so cringe,” she said. “Yeah, I don’t know you like that… I kinda feel bad though because – for example when I did my online therapy session and Dr K asked like what I prefer to be called, I was like ‘Oh if we’re gonna be personal and you’re a therapist more or less, you can call me Imane’. You’re speaking to me.”

Topic starts at 12:52 –

Other members of the podcast, like DisguisedToast and Scarra, echoed Poki’s comments and said it was odd when people in their chats refer to her as Imane too.

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“I think people saw that,” she continued, “And they’re like ‘if I want to be on a personal level with her I need to call her by her real name.’ Like no! That’s not how you get on my good side. I just don’t wanna go on a date with someone and they’re like ‘what’s up Poki?’ That’s weird – it depends on the context!”

While Poki was laughing and smiling throughout her comments, it’s clear that she favors people referring to her as Pokimane.