Twitch – an Amazon-owned live streaming platform – has removed the ‘shout out’ option from its list of ‘reasons to refund a subscription’ after it received severe backlash from streamers on the platform.
It is common practice for a Twitch Streamer to thank each individual viewer who subscribes to their channel. However, some viewers have used the ‘Shoutout’ option to troll Twitch streamers: these trolls will subscribe to a channel, wait for a streamer to comment and thank them for their subscription, and then refund their subscription.
Twitch has come under fire for supporting this behavior – with the inclusion of ‘just to get a shout out’ listed as a valid reason for cancelling their subscription to a channel.
The option was called out by @TalesOfTiny – whose criticism went viral on Twitter, gaining over 18.3k likes:
Twitch: we are doing our best to protect our streamers from trolls
Also Twitch: here ya go trolls, here's another zero cost way to troll the streamer
And yes, I confirmed it works. It's not just a jebait option. I got a refund
One step forward, two steps back pic.twitter.com/XRyDMd4P7j
— Sidequest | Tiny (@TalesOfTiny) March 8, 2021
On March 10th, Twitch addressed the issue on Twitter – explaining why the ‘Shoutout’ option was originally added.
Hi Tiny, thanks for kicking off the conversation. This limited refund window was originally introduced to protect against accidental purchases. These cancellation reasons were added in 2018 to capture why viewers are seeking refunds. Note – gift subs cannot be refunded this way.
— Twitch Support (@TwitchSupport) March 10, 2021
Shortly after, Twitch announced they would be removing the ‘shoutout’ option completely from the list of valid reasons to request a refund.
“This info is used to improve the subscription experience for creators and subscribers. We did not intend to make it seem like we are encouraging this behavior, and based on community feedback, we are removing the shoutout option”.
Twitch’s quick response has been a big move to help streamers on the platform protect their revenue streams and to prevent them from being victimized by trolls. Moreover, @TalesofTiny’s tweet demonstrates how quickly bad press on social media can go viral and how it intimidates brands into action.