Twitch is always tinkering around with new features for the platform. And today, it introduced its latest experiment that aims to help creators keep tabs on the general mood of their broadcast.
“Reactions” are an experimental feature available to a limited number of creators, letting viewers anonymously give feedback during streams by selecting and submitting an emote that is tied to broader feelings like “hype,” “funny,” or “love.”
Reactions will have a cooldown so viewers can’t spam them, and streamers will be able to go back and analyze their stream based on timestamped reactions that viewers give. The reaction analysis can be found in the viewer engagement section of a creator’s Twitch page.
The experiment for the feature has only just started, so it may not be available for your favorite creator’s channel. Typically, these experiments begin with a small number of channels and expand over time, slowly rolling out to more creators before becoming full-blown platform features for all to use.
Right now, the platform is doing two variations of the experiment, with one showing creators data in their viewer engagement panel and the other just showing streamers a more broad overall reaction count.
If a channel is a part of the experiment, viewers will be able to react by clicking a “React” button that is to the left of the “Follow” and “Subscribe” buttons directly below a channel’s broadcast. Twitch did not disclose how long this experiment will last or how many streamers will be involved, but it will presumably expand over time if it gains any traction.
