Twitch transforms into a social network with new 'Friends' feature

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It's been happening in subtle increments, but the transformation is nearly complete. After launching private messaging, Party Chat and profile updates to Twitch, Amazon's livestreaming service will finally become a niche social network with today's announcement: Friends. Twitch users can add up to 500 friends to a list that shows who's online and allows them to send Whispers (private messages) with a click.

The Friends beta kicks off today, April 22nd, for select community members, including those who witness the announcement first-hand at PAX East's Twitch Town Hall. Anyone else at PAX East can sign up for the beta starting on Saturday, April 23rd at the Twitch booth (#9044). The company wants its users to view their profile pages as ways to connect with fellow viewers and streamers, and the Friends addition is a big part of that goal.

"Friends is the latest social feature in Twitch's ongoing effort to help gamers connect with one another," Twitch director of programming Marcus Graham says. "While Twitch has always been a great platform for broadcasters to connect with viewers, now viewers will be able to connect with each other, too."

Posted: Apr 24, 2016 5:43 pm
Related Forum: PC Gaming Forum

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2016/04/22/twitch-adds-friends-social-network/

Comments

Elim8Posted: Mon. Apr 25, 2016

What is this? Facebook 2.0?

MickersPosted: Mon. Apr 25, 2016

Can not see too many cons within this.

SeamPosted: Mon. Apr 25, 2016

Honestly not a bad thing, would be great to see who is streaming at certain points, will also be good to see if people would like to be hosted once you finish. Plus you cant go wrong with adding friends and chatting about streams youre watching at the same time without using their chat.

XboxPosted: Sun. Apr 24, 2016

Twitch over here stepping up there game. Good for them and everybody who uses it.

RareparrotPosted: Sun. Apr 24, 2016

happens to all big name companys... ofc

Boss34Posted: Sun. Apr 24, 2016

I find this rather odd tbh, kinda nice imo.

LokePosted: Sun. Apr 24, 2016

Dil Every private message will just consist of Kappa. It's a neat feature to have and I think it'll be beneficial the most for streamers who have a small pool of viewers rather than giant streams.

I'll kappa you all right 1v1 me :p

KurumuPosted: Sun. Apr 24, 2016

Twitch has always been a social network, it's a community of people that love video games, and brings those people together who have similar interests for entertainment. This doesn't really surprise me and I don't mind it. Just glad to see this entertainment market is growing.

AhriPosted: Sun. Apr 24, 2016

Every private message will just consist of Kappa. It's a neat feature to have and I think it'll be beneficial the most for streamers who have a small pool of viewers rather than giant streams.

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