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Since 2018, Twitch streams officially have as many monthly viewers as cable news networks (( Gillbert, Ben. “Amazon’s streaming service Twitch is pulling in as many viewers as CNN and MSNBC.” Business Insider. 2018. )). The streaming platform giant offers an extremely diverse lineup of content to consume 24/7. Despite this buffet of options, there is a certain, pervasive faction of viewers — infamously known as “backseat gamers,” — who are the bane of any streamer’s existence. At least, the most vocal opponents of backseat gaming would say so.
As it turns out, there may be some benefit to letting viewers backseat game, an action defined as watching someone play a game while giving unwanted comments, suggestions, or feedback (( Bardhan, Ashley. “The Contentious Art Of Backseat Gaming.” Input. 2022. )). Backseat gaming is similar to its namesake — backseat driving — in that it can manifest in various forms.
Some backseat gaming can be pretty helpful, like being told you forgot to pick up an item while exploring. This would be like the passenger in your car kindly reminding you to make a left at the next light. Directly opposite on the spectrum is the kind of action that gives backseat gaming a bad rap. Things like demanding the gamer do things a certain way or spoiling the game by giving “helpful” tips are akin to the passenger in your car insisting they know better than the GPS or shrieking each time you hit the brakes a little too hard.
By streaming themselves playing video games, content creators constantly have to deal with these types of “passengers,” never knowing how many of them are going to show up or how controlling they’re going to try to be.
DrGluon — who has been streaming on Twitch since 2014 — has a reputation for leading one of the kindest, most welcoming, fun, and inclusive communities on the internet. His notoriety for this persists despite being an active member of “The Sims” community, a fandom known for its high energy and even occasional hostility. While other content creators struggle to moderate their communities, DrGluon seems to have found a way to nip any issues in the bud. His solution may be connected to backseat gaming.
Twitch Chat As A Community Building Tool
An integral part of streaming on Twitch is interacting with the chat. The ability to have direct conversations with the people watching their content is starkly different from the way content creators interact with their viewers in other virtual spaces. Streamers who garner hundreds of thousands of views often have no choice but to largely ignore the chat and focus instead on whatever they are streaming. This means they can more easily tune out backseat gaming, but it also means that their stream could lack a community feel.
Such a large number of viewers doesn’t just limit the streamer’s interaction with participants in chat, it also limits the way individuals in the chat can interact with one another. The messages are so frequent and fast that it’s almost impossible to get to know fellow viewers.
The level of interaction varies from creator to creator, but streams with no more than a few thousand viewers are able to much more closely resemble a community. Because messages are coming in at a more reasonable pace, viewers — and the streamer themselves — are able to read and respond to conversations taking place. It’s also much easier for regulars to recognize one another and build a rapport.
This has its own downfall, though. While a smaller, community feel may be closer to what Twitch is intended to cultivate, it also allows the streamer to read unwanted comments, suggestions, and feedback from backseat gamers.
No Backseating Allowed?
Twitch allows for the use of “tags” so that creators can quickly communicate to returning and new viewers what they may expect during the stream. Two tags are specifically available for streamers to indicate their policy on backseating: “No Backseating,” which indicates a stream “in which chat participants are not allowed to tell the streamer how to play their game,” and “Backseating Allowed,” which indicates a steam “in which chat participants are welcome to tell the streamer how to play their game” (( Twitch. “List Of All Tags.” 2022. )).
By tagging the stream appropriately, the idea is that creators can better attract audience members that would fit in with their community. Choosing to allow backseating is relatively rare for streamers to do considering the term’s reputation, but could it actually serve to build and reinforce the streamer’s community? Two streamers within The Sims community provide an exciting look into the possibility.
The Dichotomy Of Twitch’s “Sims” Streamers
On average, 100-200 streamers play “The Sims 4” each month (( Twitch Tracker. “The Sims 4.” 2022. )). The Sims serves as one of the most important games sold by gaming giant Electronic Arts and is one of the best-selling franchises worldwide. It is largely a sandbox life simulator, allowing players to create a Sim and play out any life they chose via families, careers, pets, lifestyles, hobbies, and more. The creator community for “The Sims” is relatively large and diverse, as is the difference in their communities.
lilsimsie — otherwise known as Kayla Sims (yes, that’s her real last name) — is a well-known “Sims” streamer who has been making content with the franchise online since she was in high school. Currently, Kayla has 4,624 active subscriptions (paid) and 682,000 followers (free) (( Streams Charts. “lilsimsie.” 2022. )). DrGluon, who only goes by his online pseudonym, is another very popular “Sims” streamer who has been creating content with the game since its release in 2014. Currently, DrGluon has 1,605 active subscriptions (paid) and 93,000 followers (free) (( Streams Charts. “DrGluon.” 2022. )).
While lilsimsie pulls in several thousand viewers per stream, DrGluon hovers just below a thousand views per stream (Streams Charts). Some of that discrepancy could be chalked up to viewer preference. lilsimsie likes to build in “The Sims,” while DrGluon is known for wacky let’s-plays. Then again, they both cater to audiences of life-simulation lovers and interact heavily with their chat; two qualifiers that almost certainly guarantee an inflated audience. Only after looking at the breakdown of paid subscription information for each streamer does a connection appear.
Evidence Of Community
Active subscriptions can be broken down in several ways, including gifted subscriptions and different tiers of support. The specific perks of each tier will vary from streamer to streamer, but there are some benefits that are universal. For example, all subscribers — regardless of the tier — are able to watch ad-free. DrGluon and lilsimsie have almost identical subscription benefits, including a range of special emotes (to use in chat) available at each tier, and access to a “sub only” channel in their Discords.
With that in mind, the breakdown of their subscriber statistics can be compared with relative equality. Subscribers to both content creators receive essentially the same benefits at each tier, and neither streamer offers anything extraordinarily exclusive at Tiers 2 or 3.
This is where the data reveals something much more interesting than all of the surface-level similarities between these two Sims streamers:
48% of lilsimsie’s subscriptions are Tier 1, while 0.82% are Tier 2, and 0.22% are Tier 3. For DrGluon, 76% of subscriptions are Tier 1, while 1% are Tier 2 and, 3% are Tier 3 (Streams Charts). (Prime subscriptions make up a portion of each total and are not reflected here.)
Perhaps even more interestingly, 39% of DrGluon’s subscriptions are gifted by members of his community (( Streams Charts. “DrGluon.” 2022. )), while only 8% of lilsimsie’s are gifted (( Streams Charts. “lilsimsie.” 2022. )).
Even when accounting for the difference in viewership, DrGluon’s community gifts a significantly larger portion of subscriptions and also chooses higher-tiered subscriptions more often.
Members of his community gift 39% of DrGluon’s active subscriptions. That’s roughly 600 subscriptions priced at $4.99, for a total of $2,994 directly invested by the community, into the community.
This is not meant to imply that money is an indicator of a community; instead, it is a material way to illustrate the outlying statistic. DrGluon’s community invested around $1,000 more than lilsimsie’s community over a 30-day period where her community otherwise outperformed his (monetarily and in viewership). Why? Possibly because DrGluon allows backseat gaming.
Could Backseating Help Build Stronger Communities?
DrGluon tags each stream as, “Backseating Allowed,” while lilsimsie tags each of hers as, “No Backseating.” Even so, on the surface, viewers familiar with both streams might struggle to see a difference in the community experience.
Despite having to moderate several thousand people in her chat, lilsimsie is diligent at reading and responding to most things; not much gets past her (unless she’s searching for a clown in “Animal Crossing”). DrGluon does the same, interacting with almost every active viewer in the chat (unless they request the Fart Song, in which case he may pretend to not see it).
Upon closer inspection, however, the activity of their chat is quite different.
lilsimsie’s chat is often filled with viewers offering unsolicited advice on the color and design of her “Sims” builds (among other things). Kayla and her team of moderators have to repeatedly remind everyone of the no backseating rule. On busier days, this can frequently interrupt the stream — happening as often as every few minutes — and cause rule-complying viewers to hesitate when interacting because they don’t want to cause any issues.
Alternatively, DrGluon’s chat is rarely filled with the same unsolicited advice — largely because the advice is explicitly solicited. He is able to stream without issue despite welcoming the backseat gamers, even when he chooses not to take their advice. Suggestions are typically tried and then accepted or dismissed casually.
In the context of their subscription statistics, this phenomenon is presented in a strange light. While other observations could be made with data on the streamer’s and viewer’s demographics (gender, age, etc.), the specific connection seems to show that there could be a correlation between community interaction and backseat gaming.
DrGluon’s community, while smaller than lilsimsie’s, invests in bringing new members at a much higher percentage. Because of this, it could be argued that his viewers don’t care as much about what is going on because they know they’re going to be involved regardless. Similarly, giving viewers the green light to backseat likely takes away the allure of doing it at all.
Whether it is a deliberate choice of DrGluon’s or not, his acceptance of backseat gaming appears to encourage a closer community than that of creators — like lilsimsie — who discourage the practice. Still, both streamers are kind, genuine people who truly appreciate and enjoy their communities in different ways. That’s the beautiful thing about Twitch, after all; there’s something for everyone.
