Twitch adds stories to its mobile app

TwitchCon Las Vegas is set to begin later this week. In advance of the festivities, Twitch has announced that it’s rolling out a new stories feature to the Twitch mobile app.

“By building stories into the Twitch experience, we’ve made it easier for you to reach your community directly on Twitch,” wrote senior product manager Eduardo Fenili on Twitch’s blog. “Access to eligible streamers will roll out gradually by the end of the week and on an ongoing basis as streamers meet the minimum eligibility requirements.”

Stories on Twitch will function just like the feature does on other social media apps. Qualified users can post pictures, text messages, or clips that will disappear after 48 hours. Viewers will be able to see stories from the creators they follow in a dedicated space at the top of the Twitch app. Right now, stories are only available to affiliates and partners who have had one stream in the last 30 days, with Twitch stating it may possibly extend the feature to more users as time goes on.

According to Fenili, stories will make it easier for streamers to connect with their audience. Creators will be able to use their channel emotes and create backgrounds, while also being able to make stories from clips or their own custom-made content. Users with 30 subscribers or more (gift subs included) will also have the ability to create subscriber-only stories. Twitch will offer analytics for stories, and viewers will also get notifications when a creator they follow posts a new story.

Twitch emphasized that safety was a primary concern in the stories rollout. “Content created and shared on stories will be held to the same community guidelines other content on Twitch is held to, and you can report stories that violate these standards directly within the app,” the blog read.

Stories seems to be another way for Twitch to keep eyeballs on the site for longer while rolling out a feature that may help streamers with the ever-present audience engagement problem.