Twitch is the most popular livestreaming platform on the internet. The platform pulls in millions of viewers interested in watching their favorite creators chat, play games online and react to content in real time.
Since launching to the public in 2011, Twitch has kept its creators and viewers intensely engaged in the livestreaming gaming realm. However, recently, the platform has diversified with new categories like Just Chatting, a broad category for casual streamers talking to their chat or taking a break from gaming. In total, Twitch boasts an average of 3.01 million consistent viewers watching content and over 17 million daily visitors. The livestreaming platform has rapidly become an ideal platform for creators to display their talent before viewers. This is why their community of over 4 million streamers continues to grow every month.
However, not everyone who creates a channel on Twitch and uploads great content for their audience to marvel over can keep their engagement consistently high. To keep viewers engaged in your channel, Twitch created its host feature to ensure creators don’t lose their audience while gaining more viewership.
If you’re looking for ways to reach streaming stardom and keep your channel and content relevant, you first must understand exactly what hosting is.
What is Twitch hosting?
The Twitch hosting feature is a handy tool that allows streamers to videocast another Twitch streamer’s channel on their own channel. The feature allows the streamer to continue to have their viewers and chat while hosting another user’s stream. What makes this feature ideal for every Twitch creator is that it’s available to all users. You don’t need to be a Twitch Partner or Affiliate to reap the benefits that come with hosting. It’s a great opportunity to boost other creators’ viewership while keeping your viewers immersed in your content. Another plus is that hosting allows you to reach a wider audience and promote your channel even when offline.
To learn more about Twitch’s host mode, you can find additional details here.
Why you should consider hosting another streamer
Hosting on Twitch is one of the ways you can market your channel and reach a wider audience. Whenever you host a streamer, Twitch notifies the streamer and the chat you’re hosting. The stream you’re hosting is highly likely to give you a shout-out as well. It’s a way to cross-promote your audience with theirs. You can also be featured in the Live Hosts category and interact with fellow streamers and members of their communities. Additionally, hosting can help you add more followers to your channel.
Another perk to hosting is keeping your followers engaged even if you don’t stream regularly. Typically, the less you stream, the more likely your followers are going to drop off. This is because viewers tend to lose interest over time or forget to check when you’re live. However, when you host other channels, you’re giving your community something to engage with and interact with each other. Your channel can then become a place for them to hang out when you’re not live. It’s a win-win situation for you whether you’re online or off.
How to host on Twitch
To host on Twitch, follow these steps:
- Log into your Twitch account.
- Click on your profile icon and click on your ‘Creator Dashboard.’
- Now click on ‘Stream Manager.’
- In your Twitch chat type, ‘/host [channel you want to host]’ (without the quotation marks or brackets).
- Click enter and you will start hosting.
Twitch allows users to host from their PCs or mobile devices. However, before you can start hosting, Twitch has some restrictions. You can only host one channel at a time and host a maximum of three channels in a 30-minute duration. Nevertheless, hosting still makes it easy for you to continue streaming others’ content on your channel even when you are not streaming content of your own. Twitch makes this possible with Auto Hosting.
How to host other streamers on Twitch
Through your channel’s chat
Twitch has three ways to host another streamer. You can host others either by chat or Auto Host or through the Twitch app. When you host through your chat, you have to enter ‘host/ [channel name]’ into your channel’s chat. For example, if you want to host the channel of SUMMIT1G, you enter host/ SUMMIT1G.
If you want to stop hosting a stream, you can turn off the host by simply entering ‘/unhost’ into your chat.
On mobile
Another way to host on Twitch is through the Twitch app. You can start this feature by tapping the gear icon on the selected channel and choosing the host option from the drop-down menu.
Through Auto Hosting
Through the Auto Hosting feature, Twitch makes it easy for streamers to host other channels. The way it works is that the feature lets you host other channels on autopilot the moment you go offline. You select channels you want to host and the Auto Host feature will select a channel and host it for you. The feature allows you to choose a particular channel or choose at random from the list you created. The Auto Hosting feature keeps your channel from being inactive even when you are offline. You can set it up by going to your Channel Settings and clicking ‘Featured Content’ at the top of the page.
You can also get there by clicking your profile icon in the upper right. Select ‘Creator Dashboard’ from the drop-down menu. Select ‘Settings’ from the option on the left and then click ‘Channel.’ From there, select the ‘Feature Content’ tab at the top. Lastly, under the Auto Hosting section, click the ‘Auto Host Channels’ toggle to ‘ON.’
Once done with these steps, you’re all set. All you have to do from there is add your favorite channels. Whichever method you choose, always remember to save your settings.
Time to host
Hosting on Twitch has definitely become a widespread way for Twitch streamers to advertise another channel’s live stream to their own audience. It helps promote other Twitch users, but also has become a successful approach to keep a channel active while users are not screening their own content. Hosting can boost your exposure and grow your subscribers. If you’ve considered hosting on Twitch, but had your doubts, now is the time to put aside your reservations and join the millions of users who have already started.