Twitch is an extremely popular online platform that allows its users to stream live broadcasts. Until recently, it catered almost exclusively to video game streamers. Today, it has a broader audience. Twitch us now home to many different livestream categories — including Music, Art and Just Chatting. Twitch has had a hand in making livestreaming mainstream and has helped creators monetize their livestreams. Part of what attracts viewers to livestreams is that they can watch and influence streamers’ reactions in real time. While this may be one of the best aspects of doing content live, it also has its fair share of challenges.
It can be difficult for a streamer to simultaneously concentrate on their stream and monitor what’s said in chat. Without moderation, hurtful, or even dangerous, comments can disrupt the flow of chat. This can hurt channel engagement and growth. Here’s where Twitch moderators can help.
The Twitch moderator
A Twitch moderator is a representative of the channel they’re moderating and helps monitor the chat. However, that’s not all they do. They also help whenever a streamer wants to run a poll, start a prediction or needs reminding to announce upcoming streams on social media. Ultimately, moderators have two jobs. They interact and moderate the channel’s viewers and they also are an advocate for the streamer.
Their job requires them to have a good relationship with the streamer and have a strong understanding of the channel’s branding and voice. Moderators essentially serve as behind-the-scenes assistants to streamers. They ensure the brand keeps a positive and healthy presence on social media. They also make sure all members of the community are following the channel’s rules. It’s their job to uphold and enforce the channel’s rules and ban anyone who breaks them.
Choosing a moderator
When choosing a moderator, it is helpful if the person has a large presence in the channel’s community. It’s also good if they are regularly active on social media as well. They will be interacting with your community on various platforms, so you have to be sure they’re up for the task.
It’s also important to consider the size of your channel and how active your chat is. Depending on the size, you may need just one moderator or a couple. If you have a large, active community, having additional moderators is helpful.
Think of their conduct
Moderators always need to be respectful to their community — even if it goes against their personal beliefs. As long as a viewer’s commentary doesn’t go against the channel’s rules or Twitch’s rules, the moderator needs to respect the person and their opinion.
Additionally, moderators always need to stay positive and act professional, regardless of what is said. They need to have thick skin because they’re the buffer between the streamer and their viewers. It’s up to them to ensure the stream isn’t interrupted by a few bad actors. Pick moderators who can avoid confrontations. There will always be people coming into your stream to cause trouble. This can either be self-promoters, fake accounts or viewers with bad intentions. So, you need to pick moderators who can navigate through the good and bad actors with a steady hand and a clear head.
How to mod someone
Once you have a handful of people you can trust with your stream, it’s time to mod them. Modding someone on Twitch is quite simple; it doesn’t take many steps.
Here’s what you need to do:
- Go to your channel and then select “Chat”
- Enter the command “/mod” and the username of the person you want to mod in curly brackets. So, you would enter the command: “/mod [username]”
- The user is now a moderator on the stream
There is another method for adding a moderator on Twitch. This method involves using the Dashboard on the Control Panel. Here’s how to do it:
- From the Dashboard, go to “Community”
- Go to “Moderation”
- Click “Add New”
- Enter the username of the person you want to mod
- Click on “Moderator”, then click “Save”
On this screen, you will be able to see who is moderating your channel. If you don’t have a moderator yet, you will see the default Twitch bot.
How to unmod someone
There may be times when you need to unmod someone. The person may no longer want the job or you find they’re no longer serving the purpose of your channel. Regardless of the reason, you can unmod a moderator quite quickly. Here are the steps:
In chat, type “unmod” with the username of the person you want to unmod. So, you would enter: “unmod/ [username]”.
You can also unmod someone in your Twitch dashboard:
- From the Dashboard, go to “Community”
- Go to “Roles Manager”
- Click the “x” next to the moderator role of the person you want to unmod
Find the right moderators for the job
Running a stream by yourself is hard enough. Having moderators can make your job as a streamer much easier. Take some time and find the right people for the role. Once you do, follow the steps above to get them started.