Twitch announced raids feature several years ago, and now it has become an integral part of the platform. What is it, what is it for, how to use it, why the platform introduced phone number verification, and much more about it in the new Streams Charts article.
What are Twitch raids?
The very name of the function gives a hint about its purpose: using raids streamers can send the audience of their channel to other channels. As a result, streamers increase their audience, and since raids are usually conducted at the end of a broadcast, viewers can avoid wasting time searching for the next channel to watch and stay with the one chosen by the streamer.
Raids seem to be similar to another Twitch feature, which is hosting ('host mode'). But there is a significant difference between them: when a streamer rebroadcasts another channel, its viewers stay on the initial channel instead of switching to the rebroadcasted one, as it happens in the case of raids.
How to raid on Twitch?
It is quite easy to raid. There are 2 ways to do it: using chat or dashboard. Let's look at the first way.
I. Raiding via chat:
- Write /raid in your channel's chat. Then press the spacebar and write the name of the channel you want to raid;
- Send this message to the chat;
- Wait until the timer runs out, and then click on the "Raid Now" button. If you no longer want to raid, click on the "Cancel" button.
Keep in mind that the raid will start automatically after some time if you don't choose any option.
Lesser-known creators' reactions on raids from stars of streaming
II. Raids via dashboard
- Click on your Twitch profile button in the upper right corner;
- Click on the"Creator Dashboard" tab;
- Click on the "Stream Manager" tab;
- Click on the "Raid Channel" tab;
- Type channel's name you want to raid or select from the list suggested;
- Click on the channel you chose and then click on the "Start Raid" button when the countdown ends.
Here you can also cancel the raid by clicking on the "Back" button.
What to do if you are raided on Twitch?
When your channel is being raided, you can regulate the way a raid will go. To do this, you can use chat moderation. You can give only your subscribers or followers access to the chat, allow only emotes to be used in the chat, and set the slow mode for sending messages in chat. All of these options are available in the settings under the chat (the cogwheel icon).
You can also disable raids on your channel in the default settings.
What are Twitch hate raids?
Usually raids are initiated with positive intentions, but there are cases when they are used ill-intentioned. We talk about so-called hate raids, which are conducted in order to humiliate another streamer. There were cases when channels of hate raids victims were even banned because their chat was full of abusive messages.
In order to stop such raids, Twitch introduced a special feature in the fall of 2021: Twitch account verification by phone number. Streamers can now allow only users with a verified phone number to use chat on broadcasts. So, if a user who linked his phone number to his account gets banned for violating community rules, he will no longer be able to use this current account and other accounts that are linked to the same phone number.
Twitch raids are a great opportunity to expand the audience and help other streamers draw viewers, and for the viewers themselves to discover other streamers on the platform. And raids must never violate Twitch's rules. Have fun, not hate.
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