Mizkif says small streamers need to “do better”

There’s no reason small streamers should be complaining about low viewership, at least according to Twitch’s content titan Matthew “Mizkif” Rinaudo.

Small streamers find it considerably challenging to grow on Twitch, a platform packed with talented gaming creators. These streamers often blame the algorithm, Twitch’s unfair policies, or harsh bans for their slow growth. But, Mizkif disagrees.

According to the Just Chatting streamer, content creators need to “do better” and take responsibility for their bad numbers. Instead of blaming Twitch, small streamers should work harder to pop out in the uber-competitive content industry.

“I know people wanna b— and complain and say ‘Oh, I’m a small streamer, and I don’t get any viewers.’ Yeah, do better. I don’t know what to tell you. Go on TikTok, make more TikToks, do more YouTube shorts, try to grow outside of the platform,” he said.

Unlike YouTube, Twitch’s recommended page heavily relies on the popularity of the content creator or a streamer. It prioritizes live streams that are currently trending or have high viewer engagement. So, new streamers may find it difficult to stand out in a herd of other new creators who are on all cylinders to rope in fresh eyes from other platforms.

Mizkif tells small streamers to stop complaining

According to Mizkif, those who stick solely to Twitch for growth are doing it all wrong. He claims that Twitch has significantly improved its recommended page and algorithm, so at this point, small streamers are just complaining.

“I think most streamers are small streamers because they are not good streamers. And I think not only that, I think Twitch has done a way better job over the years with recommended, 30-day, and a lot of other stuff, I think that it is 100% fine now,” he said.

Mizkif may have sounded harsh to some, but he’s not entirely wrong. In 2023, viewers are more attracted to short-form content like TikTok or YouTube shorts. These videos can help funnel viewers to a Twitch channel that may be struggling on its own.

Moreover, Twitch is a pure streaming platform, so it’s tenfolds trickier to grab the attention of a traditional viewer that is more active on other mainstream platforms.

Still, challenges for new streamers are real, but they are not impossible to overcome.