Twitch’s “Hot Tub meta” is all the rage at the moment, and now the platform is discussing it in an official capacity. Head of creator development Marcus “djWHEAT” Graham addressed the meta in a “Just Chatting” stream on April 28th, telling viewers that Twitch is keeping a close eye on things to make sure that the company’s standards are maintained. Graham stated that swim attire in hot tubs falls under the company’s acceptable guidelines, but Twitch’s policy regarding sexually explicit content remains intact. As such, the company will follow through if they learn of streamers that are not following the platform’s rules and standards.
“What has not changed is the sexually suggestive and explicit content is not allowed under the guidelines, under the ToS, and Twitch will take action when that is reported to us,” djWHEAT said during the stream.
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Twitch has already issued bans following wardrobe malfunctions during hot tub streams, which seemed to be the case for ImJasmine last week. However, as long as streamers are following the rules during streams, things should continue as normal.
The hot tub meta has been a big subject of controversy over the last few weeks. Several of the platform’s biggest streamers have now weighed in. xQc recently took to Twitter to refer to it as “pathetic” and “trash,” while Valkyrae has defended the meta, saying that “no one is hurting anyone.” She also questioned why so many people seem to be getting worked up over it, which is a very good question.
It will be interesting to see whether or not hot tub streams continue to find this level of success. While the concept has clearly proven divisive, there’s obviously an audience for it. Streamers like xQc can rail against it all they want, but the truth is, if no one is getting hurt, it’s hard to see what the problem is. When it comes to Twitch, it seems that there will always be new trends and streamers willing to exploit them in order to gain followers. It’s hard to see how this is any different from gimmicks like subathons. For now, Twitch viewers will just have to wait and see what happens.
What do you think of the hot tub meta? Do you think Twitch should allow the streams to continue? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!
[H/T: Dexerto]
