Popular Twitch streamer and content creator Imane “Pokimane” Anys responded to claims that no one watches her channel for gameplay with some cold, hard facts for those naysayers, and it’s a decision that’s been widely-praised by fans of the star. Pokimane is one of the more popular channels on Twitch, averaging out over 20,000 viewers per stream while maintaining a subscriber count that positions her as one of the most influential streamers in the world.
While Pokimane’s success is undeniable, detractors of her and other female streamers and content creators never seem to run out of claims regarding their contributions, usually without any verifiable evidence. Twitch culture has been under heavy scrutiny after the treatment of another female streamer, Sweet Anita, saw her being stalked by a viewer without any meaningful response from either the platform or law enforcement. While harassment on Twitch occurs for creators regardless of their gender, women tend to face a unique and often unfounded criticism over the fact that they apparently don’t get views based on their gameplay or personality, but rather how they look.
While those claims generally don’t gain much traction or merit anyways, Pokimane decided to further disprove them in a brutal and swift takedown of the notion that she doesn’t get viewers based on her gameplay or personality. Pokimane posted to Twitter after a successful streaming endeavor recently, but noted specifically that she had plenty of sustained success during the stream despite the fact that she had no camera while also broadcasting during later hours than she would usually. The latter is important because streamers tend to do better when they are consistent with their schedule, and as a result also tend to see significant drop-off in viewers when they break that schedule.
While people can keep claiming that Pokimane is only a draw because of how she appears on camera, it doesn’t look particularly true when she can still generate five digit viewership without a camera on at all. Pokimane also chose to go about this refutation in a very polite way, and her decision to avoid being incendiary means more people will likely be willing to reconsider their stance on the subject of female streamers on Twitch.
That’s the hope, anyways. Without more action from Twitch to protect its content creators, it’s still a long and often thankless slog to success, even for stars as prolific as Pokimane. Internet denizens who routinely argue a stance similar to the one Pokimane has completely dismissed with a quick hit of facts and logic, however, might want to find a new angle in the future – or, better yet, simply let those who have found success online through hard work enjoy the benefits of it without having others trying to knock them down, as the mental health struggles of streamers begins to come to light.
