Twitch Does Not Respect Their Users, So I'm Quitting

Last week Twitch announced that it had automatically opted all of its user accounts into using all content for training Amazon's generative “AI” models. They didn't send their users an email or notify us within Twitch. They posted about it on X, a platform I don't use, acting like they were doing us a favor by allowing us to opt out. Furthermore, they made it opt-out knowing most of us are skeptical about “AI” and would never opt in – and they clearly don't care. This is a gross violation of privacy and betrayal of trust. Therefore, because they clearly do not respect their users, I am quitting Twitch both as a streamer and viewer.

I have been streaming on Twitch for three years, but have been considering quitting as early as March 2025 when I drafted – but never published – a blog post about my reasons for leaving. I have come close to publishing that post and quitting several time since then. But always managed to stop myself and feel like the good the bad when it came to Twitch. But this incident has tipped the scales unfavorably.

The Bad

Here are some of the other reasons I am leaving Twitch.

Ads are only getting worse.

I block ads almost everywhere else on the web, but I chose to not block them on Twitch to support streamers I don't subscribe to in some small way.

Some months ago, related to the point about toxic content, I was repeatedly shown an ad on Twitch for a lingerie brand that was pornography by most definitions of the word. I do not want to view pornography. I do not seek it out. I strive to avoid it.

There was no way to skip this ad. I had to minimize my browser or look away. There was no way to block it aside from using ad-blocker browser extensions or paying for a subscription to Twitch Turbo, which removes ads across all streams. I found a way to provide feedback, and I did so. But there is no guarantee I wouldn't be shown such ads in the future.

I've also noticed I have to watch an increasing number of pre-roll ads, sometimes 7, 8, 9 pre-roll ads at a time, before I can even tune into some streams. This is at least partially due to the streamer's own ad schedule settings. But it seems like Twitch is ratcheting up ads, in general.

Ads are getting out of control everywhere, not just on Twitch. But now every time I stream, it's not just increasingly more ads my non-subscribed viewers have to watch, but now I'm potentially exposing them to pornography and other questionable content. Even if I block ads for myself, there's no way I can personally justify streaming on Twitch or continue to use it as a viewer knowing that other viewers who can't afford to pay are drowning in ads and potentially blindsided by inappropriate ones.

And as I mentioned earlier, subscribing to Twitch Turbo to get rid of ads site-wide is an option (if you can afford it), but that would be funneling even more money to Amazon and Jeff Bezos. And, as I will explain in the next section, I don't want to do that any more than I have to.

It's part of the Amazon machinery.

Amazon is the parent company of Twitch. Reasons not to support Amazon would be a blog post unto itself. But there already many articles and blog posts out there explaining reasons to avoid or actively boycott Amazon. The “Criticism of Amazon” article on Wikipedia is a good place to start.

Here's a quick bullet list of some of the most common, well-documented problems with Amazon:

Suffice it to say, the less money I make for Amazon and Bezos, the better I'll feel.

And now we can add:

At some point, we have to not only speak out and declare that this kind of behavior is unacceptable, we have to take action. And one of the best actions we can take against companies with terrible business practices is to boycott them.

I'm done being taken for granted by Twitch and Big Tech. Done being tracked, manipulated, exploited, and monetized. Done being opted into all of this without my consent.

The Good

Despite the bad, my experience streaming as a music selector (DJ) and interacting with good people on Twitch has been a mostly positive one and I will miss it dearly.

My love of music has been reignited.

I have always loved music and have enjoyed listening to it in some form or fashion. But I had forgotten how wonderful and enjoyable it was for me to sit and intentionally listen to music – particularly entire albums – rather than just have it playing in the background while I did other things.

I had also forgotten how fun it is to collect and listen to music on physical media. The experience of going to record stores and losing all sense of time as I discovered musical treasures. Getting lost in the stacks. Taking those LPs, CDs, and/or cassettes home, listening to them for the first time. It's an intentional experience that brings me a tremendous amount of joy.

Sharing music in this way is also a joyful experience, one I will always cherish. It breathes new life and fresh perspective into music I've loved for a long time because it's like I'm hearing it for the first time when I introduce it to others.

And being able to discover brilliant music that I couldn't have discovered any other way has been one of the reasons I found the Twitch experience so compelling in the first place. I will have to work hard to find other ways to discover human-curated music outside of algorithms and playlists.

I have met some amazing people.

It's been wonderful meeting and getting to know people from different parts of the world and diverse backgrounds, nerding out over music together. I have met kindred spirits and made good online friends through a shared love of music. I've even met one of them in-person and I was delighted to discover that he is as authentically himself online as he is in real life.

It brought a little joy into people's lives.

I have always tried to make people feel better for having tuned into my stream. Whenever a viewer said something like “I really needed this today” or “you've helped me through a bad day” or “I'm glad I found this stream”, it made it all worth it. This is what gave me the greatest sense of fulfillment as a streamer, and I will miss those points of connection and bright spots the most.

I've learned a lot.

I have learned how to create fun and interactive live streams and how to configure and use the technology to make it all happen.

And I've learned what really matters to me, what is most important. I've been reminded that, although it can bring some momentary pleasure, money really cannot buy enduring happiness. And joy that comes from material possessions is shallow and fleeting.

Relationships and shared experiences provide much deeper, richer, and more enduring happiness. Real relationships with fellow human beings, and especially, with God.

If I went deaf tomorrow, my music collection would no longer be a source of entertainment or joy. But my relationships with loved ones and with God would continue to provide joy, comfort, strength, and meaning.

Changing the Channel

Until last week, I felt like the good outweighed the bad when it came to Twitch.

In my own small way, I hoped that I could do with Twitch what Fred Rogers did with television. He lamented the mindless, crude content on TV, yet he saw the great potential of the medium to be a tool not only for education, but for spreading goodness, truth, and beauty throughout the world. And he made it happen.

But given the present controversy and legitimate concerns about “AI” as it stands today, I don't believe Fred Rogers would have allowed any company to use his program to train generative “AI” models, either, especially without his consent.

And I also realize now that Twitch is really not like television as a whole, it is merely one “channel” among many. And when my stream is live on Twitch, it is just one “program” on that channel buried amongst hundreds of thousands.

So it's time for me to change the channel.

I will have to use other live streaming platforms besides Twitch if I wish to continue to refine and share the social and musical experience I have so enjoyed. Platforms that treat users like human beings are not nearly as popular as Twitch (yet), but they exist.

I have already done a few streams on a platform called PeerTube, a decentralized, federated video hosting/streaming platform with no ads, no algorithms, and no mega-corp baggage.

I am also testing my own Owncast instance, which I think will be a closer experience to Twitch.

It's possible, though, that this might be the end of my live-streaming adventures. It might be time for me to pursue a different hobby and other ways of connecting with others over shared interests.

Discuss...

#100DaysToOffload (No. 164) #Twitch #tech #AI