Twitch may be a relatively young platform, but many of its newer creators are unconcerned about its origins and how it became the platform it is today.
Nick Polom told the young budding streamer that she needed a history lesson. Emily admittedly didn't know much about Twitch until around 2020, making her blind to many of the original great streamers that shaped Twitch.
Polom asked Twitch to create a video for newcomers that requires a bit of viewing before people are allowed to stream on the platform.
ExtraEmily has a hilarious streamers tier list, which is quite chaotic.
“Every new streamer must watch a video that discusses Reckful, Lirik, Summit, Chance, Forsen, and all of the OGs out of respect for them,” he said.
Many new Twitch viewers lack the background information on personalities' histories and why certain things are the way they are. Emily recounts a recent visit to Forsen's channel where she found it weird that he just sat around and didn't say much.
Polom explained that Forsen's ability to entice viewers despite not being particularly charismatic all the time, stems from his being such an established player on the platform. Polom went on to highlight that many of the historically well-known artists have become enigmatic in the ways they can succeed, seemingly without trying.
Polom emphasized that there are a few streamers that have completely altered the streaming environment, and there is no other person who better illustrates this than Ninja.
“Imagine all of those today who have no clue what Ninja did for this platform,” he said. "Ninja brought us to the mainstream."
Ninja flipped the platform on its head by smashing viewership records and attracting mainstream celebrities to his channel, according to the indoctrinated Twitch viewer, it wasn't all that long ago. His breakout year of 2018 was more than three years ago.
Teenagers who are just getting introduced to internet culture may not even know what the platform Mixer was, much less what Ninja's Twitch exodus had on the streaming landscape in the following years.
It may be a stretch to make it mandatory for streamers to learn about the greats of streaming, but it would certainly be beneficial for up-and-coming artists to learn about the people whopaved the way.