Introducing Pulse: An always on way for streamers and viewers to connect

Pulse: Let’s share, emote, and discover more together

Connections between streamers and viewers are part of what makes Twitch unique. Exhibit A: Twitch Chat. A big step towards strengthening those connections was made when we released Channel Feeds, but that was only the beginning. Now we’re launching a way to make it easier for streamers and viewers to engage with each other on Twitch, whether a stream is live or not.

Introducing Pulse. A place where streamers can post and engage with all of their followers and the greater Twitch community right from the Twitch front page. It’s an always-on way to share clips, stream highlights, schedules, photos, and more so followers are more informed, engaged, and connected.

For streamers, the posts you create on your Channel Feed will also appear on Pulse on the front page to all of your friends & followers. This will allow you to not only interact with followers and viewers you regularly engage with, but also with those who might not visit your channel page as frequently. Channel Feed will be auto-enabled for all streamers in mid-March.

Pulse will begin its rollout TODAY for all logged in users on the Front Page. If you don’t see it immediately, don’t fret! You’ll get it within the next few weeks.

Pulse will also be appearing on the Twitch Mobile App, so you’ll be able to share a fresh clip, or just post something that made you lol, even while you’re on the go.

So, get out there and start sharing! We can’t wait to see what stories, highlights, comebacks, and rants you bring to the party. If you have any feedback, please let us know here. We’d love to hear your thoughts, because we’re just getting started. The Twitch team is working on even more ways to help viewers discover new content and socialize with friends, so stay tuned.

You’ve got questions? We have answers!

As a streamer, what types of posts should I share?

Every streamer on Twitch is unique and will need to determine what type of content works best for their community. Based on qualitative and quantitative data, here are some quick tips to encourage engagement with your community:

• Video works: Whether it’s a clip or VOD, share highlights from your streams to share with followers who missed the show or just want to re-live the moment.

• Functional posts: Weekly schedules and updates are always informative and help keep followers up to date.

• Drive engagement: Contests, polls, memes, and questions can keep followers interacting when you’re not streaming.

What type of content can be posted?

You can share links, text, videos (Vimeo, YouTube, & Twitch), and images (Imgur & Gfycat). We are working to make sharing easier and will expand our support of additional types of content in the future.

Who can post to Pulse? React? Comment?

Any logged-in Twitch user can post to Pulse and their posts will appear to their friends and followers on their Front Page. Channel editors & moderators have the ability to delete posts and comments for channels that they are attached to. Streamers also have additional controls that allow them to control who can comment on their posts — the current options available are friends & subscribers. All users can react to posts using emotes.

How can I post on Pulse?

As a streamer, you can post content via the Broadcaster Dashboard or Channel Feed. As a viewer, you can post via the designated box on the Front Page.

How do posts appear?

Currently, posts appear in chronological order. Our goal is to connect viewers with the content that they’re most likely interested in. Going forward, we will be working to determine the best way of surfacing posts to do just that.

As a streamer, how will Channel Feed change the layout of my Channel Page?

Channel Feed appears on the far left column of your Channel Page, below the video player. To see how your layout will be altered, please turn on the Channel Feed beta. Learn how to do this here. The ability to toggle the Channel Feed on/off (Beta) is ending in mid-March. If you haven’t already opted into this Beta, the Channel Feed will be auto-enabled for you soon.

Still have questions about Pulse? Check out this article.