As Twitch becomes more and more popular, especially after the growth achieved by this video streaming platform , the company develops and launches a series of new functionalities and technical features that maximize the use of its platform.
However, it is true that, since 2018, the platform decided to launch tags and categories , as a way to help users better find the content that interests them in a much more comfortable, simple, easy and fast way.
What are labels?
Tags are used on Twitch in order to describe a certain live stream in a more specific and complete way about the game itself or the category. Therefore, it is an obviously different functionality from the categories , which we will describe below.
In this way, while the streamer can integrate them into his transmission, the viewer can use them in order to find those streams that interest him the most , since the system offers the possibility of filtering them within a directory, exploring certain recommendations or searching specific labels.
Unlike what could happen with the popular hashtags on Twitter or Facebook, it is Twitch who manages the list of available tags , which you can easily consult here. However, the platform already indicates that it will add new tags regularly based on the comments made by the community.
How can viewers use tags?
Tags offer viewers the possibility of creating filters , so that it is perfectly possible to find exactly what they are looking for in a much more comfortable and simple way.
It would be something similar to looking for new shoes by size, color and price. The only thing that, in the case of Twitch, the tags are useful for, for example, finding a certain streamer or a type of game.
Types of tags on Twitch
Although there are currently hundreds of tags available on Twitch, it is possible to find them distributed or distributed in a total of three different groups:
- Transmission labels. They are those applied by the channel’s editors or the content creators themselves to the transmissions, with a limitation of a maximum of five at a time. In any case, some of them could also be applied to channels that meet certain conditions.
- Automatic labels. They are those that are applied automatically to transmissions, especially when certain conditions are met. This basically means that the creator or streamer could not apply them directly to their live broadcasts.
- Category tags. They apply exclusively to categories. They are useful for describing some details, such as the genre of a certain video game. Again, creators cannot apply them to their streams directly.
What are the differences between tags and categories on Twitch?
In September 2018, Twitch decided to replace the popular categories IRL and Creative after they experienced enormous growth, and many users complained that it was very difficult to find those streamers who were broadcasting the topics that interested them the most.
Because of this, they added 10 new categories designed to allow viewers to achieve this purpose, from Art and Science to Technology, through Podcasts and Talk Shows.
In this way, we can find those channels that interest us the most by categories , or depending on whether the streamers themselves are live or not. In addition, it is possible to filter by the same tags or order the list according to the volume of viewers or the most recommended.
Therefore, thanks to this new reorganization, it is much easier and simpler to find the content that may interest us the most, since Twitch organizes broadcasts by content categories, which has ended up making navigation through the platform much easier.
