What Parents Need to Know About This Media Platform Is Your Teen Watching Twitch?
Twitch Broadcasters Solicit Donations While Twitch is free to watch (with ads), the site allows viewers to donate to their favorite broadcasters directly or become paid subscribers. Many broadcasters offer subscriber-only streams, shoutouts, and other bonus content that can make it tempting for impressionable viewers to open their wallets (or those of their parents). It’s best to make sure your teen’s account isn’t tied to any bank information. Why Your Teen Watches Twitch There are many reasons teens watch Twitch streams. If they are into competitive video games like “Fortnite” or “Apex Legends,” they may want to watch skilled streamers to pick up tips and tricks. They could be a fan of an esports team and want to root them on during streamed tournaments, just like you would a football or basketball team. They may even just want to get a feel for what a game is like before they decide to spend their allowance on it. Talking to your teen about the kinds of streams they watch can help you better understand what they get from this new form of media.
For many parents, the idea of watching someone else play a video game sounds incredibly dull. But as the rise of the streaming site Twitch.tv has shown, young people love cheering on their favorite gaming broadcasters — to the tune of 140 million monthly viewers. Many of those tuning in are teenagers, and a survey by the Washington Post found that over half of the participants ages 14–20 watch at least some streamed video game content. If your teen is one of these viewers, here’s what you need to know. Twitch Is Live Twitch differs from video sites like YouTube because the content is being broadcast live. This means it can’t be filtered as reliably, and even the most family-friendly broadcasters might slip in the occasional swear word or make an inappropriate comment. There is also a live chat feature, meaning your teen can communicate with anyone watching the same stream. This feature can be switched off, but it’s still a good idea to talk to your teen about online safety and the importance of not revealing personal information to strangers.
Testimonials DON’T JUST TAKE OUR WORD FOR IT
“David and his team worked with me through everything and fought hard to make sure I was treated fairly. He always made sure to answer any of my questions and explained everything along the way.” –Mary Strother “Brauns Law was very professional with handling my case. Their entire team handled all phases of my case and relieved me of all the stress and worry in dealing with the insurance company. I will highly recommend David and his entire team to all my friends and family. Thank you so much!” –Myra
2 | 404-418-8244
Made with FlippingBook Annual report