Likes, followers, and viewers, oh my! It seems that nowadays numbers mean everything and Twitch is no exception.
It is no secret that on Twitch, the popular streaming service, your viewership is one of the most important things.
The more viewers you get, the more opportunities are opened for you to become an affiliate or just get noticed by more people.
This is when we get into the problem of viewbotting.
What is Twitch Viewbotting?
To be more specific, Twitch defines viewbotting as when a streamer’s view count is artificially increased through scripts or tools, usually through the form of a Twitch view bot service.
This makes it seem like a streamer is more popular than they actually are and drives more viewers to their content.
Quite obviously, this is against Twitch protocols and a sure-fire way to get your account terminated if you’re caught.
How to Tell if a Twitch Streamer is Viewbotting
There are multiple ways to tell if a streamer is viewbotting. However, it is important to note that these signs are not guaranteed- always investigate further before accusing people, it really is the polite thing to do.
Nonetheless, here are some ways to see if a streamer is viewbotting.
1. Unusual Follower & Viewer Count Pattern
It may seem excessive, but tools like Twitch tracker are sure to follow the account activity of any streamer. Looking at the numbers, it can be pretty easy to discern if someone’s viewership has spiked out of nowhere.
2. High Viewer Numbers But Inactive Chat
Let’s say a stream gets a respectable 3,000 views, that means there should be plenty of people lurking in the chat, right?
With viewbotting, that isn’t always the case. There can be plenty of viewers but barely any active chatters. This is a pretty definitive sign of viewbotting.
3. Users in Chat vs Viewer Count Ratio
If you go to the top-right icon in the chatbox, it gives you all the users that are in the chat box. Compare this how many actual viewers there are and sometimes a pattern emerges.
Looking closer, you might also be able to spot phony names of the bots. Yeah, something tells me that “Adam12345678” might not be a real person.
4. Check For Automated Messages
“Wow, so cool!”, a person in chat says… the only problem is that nothing is happening on screen right now. They could be being sarcastic or, more likely, they’re a chat-bot.
Chat-bots tend to overproduce general messages that don’t make sense at the moment and, as you guessed it, these bots often go hand in hand with viewbotting.
5. Vibe Check
That’s right, it all comes back to the vibe check or more specifically, the vibes of the streamer. While we are not here to criticize anybody, there are certainly streamers that are more… charismatic?
When streamers viewbot, it’s often because they can’t seem to get viewers themselves. Whether this is because of luck or circumstance, oftentimes it can be because of their personality.
Of course, take this with a grain of salt, because if you don’t like a content creator, doesn’t mean others won’t.
What to Do if You Think a Twitch Streamer is Viewbotting
If you think a streamer is viewbotting, the easiest thing to do is report it and be done with it.
There is, unfortunately, a couple of problems with this, as some streamers don’t know they are being viewbotted and you could be punishing the wrong person.
It’s a bit of a tricky situation and most times people wait until someone higher up notices before doing anything.
Additionally, please be careful not to misinterpret certain features of Twitch. Things like being hosted, promotional content, and embedded links can lead to an influx of viewers without anything going against the rules.
At the end of the day, Twitch advises you to use evidence and facts, before accusing anybody of viewbotting or artificial inflation. These are delicate situations and one wrong accusation can hurt a streamer’s career, whether this is your intention or not.
Knowing these signs can help you spot viewbotting but it does not give you the authority to shut down someone’s channel- it’s best you leave that to Twitch itself.
