Amazon’s live-streaming video service Twitch has begun testing a vertical presentation it’s calling the “Discovery Feed” designed to make it easier for users to browse and find new content. The interactive gaming and entertainment platform is the latest to emulate TikTok’s flagship vertical scroll, joining recent converts YouTube, Reddit, Spotify and Amazon. Beginning this week, select users will be able to access the new viewing format, although initially it will be populated with horizontally-framed creator clips, Twitch says, explaining that the framing will switch to vertical “as the feed evolves.”

“The streaming company announced the Discovery Feed in July as one of a few forthcoming new features involving Clips, including the ability to directly export Clips to TikTok” explains The Verge. In addition to algorithmically generated “popular” Clips, the Discovery Feed also showcases “Featured” content. “Creators can mark which of their clips they want to be added to the ‘Featured’ pool.”

Twitch’s July briefing also included the news that it plans to add Stories. “The Stories in this case would last for 24 hours and appear on the Twitch mobile app,” according to Eurogamer, calling it “a similar approach that other social media platforms have adopted.”

The Discovery Feed “will surface short clips from streams in a TikTok-like area within the Twitch app, giving offline creators a way to connect with new viewers without staying live for hours on end,” reports TechCrunch, which says Twitch plans to introduce a polished version of the feed this fall.

Twitch creators have been clamoring for new features — along the lines of YouTube’s recommendation engine or TikTok’s For You — that can help expand their followings.

Unlike those platforms, which utilize algorithmic recommendations, “Twitch streamers have relatively few ways to attract new followers and subscribers,” TechCrunch points out. Twitch’s “grind for building a regular viewership is infamous, and that isn’t even counting how difficult it is to earn meaningful income on the live-streaming platform.”

Twitch is asking users to submit suggestions for improving browsing, filtering and discovery through its forum board. The suggestions, along with findings from the early tests, will inform ways to “improve our algorithms and the overall experience” of the Discovery Feed, Twitch explains.

Related:
Twitch Adds a New Block Feature While X (aka Twitter) Takes One Away, ZDNet, 8/21/23
Twitch Will Let Streamers Ban Users from Watching Their Streams, The Verge, 8/18/23
Teens Prefer YouTube Over Twitch for Gaming Despite Recent Privacy Challenges, Digiday, 8/23/23