The massively popular streaming service Twitch has updated its features once again. This time around Twitch has implemented a new tool set for channel moderators to utilize to make their respective communities more enjoyable and efficient in chat. For those unfamiliar with what a moderator is, these individual are chosen by owners and channel streamers to “moderate” the live channel. They have a unique icon next to their name to set them apart from others in chat so that a streamer can more easily recognize them.
Typically, moderators are selected because of their quick-paced ability to find problems or troublemakers in a channel. They have the authority to time out, ban, communicate, and enable slow or Subscriber-only mode, which limits individuals’ abilities to chat during certain gaming events or milestones. You can see how important a role that streamers view moderators for their channels:
Twitch has recognized channel moderators’ importance that “plays a crucial role in making Twitch a more welcoming place” for its many communities. With the release of new moderator tools, each channel’s moderators have the ability to view specific details about the users in their chat in order to make better informed decisions without leaving the Twitch website. This can be done by clicking a username in chat, or using a command, to open one’s profile card. From there, a moderator can share channel-specific commands about choices being made, see when a user created their account, and view a particular user’s channel-specific chat, timeout, and ban history.
All of these updates will give moderators the opportunity to justify decisions made in chat to not just the channel owner, but the rest of the community. Twitch states that these features will be welcomed most for those who are “on the fence about taking moderation actions,” since these tools allow them to somewhat verify whether or not someone is a positive or negative chat user. Twitch has stated in their description of these features that more updates will be coming in 2019.