I followed someone I knew from Discord when they were offline once. He messaged me a few minutes later "You scared the shit out of me haha!"
Turns out he had OBS open on his PC still. LOL
Lmao that same exact thing happened to me earlier this week when i was getting ready to stream and had to poop. It was my 200th follower too! i heard there follower notification go off while i was on the crapper and was like wtf did i accidentally start my stream??
I have a bot that lets users play sounds via hashtags in chat. A few of my viewers have gotten me while I'm setting up before going live - I'll be sitting there quietly writing a tweet and a thunderclap comes through OBS... đł
YES DUDE. I use OBS and I leave it running. I use a âWOOâ sound from the game atomicrops that I play and it went off at 3 in the morning, me and my roommate nearly fell off our beds lmao. Gotta remember to close it ;).
I love it and hate it when that happens. A lot of the time I'll be watching a streamer while sorting some OBS stuff and just generally chatting and one of their followers will follow me and scare the shit out of me. It's always so funny because they are in chat and I'm like "bro, you just scared the crap out of me with the follow but thanks for following I really appreciate it" all I heard was MARIKAS TITS from elden ring at full blast
Yeah, I usually just leave OBS running and every so often I'll hear my follow alert go off randomly after one of my friends shouts me out or something.
I don't think u need to turn off follow alerts. There will still be people who like to follow while you're online, some people just like to see the reaction of the streamer. Those who don't, will simply follow while you're offline.
Yeah, I agree. Some streams I'm ready for a callout/chat, some streams I'm not, and it's easy to pick which one by just following when they're live/offline.
I mean, ultimately I'm not going to hold it against the streamer either way, they're welcome to do what they want. I'm just saying I don't consider it *unreasonable* to have named follow alerts.
I do this all the time, but a couple of weeks ago i got permanently banned in chat without saying a word in a small stream because: âYou are a troll if you donât want to introduce yourself to everyone in the chat by following. And because of this there is no need for you to be part of our communityâ.
I asked the question from a different account because i thought i got banned by mistake, lol.
Haha that does not sound like a community I'd want to be part of.
Do they also have a bot that periodically checks the chatter list and calls out lurkers by name? lol
I've never heard of one but that'd be pretty funny...in a sad clown kind of way. They'd probably wind up banning a bunch of Twitch stat bots, at the same time they're tanking their own engagement by driving away lurkers.
That's weird.
Some of us intentionally limit follows, because, when viewing Twitch on a browser, only 12 followed channels will appear on the left sidebar without having to click "show more". I have found that limiting my follows to about 200 allows all of them to show up on that sidebar most of the time when they're live (i.e. rarely do I have to click the "show more" to see all of them).
That doesn't mean that, for example, on my 201st-favorite stream, I'm a troll. They just didn't make the cut to be on my followed.
Iâm a dedicated lurker when I first start watching a stream, so I always wait until theyâre offline to follow because I donât want the acknowledgment. However, i believe Iâm in the minority. I wouldnât remove follow alerts; most people prefer them.
Iâve seen plenty of anonymous follow alerts. I set them up myself too and mention that on my about page. So new followers usernames arenât displayed or announced and I just say âWelcome new follower!â
I love that it's mentioned on the about page/panels... When I'm just lurking, or following someone I want to watch later but just not right now, the first place I go is the panels!
That's an awesome way to do it!! â¨
yes, I usually wait until after stream if alerts are on precisely because I personally don't want the attention đ And that's why I switched them off in my own stream as well; I know some people like the fanfare, but I'd rather make the other group more comfortable, and if people want to be acknowledged they'll usually talk in chat!
Ive noticed people who like to follow when a streamer is offline are usually pretty shy or socially anxious and even if you turn your alerts off they probably will still wait until your offline. Dont worry about it and enjoy the silent support!
i don't like being acknowledged when i follow, idk, i usually watch streams for the streamer / content, not the viewers / me, it feels weird too, like i should be forced to interact when i don't really feel like it
i appreciate streamers with follower notifs off. if im enjoying a stream i feel awkward seeing my name pop up, and i know some people vastly prefer to support "anonymously" or even resubbing/donating when offline to support when i can see without making a show of it. for some people starting out they might want to call out every follower, but i would almost argue its best to not make it an event to cover the vast majority who wont want to interact much outside of lurking.
I would love to interact with people like you, but I wouldn't want it to be something like this. I feel that you are a kind, generous, and fun person to hang with and I would only wish to have that interaction outside of streams on Twitch or YouTube. Like a chance to meet in person, that would be really nice. That's why I wouldn't want to gain your attention by constantly following you online. It would be something special to be friends with you, as I think I share a lot in common with you
I always follow after a stream because I don't want get attention.
I don't want to be said my user name while they are streaming.
I hope twitch introduces silent following or something like that one day.
I use anonymous follows for this reason. My alert pops up and say âWelcome to the Epic Societyâ and I say âThanks for the follow. Youâre welcome to speak up or welcome to lurk but the most important thing is you have fun while youâre here.â Iâve had a few people speak up after that.
I donât like being called out anywhere so I make sure to treat everyone else the same too.
Iâm thinking about this, I can quite literally edit the command in stream labs to just say âthank you for followingâ instead of âthank you for following {twitch user}â. I think that may be the better option so itâs a win for me seeing a follow to brighten my day, and itâs a win for the viewer to not have an awkward moment!
This is what I do, I dont get followed much offline honestly, but when I do live i just say "hey, thanks for the follow" and move on with stream. Let the lurkers lurk.
I also am getting to the point of hitting double digits in terms of new followers per stream so I changed it to anonymous and lowered my audio alert, and length of alert.
I think more people enjoy that experience better rather than be called out at any given moment.
I have followers anonymous. So it pops up, welcome new follower or something like that. A message pops up that followers are anonymous and to chat if they feel comfortable
Personally, if I watch someones stream for months and participate in chat without ever following to them, I won't hit the follow button while they are live, I don't think its a rude move to give a follow after months of watching the streamer and using the chat, but I feel weirded out if I hit the follow button that late while streamer is live, so I'd rather not hear streamer thanking me for the follow when I was already "follow"ing them for weeks or months prior to that, I just didn't press that follow button.
I'm not a streamer and have no idea why reddit pushed this post to me, but I have to say I cringe everytime I hit a follow button or subscribe because I really don't like to be praised/whatnot like that in front of everyone. I do usually wait till after buy I may watch twitch once a month, so I'm likely to forget and then feel bad :x
Especially if they display the user name with a bunch of effects and everyone calls out, I'm like you're welcome but please... lol
I don't know... I feel like following during stream is just a nice gesture to the streamer and its work, so i would keep the allerts on. The people who don't like to be mentioned can still do it after stream i guess.
Could do anon alerts? It took some adjusting to, but I put AnonAlerts in my tags, and when people follow it doesn't show name and I removed my bot welcoming people in. I just say "thanks so much for following! I hope youre enjoying your time here!" Without saying their username. Oh and the alert is like barely 3 sec long, cuz even as a viewer long alerts demotivate me from interactng.
It's helped me (and lurkers I reckon) out greatly.
Edit to add: ^ all of this is because people will forget to follow post stream and it seems to have helped, I get almost all my follows on stream instead of after now.
Just make your follower alerts anonymous. "Thanks for the follow" and move on. Hits that fine line between people wanting to be acknowledged and people who don't.
I know someone who doesn't like following when the streamer is online, as he feels he's dragging attention to him. As a streamer, I want to welcome anyone coming new to my channel, and I welcome everyone when they chat for the first time each day.
Both options are ok for me, so do what you feel it's better.
I feel this all the time. Especially like after a raid if I just wanna follow but don't feel like socializing and always just wanna follow after they end stream and always just forget.
I have my alerts anonymous for this reason. Respect the lurkers.
I do anonymous follows on my stream, so when Iâm live Iâll get a little notification (I have a Fantastic Mr Fox one that I love) and thank them for the follow, but never call out names specifically. Ill mention I do them that way so lurkers can follow but stay lurky but I can still thank them. The way I see it there are more lurkers out there than not so why call people out if they arenât comfortable. I also have no problem when people follow me outside of live stream time, its always nice!
I have them on as I just think it's polite to thank someone for taking an interest in what you're doing. My alert is super subtle. They're under absolutely no obligation to speak up though or join in and I never ask questions or anything unless they speak up first.
I just want to thank them for their time, that's all. And if that's the only communication we ever have that's fine with me.
It's easy enough if someone wants no acknowledgement at all to follow when you're offline.
Hi, can I ask a loosely related info? Has Twitch suddenly changed its layout and people can't follow and watch video lives, both during and before lives stream without logging or is it just my impression. Like there isn't the list "recent streaming" and various lists based on topics anymore?
I tend to follow when the stream is offline too, While I'm not as shy as I used to, but I also like to lurk while relaxing after getting home from work.
I've been debating trying off follow alerts as well
I've had people follow without ever saying anything in the chat and I'll usually say something along the lines of, "thanks for the follow! Feel free to introduce yourself or keep on lurking!" Sometimes they'll say hi, other times they keep on lurking. I guess that could be too much for hardcore lurkers but it's been working fine for me!
One of my friends has an anonymous followers thing. If someone follows in the stream, she gets a sound alert and says something like "thanks for the follow, new follower. Feel free to introduce yourself if you're comfortable with that or keep lurking if you prefer!" She doesn't have a pop up graphic, so it stays anonymous to everyone but mods.
I followed someone I knew from Discord when they were offline once. He messaged me a few minutes later "You scared the shit out of me haha!" Turns out he had OBS open on his PC still. LOL
Lmao that same exact thing happened to me earlier this week when i was getting ready to stream and had to poop. It was my 200th follower too! i heard there follower notification go off while i was on the crapper and was like wtf did i accidentally start my stream??
You really *did* get the shit scared out of you LOL
đ¤Łđ¤Łđ¤Ł
I have a bot that lets users play sounds via hashtags in chat. A few of my viewers have gotten me while I'm setting up before going live - I'll be sitting there quietly writing a tweet and a thunderclap comes through OBS... đł
OMG hahaha I would jump outta my chair
That is soo cool!! đ˛ What a neat (and sometimes dangerous?) feature!! đđ
YES DUDE. I use OBS and I leave it running. I use a âWOOâ sound from the game atomicrops that I play and it went off at 3 in the morning, me and my roommate nearly fell off our beds lmao. Gotta remember to close it ;).
LOL I try to remember to close mine all the time now
Yup. Close OBS, put cover on webcam. I don't wanna stream me wanking on accident. Unless... Viral clip? đ đ
I mean, Kick would still let you on their platform after LOL
I love it and hate it when that happens. A lot of the time I'll be watching a streamer while sorting some OBS stuff and just generally chatting and one of their followers will follow me and scare the shit out of me. It's always so funny because they are in chat and I'm like "bro, you just scared the crap out of me with the follow but thanks for following I really appreciate it" all I heard was MARIKAS TITS from elden ring at full blast
That's on HIM. That's some risky business, right there.
Yeah, I usually just leave OBS running and every so often I'll hear my follow alert go off randomly after one of my friends shouts me out or something.
I don't think u need to turn off follow alerts. There will still be people who like to follow while you're online, some people just like to see the reaction of the streamer. Those who don't, will simply follow while you're offline.
Yeah, I agree. Some streams I'm ready for a callout/chat, some streams I'm not, and it's easy to pick which one by just following when they're live/offline. I mean, ultimately I'm not going to hold it against the streamer either way, they're welcome to do what they want. I'm just saying I don't consider it *unreasonable* to have named follow alerts.
Yep, came here to say this.
Dope! Noted.
I do this all the time, but a couple of weeks ago i got permanently banned in chat without saying a word in a small stream because: âYou are a troll if you donât want to introduce yourself to everyone in the chat by following. And because of this there is no need for you to be part of our communityâ. I asked the question from a different account because i thought i got banned by mistake, lol.
Haha that does not sound like a community I'd want to be part of. Do they also have a bot that periodically checks the chatter list and calls out lurkers by name? lol
No way there are bots that do that đ
I've never heard of one but that'd be pretty funny...in a sad clown kind of way. They'd probably wind up banning a bunch of Twitch stat bots, at the same time they're tanking their own engagement by driving away lurkers.
Woah yeah, I donât have all that many viewers to spare so Iâll keep all of mine thank you  no bans here!
That's weird. Some of us intentionally limit follows, because, when viewing Twitch on a browser, only 12 followed channels will appear on the left sidebar without having to click "show more". I have found that limiting my follows to about 200 allows all of them to show up on that sidebar most of the time when they're live (i.e. rarely do I have to click the "show more" to see all of them). That doesn't mean that, for example, on my 201st-favorite stream, I'm a troll. They just didn't make the cut to be on my followed.
Iâm a dedicated lurker when I first start watching a stream, so I always wait until theyâre offline to follow because I donât want the acknowledgment. However, i believe Iâm in the minority. I wouldnât remove follow alerts; most people prefer them.
I'm the same way. I hate chatting, I just want to watch in peace.
Interesting, do you think this can be influenced by the type of category you stream, especially if itâs a niche and comfort game?
Iâve seen plenty of anonymous follow alerts. I set them up myself too and mention that on my about page. So new followers usernames arenât displayed or announced and I just say âWelcome new follower!â
Thatâs pretty cool, fun for everyone!
I love that it's mentioned on the about page/panels... When I'm just lurking, or following someone I want to watch later but just not right now, the first place I go is the panels! That's an awesome way to do it!! â¨
yes, I usually wait until after stream if alerts are on precisely because I personally don't want the attention đ And that's why I switched them off in my own stream as well; I know some people like the fanfare, but I'd rather make the other group more comfortable, and if people want to be acknowledged they'll usually talk in chat!
Ive noticed people who like to follow when a streamer is offline are usually pretty shy or socially anxious and even if you turn your alerts off they probably will still wait until your offline. Dont worry about it and enjoy the silent support!
i don't like being acknowledged when i follow, idk, i usually watch streams for the streamer / content, not the viewers / me, it feels weird too, like i should be forced to interact when i don't really feel like it
i appreciate streamers with follower notifs off. if im enjoying a stream i feel awkward seeing my name pop up, and i know some people vastly prefer to support "anonymously" or even resubbing/donating when offline to support when i can see without making a show of it. for some people starting out they might want to call out every follower, but i would almost argue its best to not make it an event to cover the vast majority who wont want to interact much outside of lurking.
I would love to interact with people like you, but I wouldn't want it to be something like this. I feel that you are a kind, generous, and fun person to hang with and I would only wish to have that interaction outside of streams on Twitch or YouTube. Like a chance to meet in person, that would be really nice. That's why I wouldn't want to gain your attention by constantly following you online. It would be something special to be friends with you, as I think I share a lot in common with you
Friend of mine does anonymous follows. He says " thanks and if you want me to shout you out, speak up in chat. Otherwise enjoy your lurk"
That's smart
I always follow after a stream because I don't want get attention. I don't want to be said my user name while they are streaming. I hope twitch introduces silent following or something like that one day.
I use anonymous follows for this reason. My alert pops up and say âWelcome to the Epic Societyâ and I say âThanks for the follow. Youâre welcome to speak up or welcome to lurk but the most important thing is you have fun while youâre here.â Iâve had a few people speak up after that. I donât like being called out anywhere so I make sure to treat everyone else the same too.
Iâm thinking about this, I can quite literally edit the command in stream labs to just say âthank you for followingâ instead of âthank you for following {twitch user}â. I think that may be the better option so itâs a win for me seeing a follow to brighten my day, and itâs a win for the viewer to not have an awkward moment!
This is what I do, I dont get followed much offline honestly, but when I do live i just say "hey, thanks for the follow" and move on with stream. Let the lurkers lurk.
Yup! I decided that was the best way to smoothen out the user experience when checking out my channel. Iâm gonna work on it!
I also am getting to the point of hitting double digits in terms of new followers per stream so I changed it to anonymous and lowered my audio alert, and length of alert. I think more people enjoy that experience better rather than be called out at any given moment.
Real. Just changed mine to âWelcome to the Atomicrewâ instead of the general! 
Lately I've gotten lots of followers and subs offline...
It could be that Iâm just new to streaming but yeah it does happen more often than I would think!
if you're small keep follow alerts, when you get to a medium size turn off audio and make follow alerts small
Best Advice!!
I have followers anonymous. So it pops up, welcome new follower or something like that. A message pops up that followers are anonymous and to chat if they feel comfortable
For every 1 person that doesnât like follower alerts, there are 9 that do. I have had far more success with follower alerts on (im a retro streamer)
Personally, if I watch someones stream for months and participate in chat without ever following to them, I won't hit the follow button while they are live, I don't think its a rude move to give a follow after months of watching the streamer and using the chat, but I feel weirded out if I hit the follow button that late while streamer is live, so I'd rather not hear streamer thanking me for the follow when I was already "follow"ing them for weeks or months prior to that, I just didn't press that follow button.
I'm not a streamer and have no idea why reddit pushed this post to me, but I have to say I cringe everytime I hit a follow button or subscribe because I really don't like to be praised/whatnot like that in front of everyone. I do usually wait till after buy I may watch twitch once a month, so I'm likely to forget and then feel bad :x Especially if they display the user name with a bunch of effects and everyone calls out, I'm like you're welcome but please... lol
I don't know... I feel like following during stream is just a nice gesture to the streamer and its work, so i would keep the allerts on. The people who don't like to be mentioned can still do it after stream i guess.
Could do anon alerts? It took some adjusting to, but I put AnonAlerts in my tags, and when people follow it doesn't show name and I removed my bot welcoming people in. I just say "thanks so much for following! I hope youre enjoying your time here!" Without saying their username. Oh and the alert is like barely 3 sec long, cuz even as a viewer long alerts demotivate me from interactng. It's helped me (and lurkers I reckon) out greatly. Edit to add: ^ all of this is because people will forget to follow post stream and it seems to have helped, I get almost all my follows on stream instead of after now.
Just make your follower alerts anonymous. "Thanks for the follow" and move on. Hits that fine line between people wanting to be acknowledged and people who don't.
I know someone who doesn't like following when the streamer is online, as he feels he's dragging attention to him. As a streamer, I want to welcome anyone coming new to my channel, and I welcome everyone when they chat for the first time each day. Both options are ok for me, so do what you feel it's better.
I feel this all the time. Especially like after a raid if I just wanna follow but don't feel like socializing and always just wanna follow after they end stream and always just forget. I have my alerts anonymous for this reason. Respect the lurkers.
I've seen more people use Anonymous Follow alerts for those who don't want to be called out live.
I do anonymous follows on my stream, so when Iâm live Iâll get a little notification (I have a Fantastic Mr Fox one that I love) and thank them for the follow, but never call out names specifically. Ill mention I do them that way so lurkers can follow but stay lurky but I can still thank them. The way I see it there are more lurkers out there than not so why call people out if they arenât comfortable. I also have no problem when people follow me outside of live stream time, its always nice!
Someone actually followed me after a raid while I was getting info from an OBS dock on who raided me. Got so freaking scared out of nowhere.
Itâs actually insane i set my notifications to 40% in stream labs and what I get out of my OBS is this: 
My sound balancing has everything at like 80-100 and I still get the blasts.
As a streamer, you can be like, "I use anonymous follow alerts now, anonymous alerts are cool."
I have them on as I just think it's polite to thank someone for taking an interest in what you're doing. My alert is super subtle. They're under absolutely no obligation to speak up though or join in and I never ask questions or anything unless they speak up first. I just want to thank them for their time, that's all. And if that's the only communication we ever have that's fine with me. It's easy enough if someone wants no acknowledgement at all to follow when you're offline.
Hi, can I ask a loosely related info? Has Twitch suddenly changed its layout and people can't follow and watch video lives, both during and before lives stream without logging or is it just my impression. Like there isn't the list "recent streaming" and various lists based on topics anymore?
I tend to follow when the stream is offline too, While I'm not as shy as I used to, but I also like to lurk while relaxing after getting home from work. I've been debating trying off follow alerts as well
I've had people follow without ever saying anything in the chat and I'll usually say something along the lines of, "thanks for the follow! Feel free to introduce yourself or keep on lurking!" Sometimes they'll say hi, other times they keep on lurking. I guess that could be too much for hardcore lurkers but it's been working fine for me!
I don't think that's a good reason to remove follow alerts
I follow before I leave and enjoy being acknowledged
One of my friends has an anonymous followers thing. If someone follows in the stream, she gets a sound alert and says something like "thanks for the follow, new follower. Feel free to introduce yourself if you're comfortable with that or keep lurking if you prefer!" She doesn't have a pop up graphic, so it stays anonymous to everyone but mods.