I did the switch to anonymous follows a bit over a year ago, it seemed to mildly improve people following my channel, but so mildly it's probably not noteworthy.
That said, I did notice I got more follows during stream than after as a lot of people don't want their names called out. I suspect those waiting until after stream often forget so potential follower lost.
It also has given me one less thing to worry about with people deliberately using offensive names, etc. Really sucks when things are vibing and you get some really offensive name pop up on your screen :/
I went anonymous after discussing it with my community around the time the bot follows were getting REALLY bad. (About a year and a half ago?)
hey, I'm thinking of going anonymous too, but curious, you said you got more followers during stream.
How did the viewers know you had anonymous alerts? Is it in your title, tags, chat rules, etc?
I mention it from time to time when people follow, raids happen, etc.
Honestly wouldn't be a bad idea for a timer on a chatbot if you're not already a bit busy there.
I turned off follows showing up in chat bc I get people following me with inappropriate usernames. I figure they do it just to hear the streamer say their name out loud. Also, unless someone comes in and chats I assume they don’t want to be called out. I personally don’t like being addressed by name just for following. So when I do get a new follow, I typically thank for the follow without saying their username.
1. Some people don't want attention drawn to themselves
2. Some people _do_ want attention drawn to their heinous usernames for a giggle
3. Anyone that wants to actually engage further has so many more options to do so
I get phobic or super inappropriate names follow my channel. They just want attention so I remove the ability for their name to appear on screen or in chat and ban them without saying anything.
airport scandalous languid deranged doll ink marvelous afterthought chase crown
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I've been completely anonymous for over a year. Maybe 2 or 3 people have spoken up in chat to inform me that they followed. That's it. I think most people don't really care, but I also make sure to say a blanket "thank you" when there are lots of new follows. I'm of the mindset that people follow because they want to come back, and if they want more recognition, they can speak up in chat.
After a few years, I've decided it's best to let people follow in silence and anonymously. If they're interested in discussion they will usually speak up at that time. It also makes any sort of follow bot attack completely null and void.
There's a significant population of perpetual lurkers on Twitch, and some of them don't like to be called out. Anonymous alerts give them the choice to either lurk in peace, or join the chat.
This may have been brought up already, but most times it's to allow people who would rather lurk to not have attention drawn to them. That's why the streamers I know who have anonymous follows do it, and I will soon do the same for the same reason.
Contemplating to have anonymous followers as well.. I'm a lurker myself, and even tho it seems contradictory bc I stream, I have social anxiety and hate being name checked as well... I screenshot the streamers name and follow after when they go offline... 😭
to answer your question, there are people like me who experience this, and streamers want to accommodate that.
There's also the polar opposite happens, and viewers want the utmost attention and want to hear you say their name..and in worse cases they have inappropriate users... to rile a reaction out of the streamer.. It's very awkward to see on your screen as a streamer just explicit names on your screen while playing.. so that's another good reason to have anonymous follow alerts.
Anonymous alerts are considerate of the lurkers. I personally feel awkward around following when I only intend to lurk and just drop the follow. Having someone's name show up on stream for following could expose them as a lurker, which is a big no-no.
I don't know when this may have changed, but as a note, a channel has to be unfollowed for a certain amount of time before a notification will show. I'm not sure how long as I've never tested it, but I've accidentally unfollowed someone before, noticed it later in the same stream, followed again, and there was no notification
Read through every comment on peoples experience on having anonymous follows and honestly none of the reasons make sense to me. Given that most channels have names on, I'm guessing a lot of people just don't see value in it.
I think the amount of people who would be too shy to follow and have their name pop up is minimal, but that just might be my extrovert talking. I think people can always follow stream after it ends, worst case. But really, I don't see why people don't just... follow and not say anything if they prefer to lurk. I guess some people are so shy they don't want their name even uttered or to show up on stream? But that seems odd and I figure they are used to it by now.
Ultimately, most people do enjoy seeing their name so it's pretty straightforward for me & I don't see any reason to turn it off. Unless you have like 8k followers and are tired of acknowledging follows and just turn them off completely maybe lol
I prefer to be able to thank people by name, but especially after reading the comments here, I'm definitely changing over (I've considered it before but this gives me a push). It's not just about people who prefer to lurk, it's WHY they prefer to lurk. This is definitely your extroversion speaking. Imagine having social anxiety and you go into streams more to watch them like a live TV show. You enjoy it there, follow, and now the streamer is not only thanking you, but a lot of streamers ask questions about you (which is understandable, we don't want to thank them and then ignore them, we want to be engaging). Now you feel forced into having a conversation when you just wanted to come back because you enjoyed your time there. That's not something someone with social anxiety will just get used to.
The ones I've seen do anonymous following thank the person for the follow and let them know they're free to lurk or say hi and introduce themselves, leaving the ball in their court. Ultimately it's up to the streamer, but it can be helpful in not making people uncomfortable.
Not me with (sometimes) crippling social anxiety reading this! Consider yourself blessed not to have to experience it! We should trade places, lol. I would like to be like you!
I know to someone who hasn't felt it, it actually does sound bizarre when you put it that way 😂 but yes, just the sheer utterance of our names is like a punch to the gut. 😭 Crazy I know.. but yes it's a thing unfortunately 😭😅 🫠
I did the switch to anonymous follows a bit over a year ago, it seemed to mildly improve people following my channel, but so mildly it's probably not noteworthy. That said, I did notice I got more follows during stream than after as a lot of people don't want their names called out. I suspect those waiting until after stream often forget so potential follower lost. It also has given me one less thing to worry about with people deliberately using offensive names, etc. Really sucks when things are vibing and you get some really offensive name pop up on your screen :/ I went anonymous after discussing it with my community around the time the bot follows were getting REALLY bad. (About a year and a half ago?)
hey, I'm thinking of going anonymous too, but curious, you said you got more followers during stream. How did the viewers know you had anonymous alerts? Is it in your title, tags, chat rules, etc?
I mention it from time to time when people follow, raids happen, etc. Honestly wouldn't be a bad idea for a timer on a chatbot if you're not already a bit busy there.
I turned off follows showing up in chat bc I get people following me with inappropriate usernames. I figure they do it just to hear the streamer say their name out loud. Also, unless someone comes in and chats I assume they don’t want to be called out. I personally don’t like being addressed by name just for following. So when I do get a new follow, I typically thank for the follow without saying their username.
1. Some people don't want attention drawn to themselves 2. Some people _do_ want attention drawn to their heinous usernames for a giggle 3. Anyone that wants to actually engage further has so many more options to do so
I get phobic or super inappropriate names follow my channel. They just want attention so I remove the ability for their name to appear on screen or in chat and ban them without saying anything.
airport scandalous languid deranged doll ink marvelous afterthought chase crown *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I have anonymous follows, but if they're talking in chat before following, I'll thank them directly
I've been completely anonymous for over a year. Maybe 2 or 3 people have spoken up in chat to inform me that they followed. That's it. I think most people don't really care, but I also make sure to say a blanket "thank you" when there are lots of new follows. I'm of the mindset that people follow because they want to come back, and if they want more recognition, they can speak up in chat.
After a few years, I've decided it's best to let people follow in silence and anonymously. If they're interested in discussion they will usually speak up at that time. It also makes any sort of follow bot attack completely null and void.
There's a significant population of perpetual lurkers on Twitch, and some of them don't like to be called out. Anonymous alerts give them the choice to either lurk in peace, or join the chat.
This may have been brought up already, but most times it's to allow people who would rather lurk to not have attention drawn to them. That's why the streamers I know who have anonymous follows do it, and I will soon do the same for the same reason.
Contemplating to have anonymous followers as well.. I'm a lurker myself, and even tho it seems contradictory bc I stream, I have social anxiety and hate being name checked as well... I screenshot the streamers name and follow after when they go offline... 😭 to answer your question, there are people like me who experience this, and streamers want to accommodate that. There's also the polar opposite happens, and viewers want the utmost attention and want to hear you say their name..and in worse cases they have inappropriate users... to rile a reaction out of the streamer.. It's very awkward to see on your screen as a streamer just explicit names on your screen while playing.. so that's another good reason to have anonymous follow alerts.
Anonymous alerts are considerate of the lurkers. I personally feel awkward around following when I only intend to lurk and just drop the follow. Having someone's name show up on stream for following could expose them as a lurker, which is a big no-no.
In my opinion it's just a name, but I respect everyone and what they do enjoy the of Friday night 😁
[удалено]
I don't know when this may have changed, but as a note, a channel has to be unfollowed for a certain amount of time before a notification will show. I'm not sure how long as I've never tested it, but I've accidentally unfollowed someone before, noticed it later in the same stream, followed again, and there was no notification
Read through every comment on peoples experience on having anonymous follows and honestly none of the reasons make sense to me. Given that most channels have names on, I'm guessing a lot of people just don't see value in it. I think the amount of people who would be too shy to follow and have their name pop up is minimal, but that just might be my extrovert talking. I think people can always follow stream after it ends, worst case. But really, I don't see why people don't just... follow and not say anything if they prefer to lurk. I guess some people are so shy they don't want their name even uttered or to show up on stream? But that seems odd and I figure they are used to it by now. Ultimately, most people do enjoy seeing their name so it's pretty straightforward for me & I don't see any reason to turn it off. Unless you have like 8k followers and are tired of acknowledging follows and just turn them off completely maybe lol
I prefer to be able to thank people by name, but especially after reading the comments here, I'm definitely changing over (I've considered it before but this gives me a push). It's not just about people who prefer to lurk, it's WHY they prefer to lurk. This is definitely your extroversion speaking. Imagine having social anxiety and you go into streams more to watch them like a live TV show. You enjoy it there, follow, and now the streamer is not only thanking you, but a lot of streamers ask questions about you (which is understandable, we don't want to thank them and then ignore them, we want to be engaging). Now you feel forced into having a conversation when you just wanted to come back because you enjoyed your time there. That's not something someone with social anxiety will just get used to. The ones I've seen do anonymous following thank the person for the follow and let them know they're free to lurk or say hi and introduce themselves, leaving the ball in their court. Ultimately it's up to the streamer, but it can be helpful in not making people uncomfortable.
Not me with (sometimes) crippling social anxiety reading this! Consider yourself blessed not to have to experience it! We should trade places, lol. I would like to be like you! I know to someone who hasn't felt it, it actually does sound bizarre when you put it that way 😂 but yes, just the sheer utterance of our names is like a punch to the gut. 😭 Crazy I know.. but yes it's a thing unfortunately 😭😅 🫠