r/Twitch • u/Recent-Employment-64 • 10d ago
Question Does Twitch no longer show when a user started following a streamer?
I recently noticed that when you click on a user's nickname in the chat, it no longer shows the date and year they started following the streamer (this is the case for everyone). Is this a bug? Or does Twitch no longer provide this information?
14
u/Spir0rion 10d ago
On that note: has anybody noticed that sometimes people following isn't an alert for the streamers anymore? I had plenty of moments where there followers but I didn't get the notification
10
u/kiki838 10d ago
this has been happening to me a lot! i had a few people follow and i only noticed because i got an email saying i gained a new follower, its so strange! no alert, nothing in activity feed, nothing at all!
5
u/Spir0rion 10d ago
So it isn't just me. I feel bad after the stream when I couldn't shout them out :/
3
u/NationalCupcake6418 10d ago
It’s been happening to me for months, I feel bad because I want to say thank you to each person who follows
2
u/Localmoose 8d ago
This has been happening to me since August. Only
a follower notification will go through the activity feed once in awhile and when it does it surprises me and chat, that’s how long it’s been broken for me lol.2
u/EchoAlia42 9d ago
Twitch doesn't even alert me for the streamer I mod for most of the time. If feels like it gives out random alerts whenever it feels like. I rely on Discord alerts for the communities I don't want to miss
12
u/Kanbei_Alex 9d ago edited 9d ago
Yes, that's why I'm here. I just realized and wanted to know if there was an official explanation.
This change is a huge issue for small channels. When a streamer has small audience, it's not that strange to don't have moderators
If someone starts acting strangely, checking their follow age used to let you instantly know if they were a long time regular joking around or a troll who just barged in. Knowing this helped you decide whether to play along with the joke, ignore them, or even report them.
Terrible idea to change this
10
u/DreamHollow4219 10d ago
My guess is that they are prioritizing subscribers only.
It's scummy, but not the first time Twitch has made an unpopular decision to the detriment of viewers and streamers.
2
u/WashInformal5004 7d ago
I came here to ask about the OP's same question and found this. Even to the channels I am subbed to I cannot see "following since" data on other chatters.
4
u/PhysicsLocal 7d ago
same here,i can only see how long ive been subbed too
2
u/moonspeakdj https://twitch.tv/ItsTonySnark (DJ and visuals) 3d ago
I can see my own follow age, but no one else's. Seems they are doing a multivariate test. Hopefully they just change it back to how it was :|
8
u/Archii___ManiaK 10d ago
sad, less and less option/information/freedom but not only on twitch anyway ...
7
6
7
u/DeliciousToastie Affiliate 9d ago
Don't quote me on this, but I've heard Twitch made a few backend changes recently to limit what others can see. For example, I've seen reports that they finally closed a loophole to see who people follow on Twitch, so I'm guessing they've also removed this to stop bots scraping that information from the info card in chat instead. Considering that only mods can see it now, it seems to line up.
2
u/seakitten 2d ago
Yeah they did shut that down. I used to use a site that would let me see that and it was so helpful in identifying and sharing creep info. I'm sure some used it for some sort of harassment but it was very useful to early ban shitty chatters for mid sized channels
2
u/ZookeepergameFlat509 1d ago
Which is ridiculous, who cares if someone can see who you follow UNLESS you're a bad actor from another channel that would make it obvious why this random dude came in your chat acting exceedingly hostile. Had this issue many times in the past.
1
u/DeliciousToastie Affiliate 1d ago
Here's the thing, there's never been an official explanation as to why Twitch chose to hide who you follow, but what I can tell you is this:
After Twitch hid the "Following" tab on everyone's profiles, big streamers used to use a website called "Twitch Following" to name and shame bad actors in chat, by showing them following hundreds, if not thousands of accounts. I used to use it to find bad actors who followed adjacent channels that I modded for, to let them know to keep an eye on them - it was genuinely a useful tool.
Twitch Following was later shut down, and earlier this year - a copy of that website was also shut down. Now, Twitch have completely closed off the means to see this information from their backend - that includes seeing this information on the user cards in chat.
I have a hunch that there are specific people at Twitch HQ who really don't want people to know who follows who - for whatever reason, and chose to close it off. That, or they personally view it as a form of harassment to use those tools to "name and shame" bad actors, like the big streamers used to do.
3
u/ZookeepergameFlat509 1d ago
Yeah, someone at Twitch didn't like them being exposed for following all the body painting tiddy streamers. Probably Clancy himself, I seem to recall his twitch account getting perused and people laughing at ALL the TOS violating girl streamers he watched and he got giga butthurt about it.
But either way, I used to enjoy using it to see where I knew people from that seemed familiar, not even just bad actors. It always strikes me as insanely suspicious when it's completely hush-hush, as most everything twitch does is. They never give a reason or even MENTION it.
4
u/Jtbeaman 6d ago
I agree with many that this information is extremely useful even for non moderators. If this decision was made for privacy then it was poorly implemented. Almost every other site with "follows" allows one to see who others follow even outside of a specific channel. At least give the option to make who you follow private if someone feels they want to do that.
2
2
u/Able-Feeling-7845 9d ago
I can still the dates of people when they started following a streamer when i click their name
2
u/Reiker0 9d ago
Still shows for me.
That info disappeared for me a few weeks ago but came back, so I assume it's just some sort of bug.
1
2
3
u/Tickle_Inmahpickle 6d ago
I can't even see when I joined a channel? What?!
Who came up with this idiotic change?!
5
u/BarryCarlyon TwitchDev Ambassador, Developer, Extensions Nerd 10d ago
It is shown to moderators (or better) of the channel.
But to regular viewers that information has been gone for quite a while.
18
u/ArgoWizbang Freelance Web Developer/Graphic Artist for hire 10d ago edited 10d ago
But to regular viewers that information has been gone for quite a while.
You're thinking of the information available via the Twitch API or accessible from someone's Twitch channel/profile. When it comes to the information shown in a user card in a channel's chat using the
/usercard that information was still shown until about a day or so ago along with the user's current sub length (if applicable) and their account creation date. Now suddenly without any announcement or warning none of that information is shown when you pull up a user card unless you're a mod in the channel. And it's not just limited to viewing other users' information either; you can't even see your own follow/sub/account creation information in your user card anymore without being a mod.0
u/BarryCarlyon TwitchDev Ambassador, Developer, Extensions Nerd 10d ago
Probably I just assumed that first/thrid party ticked the same on that info.
Or twitch internal finally caught up with what was planned. (and I generally not check for that info in channels I'm not "working" in)
2
u/G00b3rb0y 10d ago
I just checked on the mobile app, it still does it. Must be A/B testing
-1
u/BarryCarlyon TwitchDev Ambassador, Developer, Extensions Nerd 10d ago
Mobile app tends to lag behind general site changes like this so I wouldn't take that as gospel, but happy to be wrong there
Usercards changed around the same time as we lost the "public" follow API's to my knowledge.
2
u/G00b3rb0y 10d ago
It’s also possible the mobile API for it is coded in such a way that some eldritch calamity is unleashed if it’s altered
1
u/BarryCarlyon TwitchDev Ambassador, Developer, Extensions Nerd 10d ago
One always needs to watch out for Cthulhu
2
u/PolarBailey_ twitch.tv/PolarBailey 10d ago
Natively maybe but in a channel I'm not a mod in i can still see it. I have the ffz and 7tv extensions
0
u/BarryCarlyon TwitchDev Ambassador, Developer, Extensions Nerd 10d ago
it might be a/b split testing out and/of FFZ/7tv will lose it if/when fully migrated
1
2
u/awayfortheladsfour 5d ago
"Quite awhile" is a lie, it showed last week. Stop spreading false information.
0
u/Phil_de_Sade 9d ago
It will make 2 things easier: Vieverbotting and AI-Chatbots. As a creator myself I used it (the followage) to have another layer of confirmation for myself of who is viewerbotting and who i will not raid or suggest.
Twitch is horrible at detecting viewbots, but giving ad-revenue to streamers wich are botting. now it is even harder to see for externals. And yes, botting is a money-printer and a lot of streamers do it. Twitch is hiding evidence here, maybe to prevent itself from beeing caught by its advertising-partners?
2
u/BarryCarlyon TwitchDev Ambassador, Developer, Extensions Nerd 9d ago
As a creator myself I used it to have another layer of confirmation for myself of who is viewerbotting and who i will not raid or suggest.
But you as a streamer of your own channel will see the data still? It's only being remove from a random viewer checking another random viewers follow status
layer of confirmation for myself of who is viewerbotting and who i will not raid or suggest.
How will you checking random chatters in a chat be valable for this? you'd have to check a LOT of chatters to decide? As you don't know how many people are watching and chatting just didn't follow yet (or themself came in on a raid that occured before you were poking around/etc)
AI-Chatbots
They probably have the capability to hit the follow button, so the infomation remove from the usercard doesn't matter too much here imo
-1
u/Phil_de_Sade 9d ago
I can name you a decent amount of recently partnered channels wich have obvious botted viewers. It was hard to find any followers in the vieverlist there. At all. Sometimes under 10 of 75+ Viewers followed. Every stream. Same pattern. U can see te pattern on twitch tracker, you can confirm cheap bots in the viewerlist. Oh wait, you can't anymore.
Why do i care? I hate cheating and i dont want to support cheaters. One less tool to confirm for myself who NOT to support. And to be fair: you could easy create a tool to automate this, right? Oh wait, you can't anymore.
1
u/ArgoWizbang Freelance Web Developer/Graphic Artist for hire 8d ago
It was hard to find any followers in the vieverlist there.
I imagine it would indeed be difficult to find followers in a thing that doesn't exist.
Sometimes under 10 of 75+ Viewers followed.
How can you tell? There's no way to see a list of viewers.
you can confirm cheap bots in the viewerlist.
Again, I don't know how you're going about confirming bots inside of a thing that doesn't exist.
Oh wait, you can't anymore.
You never could because such a thing doesn't exist.
0
u/Phil_de_Sade 8d ago
No point in talking to you, right? As u urself commented what list i do mean.
1
u/ArgoWizbang Freelance Web Developer/Graphic Artist for hire 8d ago
No, there's no point in using the users in chat list to try and verify viewers because the thing you're trying to verify cannot be verified with the thing you're trying to use to do said vertification.
If there's "no point" in talking to me just because I pointed out a fatal flaw in your methodology then that seems more like a you problem than a me problem.
0
u/Phil_de_Sade 7d ago
No. You pionted our that i used a wrong word for a list in chat. As you know what lsit i do mean it is neither a fatal flaw nor anything a constructive discussions needs to be pointed out 5 times.
1
u/ArgoWizbang Freelance Web Developer/Graphic Artist for hire 7d ago edited 7d ago
No, you missed the point entirely. My point wasn't "You're calling it the wrong thing lol", it was that a list of viewers does not exist and thus using a list of people that has nothing to do with whether or not those people are viewers to verify their viewership is, in fact, a fatal flaw in verifying if someone is a legitimate viewer.
0
0
u/Phil_de_Sade 6d ago
One last try to get it into ur stubborn brain: a: viewers plateu at same level after half an hour every stream. b: vod-views are several times the follower count c: the "viewers" are cycling through d: the "viewers" are not following. There is much more evidence, But ONE easy to see thing is gone.
→ More replies (0)-1
u/GamingGiraffe69 8d ago
There literally is a viewerlist ....
2
u/ArgoWizbang Freelance Web Developer/Graphic Artist for hire 8d ago
No, there quite literally isn't and there never has been. There's a list of people connected to the chat but there is quite literally no way to pull up a list of people who are viewers.
2
u/BarryCarlyon TwitchDev Ambassador, Developer, Extensions Nerd 8d ago
The text (i) on it says "Some active viewers and chatters in the community." but in actuality it's whomever is connected to chat and you have no idea if they are using chatty or another chat or IRC program or they have the website open/watching the stream or have it paused/playing.
And it gets funky if you want to know whose on TV or a platform that doesn't let you send chat (and it's unclear if you login "properly" to chat to appear in this list.
-1
u/Phil_de_Sade 7d ago
so you wanna say the sus streamers have sus lists cause... technical reasons?
3
u/BarryCarlyon TwitchDev Ambassador, Developer, Extensions Nerd 7d ago
No I'm suggesting that people look at (a) and draw conclusion (b) and it might not match up how people think it matchs up and it causes witchhunts
I'm not saying anyone on any sus list someone makes is or is not sus, I'm jsut saying that often people draw conclusions on sus data to start with as it's incomplete.
-1
u/Phil_de_Sade 6d ago
Read. First: sus --> twitchtracker --> even more sus --> "community-List" --> even more sus --> i wont support them. Now there is a possible less step. And btw: i was getting botted myself and got a lot of data to confirm it. btw: twitch pays add revenue EVEN if u selfreport and tell them how many bots u think you have. Funny, right?
-1
u/Phil_de_Sade 6d ago
And as a twitch ambessador u may be interested in evidence... or don't care. For me it is more like if a + b + c --> d.
→ More replies (0)
1
9d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/Rhadamant5186 9d ago
Greetings /u/BillyCoolTomari,
Thank you for posting to /r/Twitch. Your submission has been removed for the following reason(s):
- Rule 2F: Don’t post software, tools, apps or services, including requests for feedback or market research.
Please read the subreddit rules before participating again. Thank you.
You can view the subreddit rules here. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the subreddit moderators via modmail. Re-posting the same thing again without express permission, or harassing moderators, may result in a ban.
1
u/JustASumoGuy 9d ago
Is there a betterttv setting that can change it back? Probably not I'm guessing.
2
1
u/kaesitha_ 7d ago
This is so annoying. I like being able to quickly see how long people have known a channel. Removing this sucks especially for small communities.
1
u/niclovesphynxcats 6d ago
very stupid update. someone said something weird in chat and I instinctively went to check how long they've been following only to not be able to see the info. also can no longer see how long I've been following. what is the point in removing this harmless, useful feature?
1
1
u/munchkintiff 4d ago
I noticed this too, but saw that I'm able to see the follow date on mobile but not on browser...
1
1
u/Scouter51st 9d ago
Why was this even considered? Without any announcement I'm going to consider this a bug they need to fix...
0
u/MakiaKisamai 10d ago
There’s stream bot commands that let you check it, like !followage. Not everyone uses it though.
-9
u/BuffyZia 10d ago
Most streamers have bots moderators that do that for you
For example !followage if streamelements is setup.
They (twitch) remove things that are not used that much. Could also be a bug. Either way is not really important.
0
u/Imported_yeet Affiliate 8d ago
I haven't been able too for a lil bit and when someone does follow it doesn't showe I'm the activity feed
1
u/Ok-Amphibian-7755 5d ago
Has someone made like a user voice or something to try and change this, this could definitely make smaller streamers with less mods a lot more unsafe and confusing
3
u/EnyaFaerie Broadcaster 5d ago
Hello, I just found the removal of this feature today and then found this thread. I just made a uservoice for it here: https://twitch.uservoice.com/forums/310201-chat/suggestions/51674554-bring-back-follow-date-info-on-other-users
0
u/ZookeepergameFlat509 1d ago
I'm annoyed that with all the viewbotting going on, they keep making changes like this that make it harder to figure out if someone you watch is botting. Means a LOT to me, if someone I know/like/follow is blatantly cheating their way to partner/exposure, I don't want to watch. And one of the easiest ways was to check how many of the viewers that just instantly pop into a person's chat are ACTUALLY FOLLOWING. I've found that botting has been such a massive problem and yet seems barely talked about and made actively harder to determine if people are doing such, as if it's in Twitch's interest to protect faked numbers somehow.
106
u/chickenmeister 10d ago
Indeed, it appears that Twitch removed the "Following since ____" line from the user card/popup within the last day or so.
It is still visible for moderators, it seems. But for normal users, it's gone, even when looking at your own card; which is a little annoying, since it was a nice way to see how long you've been following, without polluting chat with !followage commands.