I understand as I write this that there are varying opinions on the issue of Twitch streamers cursing while they stream. I am not writing this to tell you what is right or wrong but rather I am giving my opinion as I see it.
Streamers Cursing – Why do I Care
Before I explain why I care about the issue, I would like to explain where I am coming from as I write this article. I have been watching Twitch streams for close to three years. I am mainly a participant in the Poker community but do enjoy gaming streamers as well and hop around from time to time. Streamers cursing while I watched poker didn’t seem to bother me at the time.
Naturally, as I was watching gamers on Twitch, I found myself watching with my sons on, mainly Fortnite. The problem I faced was streamers cursing; my boys are 11 and 13, I did not want them exposed to that kind of language. It was very hard to find appropriate streamers for my kids to watch. I assume its has become apparent that I am looking at this as a parent, and as a parent I believe that the streamers have a responsibility to watch their language as a large number of youngsters are watching their streams.
Streamers Cursing – How do They Handle it?
There are many large streamers in all games on Twitch, but I would like to discuss what I have seen as a watcher of these three streamers who all have different approaches to this issue. This is what I take away from the streams and in no way is an indictment on any of them. As Fortnite is the main game I, and my sons watch, these streamers all stream Fortnite.
- TFUE – I start with TFUE because watching his stream the issue really began to concern me. TFUE has become the biggest streamer of Fortnite at the moment. Naturally, as I enjoy watching Fortnite I checked out his stream. Hey, there were seventy thousand other people watching. As I started listening I was concerned as there was no control of the streamers cursing through the stream. It became difficult for me to watch and I had to leave when every other word was a curse. Then it really hit me as a parent, how many of the seventy thousand were kids?
- NINJA – Ninja is arguably the best know streamer on Twitch. I started watching a while back, but when my kids asked me to watch I had to say no because of the language. It wasn’t that bad, not every other word was a curse, but I still felt that this was an issue. It seems that Ninja saw the issue and responsibility and split his streaming. His first stream was without cursing, and Ninja at night was more adult friendly. Does that really solve the proble? I am not sure because the flaw is on Twitch’s side as there is no way for a streamer to keep kids away. I did see a streamer that was taking responsibility for his language.
- DAKOTAZ – While we were searching through the Fortnite streamers we came accross one that didn’t curse, DK, or Dakotaz. He was actually the first gamer I subbed to explaining that it was nice to have a streamer that I could watch with my kids. Dakotaz acknowledged the compliment but said, “BE CAREFUL”, because even though he doesbt curse he may play with others that do. I heard on one stream that the reason he doesn’t curse anymore on stream is because he considers it a job, and at no job before did he curse.
Streamers Cursing – Conclusion
Again, I remind you that I look at this as a parent and as a parent only. I allow my children to watch DAKOTAZ any time and NINJA, the streams without cursing. I feel that these streamers are doing what they can to mitigate the damage on youngsters. The ultimate reponsibility falls on us as parents. We have to know what our kids are doing and who they watch.