Twitch PogChamp Replacements Are Bringing Out The Worst in Viewers

A few days ago Twitch announced that it would replace the OG PogChamp emote with a different creator every 24-hours, but the creative and inclusive idea has already brought out the worst in some of the platform’s viewers. The replacement PogChamp was meant to spotlight different creators and communities, but internet trolls have found a way to turn that spotlight into crosshairs firing hate speech at the featured streamer.

Following the attempted insurrection of the United States Capitol Building on January 6th, Twitch streamer Ryan “Gootecks” Gutierrez encouraged further violence via Twitter after a woman involved in the riot was fatally wounded. As a result of this tweet, Twitch made the decision to remove the PogChamp emote from its platform seeing as Gutierrez’s face is used for the emote. The day after the removal, Twitch announced a new PogChamp emote idea in which a new creator would be selected every 24-hours to be the new PogChamp of the day.

While Twitch’s intent was to distance itself from any kind of violence or negativity, some of the creators featured as the daily PogChamp have faced large waves of harassment and personal attacks. January 11th’s PogChamp was Critical Bard who was met with racist and homophobic comments. He was also attacked for his support of the BLM movement with clips from his stream being taken out of context. Critical Bard shared his experiences on his Twitter and expressed sympathy for those who follow in his footsteps. January 12th’s PogChamp features Deere, a streamer/drag queen who plays a variety of games on the platform. Deere shared a Reddit thread on Twitter focused on a discussion about her PogChamp emote. The thread had been locked from further comments for being “too contentious”, however, the replies to Twitch’s announcement tweet for Deere’s emote are just as hateful as the replies to Critical Bard’s PogChamp announcement.

Twitch’s idea for a daily PogChamp emote was derived from a different user-submitted idea which was to have a different face appear every time the PogChamp emote was used. While the current issues these creators are facing could have been avoided had that been the case, there is no reason why users should feel unsafe on Twitch when they are featured like this. If members of all communities are meant to feel safe on Twitch to express themselves for who they are, there should also be proactive measures put in place to ensure that these featured creators are not harassed.

The most appalling part of the PogChamp incident is the amount of hate Twitch’s viewers are able to muster when it comes to something as simple as an emote. Users were so upset that Critical Bard was a featured creator that they attempted to hack and doxx him. While it isn’t inherently Twitch’s fault for the way its community reacted, it shouldn’t be surprising if other creators decline its offer to be PogChamp of the day after the actions that were displayed by hateful users.

Sources: Critical Bard, Deere

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