Twitch rolls out video stories to challenge Instagram | TechCrunch

After launching photo and text stories last year, Twitch is now introducing video stories. Streamers can now film 60-second videos in the Twitch mobile app or upload a video from their camera roll.

Twitch sees the new feature as a way for streamers to take viewers with them when they’re on the go and away from their streaming set-up. While streamers typically share their short-form, behind-the-scenes content on places like Instagram Stories and maybe even TikTok, Twitch now wants them to do so on its platform, as well.

Snapchat popularized the story format over a decade ago. Since then the feature has been adopted by nearly every popular social media and messaging platform on the market, including Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp, Facebook, Telegram and others from smaller startups.

In addition to helping Twitch streamers reach audiences while out and about, the company also sees its take on video stories as a way for streamers to connect with their viewers. For instance, streamers can ask questions on video and encourage viewers to take a poll. Or, streamers can create personalized videos using the @mentions tool to shout-out new subscribers. Plus, streamers can use video stories to share clips and highlights of their recent streams. They can use it to promote upcoming streams or notify users of schedule changes, too.

Twitch hopes that its streamers will no longer have to use other social media platforms, like Instagram, to interact with viewers and keep them updated on their streams and day-to-day lives. However, it’s not likely that top creators would put all their eggs in one basket.

Although text and photo stories launched exclusively on mobile, Twitch is now making all stories accessible via the web app, as well. The company says it decided to make stories accessible via the web because that’s where viewers spend most on their time on Twitch.