Twitch is looking to make the experience of watching pre-recorded streams a little more interactive by adding a comment system that is tied to specific timestamps of the video — a little like the way Soundcloud does it. Following the update, which is rolling out to some channels this week, viewers will be able to leave comments, reply to others, and leave emotes.
Although Twitch is aimed at live-streaming, edited uploads and older, recorded streams do not necessarily have the benefit of that immediate interaction with fans. That is something Twitch wants to add to the on-demand part of its service and the new comment system should do just that.
The way it will work is that any interaction you have with an uploaded video on Twitch will be recorded for posterity. That means when others watch it, they get to see your comments and reply to them if they want, potentially building a conversation through time, but giving each viewer the chance to leave their thoughts on Twitch content, even if it’s pre-recorded, according to Engadget.
Twitch’s breakdown of the new feature also suggests that content creators could watch their own videos, or annotate them through the comment system so that users can enjoy a second layer of content with each video — kind of like a director’s cut or a commentary track.
Although the new feature is only being tested on a few channels for now, it will roll out to all of them in the coming weeks. When it does happen, streamers will have a number of new moderation tools to keep their commenters in check, as well as tracking replies and making it easier to respond to viewers.
Although this feature is getting the go-ahead at Twitch, that does not mean it is done tweaking it. If you have any ideas you would like to bring to Twitch’s attention, especially when it comes to uploads and highlights, you can submit them on the official Uservoice platform.
