When you’re new to streaming, it can be difficult to know where and how to meet new, like-minded people. It’s true – to many, the idea of networking and building a new community from scratch can be daunting, to say the least. This is especially true if you’re new to Twitch or to the game that you’re streaming. Over time, it can be discouraging to feel like you don’t know anyone on the platform that you can vibe or grow with.
If you’ve ever had the thought that you’ll never be able to grow your stream, you’re not alone. Many others feel the same way! In fact, this is exactly why communities for new or small streamers exist: so that they can begin establishing a network where they can meet friends and potentially grow.
Twitch Communities are Now Twitch Tags
Back in the day, Twitch had an integrated communities feature on their platform. In September 2018, Twitch made the decision to remove the Communities feature, replacing it with tags instead. Tags are great in their own way because they let streamers “categorize” their channel as they are live, making it easier for potential viewers to find them through search terms. However, making communities obsolete has left many smaller streamers out in the cold, unsure of how to network.
Although you can still use Twitch tags for networking these days (by searching for specific terms you think might relate to you and visiting live channels where you can then talk and make friends with some streamers), it’s not the easiest way to do it. Plus the simple fact is a lot of streamers have been avoiding the use of tags and many other streams are just not tagged at all. So it can truly be difficult to find others like you.
An option you can do is to just tag your channel with terms you want others to find you with, but that brings other problems altogether – such as the tag being nonexistent (you can’t make your own tags).
Where Can New or Small Streamers Network?
An easy way to start networking and finding new friends you can grow with is by checking the game or category you’re streaming in. You can scroll down to streams with viewer counts similar to your own and hang out in their chats, interact with them, try to invite them to play video games with you, and whatnot. Making friends this way is entirely possible, but if you prefer going to established communities, there are some that exist online.
You can find Twitch communities on Facebook (groups), Discord, and Reddit. We’ve put a list of some of the best of them below to help you get started.
Facebook Groups for Twitch Streamers
Although a lot of people have been trying to avoid Facebook as a platform, there are still some great resources you can check out there. There are a few great Facebook groups where you can make friends, ask for advice, share your experiences, and more.
TSAN – Twitch Streamers and Networking
The name of this Facebook group pretty much says all you need to know. TSAN or Twitch Streamers and Networking is a group with almost 17,000 members. In this group, you can network and meet new people so you can potentially grow your stream. TSAN’s goal is to bring like-minded Twitch streamers from all over the world together into one community. When TSAN first got started, it was a small and informal group. Now, it’s a non-profit organization that’s dedicated to supporting streams – no matter the size.
TSAN is a private Facebook group, but it’s easy enough to join. There’s a join screen where you’ll have to answer a few questions and read and agree to rules, then an admin will either approve or decline your membership. They also have a Discord server.
Twitch.tv Streamers
Twitch.Tv Streamers calls itself the largest Facebook group or community for Twitch streamers. It has nearly 50,000 members as of this writing, and it’s quite active with almost a hundred posts a day. This is a great place for you if you want to find other streamers to network with and just work with in general. There are also polls and questions that other streamers ask that you might find educational.
Twitch Networking
This server has almost 64,000 members at the moment. It’s extremely active, with more than 1,000 posts every day. Here, you can find other streamers like you who have the same goals and aspirations. However, some posts are Follow 4 Follow, which isn’t the best method for true growth.
Discord Servers for Smaller Streamers
Discord has truly grown to become a massive part of many people’s lives. Gamers use it to keep in touch with their friends, streamers use it for growing their communities, companies use it to host and keep in touch with their communities, and streamers use it to network with each other. Here are some servers you can look at if you’re a small streamer looking to find others like you.
Small Streamer Community
Small Streamer Community has over 12,000 members as of this writing. It’s a great server for newer streamers or small streamers who are trying to achieve their goals – like reaching Twitch affiliate!
On this server, you can find others like you that you can collaborate with. You are also allowed to discuss updates, ask questions, share your stream setup, and more. Self-promotion is allowed as well, so you can drop your link whenever you go live!
This server has dedicated text channels and voice channels where you can drop in to see if others may want to join you for a game or two.
Stream Promote
Stream Promote is a smaller server with around 6,000 members. It’s a great place for you if you’re a newer streamer looking to make new friends. Occasionally, Stream Promote holds stream raids, though the mechanics of those are somewhat unclear.
On this server they have active channels like:
- Intros (where you can shoutout your channel)
- Selfies
- Daily questions
- Pets
They even have a recently watched channel, and so many more.
On Stream Promote you’ll also find chat hubs, voice channels, and a section where you can self-promote when you click the go live button. Needless to say, self-promotion is allowed!
Let’s Do This Streamers
Let’s Do This Streamers is a bit bigger than Stream Promote, with just under 11,000 current members. This server is another one that allows you to promote your stream whenever you go live. It seems to be a very active server with many members chatting daily. They also have levels that you can achieve by chatting over time.
They have channels you can be active in, like:
- LFP or looking for player, where you can find other people to play video games with or plan play sessions in the future
- Self-promo or advertisement section, where you can plug your link when you are live
Let’s Do This Streamers also allows you to link your Twitch account to your Discord profile so that your name will show as live in the members’ list.
Subreddits for Streamers
Although it may sometimes get a bad rap, Reddit is a fantastic place in many ways. Often, when people want to learn about something or find the solution to a problem, the first thing they’ll do is try to find the answer on Reddit – and for good reason. A lot of people hang out on that website, and many of them are eager to share their knowledge and skills where they can. Streamers have also established communities on the platform, with some having over a million members.
Here are some of the best and most popular subreddits for Twitch content creators.
r/Twitch
It’d be nearly impossible to make a list of streamer subreddits without mentioning the biggest one: r/Twitch. This subreddit is one of the best places to learn everything you know, and often from other streamers just like you. r/Twitch has over a million members, and you’ll find that it’s active almost all hours of every single day. This subreddit has guides, success stories, advice, tech support, and so much more. It’s a great place to just learn as much as you can, and maybe make a friend or two to boot.
r/SmallStreamers
r/Twitch is a subreddit for streamers of any size. r/SmallStreamers is more dedicated towards smaller content creators, with the goal of helping them find their success. With more than 18,000 members, it’s a great place to find other streamers you can play games with and do collaborations with. Promoting your stream is also allowed here.
Conclusion
The removal of Twitch communities doesn’t mean you’ll never be able to find others who have the same interests and goals as you. Do your best to hang out in others’ streams and raid communities around the same size as you to befriend people who you can grow alongside over time. Foster the community you want – you are in control of who is allowed in!
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