Nowadays, in the fast pace world, online platforms are growing enormously. We can make revenue by live streaming, game streaming and making video content. Twitch and YouTube are the most used and popular platforms to perform these activities. Both the platforms are different from each other in one or many aspects.
Twitch vs YouTube
The main difference between Twitch and YouTube is that twitch is a popular live streaming platform for live streamers whereas YouTube is a platform for watching and creating video content on various topics. In the search engine, Twitch shows up the popular streamings with more number viewers at the top and fewer at the bottom. YouTube shows up the videos according to the topic searched, disregard the popularity of YouTubers.
Twitch was introduced first in America which was a daughter company of Amazon firm. Twitch is an online live streaming network platform that is used for live streaming of games, broadcast, etc. It is also used to stream esports broadcasts, music streaming and in-person lifestreaming. This platform was first introduced in the year June 2011.
YouTube is an online platform where video contents are available. It was introduced by Steve Chen, Jawed Karim and Chad Hurley in the year 2005 on the 14th of February. It is owned by Google and is considered the most visited platform after google. The headquarters are situated in San Bruno, California, United States. Other than advertisements, YouTube generates revenue from exclusive video content.
Comparison Table Between Twitch and YouTube
| Parameters of Comparison | Twitch | YouTube |
| Definition | Twitch is a live streaming platform | YouTube is mainly a video creating platform |
| Founded in the year | June, 2011 | 14 February, 2005 |
| Founded by | Justin Kan and Emmett Shear | Steve Chen, Jawed Karim and Chad Hurley |
| Owned company | Amazon | |
| Headquarters | San Francisco | San Bruno |
What is Twitch?
Twitch is a platform for live streaming majorly for gaming purposes and sports broadcasts. It was launched by the USA in the year June 2011 worldwide. It was founded by Justin Kan and Emmett Shear in the year 2007, but it finally went public in the year 2011. The main headquarter is in San Francisco, California, USA.
At first, there was a live stream of Justin Kan’s life on Justin.tv. Later, it was observed that some of the viewers were more interested in broadcasting their own life rather than watching Justin’s lifestream. This idea made Justin.tv popular and increased the number of viewers day by day. The gaming channel on the Justin.tv was named Twitch.
Twitch became very well-known that it shut down Justin.tv and even Amazon gave an offer of $1 billion for Twitch and owned it. Some questioned this decision of amazon but got the answer after a few years. Its popularity started taking a peak from the year of launch itself. There was an average of 20+ million viewers daily and 3+ million broadcasters on Twitch.
The only way to grow on Twitch is by the mantra “ABC” which means “Always be casting”. If you don’t stream videos consistently, then your channel might not grow. Twitch has the most number of visitors as compared to any other platform. It is the best platform to live stream your gaming skills and earn side income.
What is YouTube?
YouTube is an online video creating a platform for watching and making videos on different topics and niches. This platform was made by three friends, they are- Steve Chen, Chad Hurley and Jawed Karim. They launched this program in the year 2005 on the eve of Valentine’s day.
YouTube is expanding its features by all the possible means it can. This platform is not as good as Twitch for live streaming due to fewer features and may feel tricky. They are improving their platform for streaming. YouTube primarily was built to serve as a video portal rather than as a streaming platform.
YouTube has a large audience base than Twitch based on non-live content. But for gaming purposes, Twitch is a winner. YouTubers requires a lot of hard work to get started earning revenue out of it. The minimum qualification to earn revenue is a bit higher than any other platform.
So, consistency is the only key for YouTube and patience is of utmost required. But once you start earning revenue out of it, there is no looking back, if you provide good quality content.
YouTube is a great platform to make videos of your wish, which on reaching a certain number of subscribers will make revenue. Like Twitch, here the mantra to grow is “ABC” which means “Always be Consistent”. Consistency is the only key to growing your channel and gaining subscribers and likes.
Main Differences Between Twitch and YouTube
- Twitch is mainly a live streaming platform where the broadcasters can live stream whereas YouTube is a platform where YouTubers can create content in the form of videos and stream live as well.
- Twitch gives less opportunity to the new broadcasters to appear on the top in the list of searches as compared to YouTube.
- The headquarters of Twitch is situated in San Francisco, US whereas YouTube is situated in San Bruno, US.
- YouTube is older in the market than Twitch. YouTube was introduced in the year 2005 while Twitch was introduced in 2011.
- Twitch is a subsidiary platform of Amazon whereas YouTube is a subsidiary platform of Google.
- Twitch has more daily visitors as compared to YouTube for game streaming.
Conclusion
When comparing YouTube vs Twitch, think about which site is preferable for streamers to stream live. Content creators need to choose between both the platforms that best suit their needs. It is important to know what your audience would like to watch or stream.
For that, you must first know the features and specifications of the platform. Twitch is best for live streaming and games whereas YouTube is good for its video creations.
Both the platforms are best in their ways. Twitch was originally made for live streaming and gaming purpose. But YouTube past being a non-live video platform is now inculcating live streaming features in it, which gives direct competition to Twitch.
References
- https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/2713168.2713195
- https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/8848069/