When it comes to YouTube and Twitch, the both of them make strong competitors when it comes to social streaming. While when it comes to the number of hours the content that is produced on the platform, Twitch is a clear winner because about three billion hours of the content that is streamed on Twitch is watched while only about one billion hours of content that is streamed is watched on YouTube. But that does not mean that YouTube is lagging behind because it seems that YouTube is already catching up on Twitch and may even take the title of the best live streaming platform. YouTube does rope in exclusive contracts with game developers in order to gain more new viewers and fans who are very likely to stick around to watch more content.
YouTube vs Twitch, which is the better live streaming platform for you on the basis of the user interface and feasibility?
When it comes to in terms or on the basis of the user interface and usability, Twitch’s user interface is quite simple and works smoothly, apart from that, the options that are offered including the browsing through the website features are always found on the left hand side of the screen which allows the user’s eyes to remain on the live stream which would be streaming on the front and center of the screen, the chat feature is on the right hand side of the screen and for options like following and subscribing to the user, those are found underneath the live stream. But another thing when it comes to Twitch is that if you are the kind of person to change the quality of the video or the live stream, it does not specify what type of quality are you actually getting apart from the standard medium, mobile and source. The option to pause and watch again, or even rewind is not available as well and you will have to wait for about an hour or so for the recorded stream.
Coming to YouTube, YouTube also has a simple user interface and while the layout is simple and easy to go through and understand, it does take up more space and is slightly cluttered when it comes to the display part of it which also makes sense because one of their goals also involves advertising. Apart from that, someone who is familiar with how YouTube works, the live stream works the same way on YouTube and one of the benefits of YouTube is that it handles and coordinates the video quality is a much better manner which helps the users who are viewing the live stream or video to get a viewing experience based on the connection they have. Apart from this, YouTube also allows the user to pause the stream or even start the stream from where they left it.Â
YouTube vs Twitch on the basis of the chats, audience and moderation.
When it comes to Twitch, the chat feature is known to be extremely popular mainly because once the user has subscribed to the channel, the channel allows the user to use and gain access to their emotes which means that they can be used in other channels as well and is often even seen as a badge of pride. The chat is controlled and more interactive when it comes to Twitch, and moreover, this also makes sure that the audience is much more interactive which also enables a much better audience retention rate. The audience that is found on Twitch is extremely large, even when compared with the audience found on YouTube. A lot of people tend to use Twitch more as compared to YouTube but the only con when it comes to Twitch is that they as a platform, especially live streaming platform fail at notifying the followers when their streamer starts live stream and while email notifications are sent, they lose out on that.
Coming to YouTube live streams, YouTube streams are not any different as compared to twitch and does not follow any special incentives but the fact that they can change the video quality of the streams is a major plus factor, and the fact that YouTube capitalizes on the whole concept of alerting the user who has subscribed to their streamer that they have started live streaming again.
So, in a nutshell, while YouTube is the second most streaming platform with lesser streamers as compared to Twitch, YouTube as a social media and live streaming platform also helps in creators starting out it as a platform is better for creators who are already known and have built their subscribers and would like to increase their revenues. It also depends on what are the needs and requirements from each live streaming platform and what they have to offer to you. With that being said, you can always decide for yourself and see what suits you the best and is ideal for you.
