Often, many streamers lose their motivation to stream content on Twitch because of low viewership count or for several other reasons.
With such tight competition, rising to the top of Twitch can become challenging. And that’s where Twitch Raids come in.
Twitch Raids are one of the most productive yet unexpected methods to promote your channel and reputation as a streamer. Twitch defined raids and made them an integral element of the live-streaming platform’s ecology.
Previously, raids were only a community-driven initiative. But today, they are crucial to how Twitch operates and how its audience interacts and supports one another.
In this article, we will have a detailed look into what is Twitch Raids, how they work, and several other topics to help you cover every nook and cranny.
What Is a Twitch Raid
A Twitch raid occurs when a streamer about to end their stream sends their viewers to another creator on the platform. This allows the streamer to connect with other talented creators on Twitch and helps build relationships between different communities.
Typically when a raid takes place, the raider’s channel automatically sends all of the audience to the new stream. On the raiding channel, an onscreen notification starts popping, letting them know that they are being raided and the number of new viewers joining in.
How Do Raids Work
If you are new to Twitch or haven’t had the chance to test this feature, here are two ways to start a raid on Twitch:
- In your channel’s chat, type/raid and the channel name you are considering raiding. For example, if you were to raid Dexerto’s Twitch channel, you would type /raid [dexerto] in your chat box.
- Another method is selecting your profile and choosing the creator dashboard option.
- Once it opens up, click the “stream manager” settings.
- Inside this section, click on the “Raid Channel” option.
- This will open up a box in front of you with the option to search for any streamer you want.
- Once you have decided on the perfect streamer, click on their name and the “start raid” button at the bottom.
After choosing either one of these methods, a box will show up on your stream’s chat that displays how many users are ready for the raid and a countdown to the start of it.
After 10-15 seconds or until many viewers are good to go, you can click the purple “Raid Now” option that will automatically redirect everyone to the targeted stream.
The Benefits of Raiding on Twitch
Raids are a great way to build networks and connections with broadcasters from around the globe by sharing audiences and growing together as one community. When raiding, you should always try to use it to impact fellow streamers positively.
- Raiding helps increase view count, followers, and chat interaction for rookie streamers with fewer audiences.
- It can be a great ice breaker to introduce yourself to other twitch streamers, making it a great networking opportunity.
- It also helps your channel by boosting your stats and channel awareness.
- Raiding also allows you to bring in new followers that aren’t yet introduced to your type of content.
One great example of how raiding can help smaller streamers gain audience interaction is LinusTechTips’ raid on PlantyTime. At the end of his stream, Linus decided to redirect his audience to his friend PlantyTime, a small channel with average views at 23. Yet, during the raid, PlantyTime’s live stream was at around 1,816 people.
How to React to a Twitch Raid
When you suddenly get raided, it can be a bit surprising to react to someone’s kindness. To help you with that, here are a few tips to keep you prepped for your next raid:
- Appreciate the raider for their kind gesture. A raid doesn’t just mean giving an audience another source of entertainment. Instead, it shows that the streamer trusts you to keep their community engaged just as much as they do.
- Introduce yourself. With thousands of new viewers joining in, it’s essential to let them know who you are, what genres you play, and your streaming schedule. Keep it short and sweet; hopefully, you will see people returning.
Difference Between Twitch Raid and Host
Many people confuse Twitch Raid and Twitch Host as similar terms, which isn’t the case. Although they both have similar goals, they are carried out differently.
A Twitch Raid sends a streamer’s audience directly to another channel. On the contrary, Hosting on Twitch works the opposite way. In hosting, the streamer embeds another creator’s live content on their stream, exposing it to a much wider viewership.
Both methods are a great way of supporting other content creators. For instance, if your channel focuses on gaming, you can reach out to other gamers around the platform.
In both cases, the recipient’s chat will display an alert with the name of the benefactor channel, crediting them with the Raid or Host event they’ve started.
Managing and Moderating Raids
Raids should always be intended for positive and collaborative purposes. But Twitch provides complete measures to take necessary action when things get out of hand.
1. Incoming Raid Settings
If you want to implement necessary changes before someone raids your channel, the raid settings offer a variety of features to work with. To get to these, follow the steps below:
- Click on your profile in the top right corner and select “creator dashboard.”
- Under the creator dashboard, expand the “setting option.”
- Next, choose the stream settings.
- Scroll down to the Raid section to implement your choice of actions.
In this section, Twitch allows you to moderate settings like viewer count limitations, account age limitations, and several other helpful choices. These settings are there to make you feel safe and comfortable on Twitch, so it’s best not to share your selections on stream.
2. Managing Incoming Live Raids
Another scenario is when you are live streaming, and a Raid takes place. In cases like these, you can deny incoming raids for up to an hour.
Here is a quick rundown to add this to your streams:
- Click on your profile in the top right corner and select “creator dashboard.”
- Next, choose the “stream manager” option.
- Once you are here, there will be a quick actions section with colorful logos.
- Click the plus sign to open other quick actions to add to this section.
- Choose the “Stop Raid for 1 Hour” quick action and add it to your stream manager.
This allows you to manage raids at all times. And if you want to re-enable them, you can use the quick action to accept the raids or wait for the timer to run out. Any changes here will be enabled as soon as you press save, even if you are live.
3. Managing Raids Through Chat Settings
You can reduce spam from an approaching raid using chat moderation settings, or if necessary, you can entirely stop the raid. To access these settings:
- Click the “cog” icon in your chat window’s bottom right corner.
- Here, look for “CHANNEL MODES” and choose your preferred settings.
Under this section, you are given many options, like keeping your chat to emotes only, subscribers only, followers only, or adding slow mode.
4. Chat Ban or Report Raiding Channels
If a streamer sends you an offensive or inappropriate raid, you can report or chat ban the channel that sent it. To help you with that, here are a few steps to perform this task:
- Click the Settings cog icon in the lower right corner of your chat window.
- Then click Review Recent Raids in the Tasks section.
- Next, choose “Report” or “Ban” as needed.
- People you have banned from your channel will not be able to raid it in the future.
5. Dealing With Individual Harassment in Chat
Broadcasters and channel moderators can timeout or ban specific raiders as needed or use Auto-Mod to manage chat messages.
How to Be Raided on Twitch
Participating in streams and groups comparable to yours is the most straightforward approach to attracting raiders on Twitch.
For instance, if you primarily broadcast games like Fortnite, participating in other Fortnite streams can increase the likelihood of being raided by other streamers.
This does not imply that you should self-promote on other streams, nor does it guarantee that these other broadcasters will raid you, but if they know who you are, you are more likely to be raided.
There isn’t a particular method to get raided by a specific streamer, but being involved in other communities will raise your odds significantly.
Conclusion
Twitch Raids are a terrific opportunity to promote your channel alongside newer and more established Twitch streamers while offering a steady stream of material to Twitch viewers. With sufficient knowledge and this guidance on your side, you can quickly organize your raid.
