Twitch adds general interest channel, plans mobile livestreaming

Twitch, the livestreaming service owned by Amazon, announced the launch of a general interest channel and detailed its mobile broadcasting plans. The platform began as a video game specialty site where, similar to YouTube, gamers with lots of skill or personality could gather a following and sometimes make a living by broadcasting video of them playing. The recent updates are positioning Twitch to be a more comprehensive video source, similar to the scope at YouTube, rather than a specialist.

The new content category is named IRL (short for ‘in real life’) and it offers hosts a place to share their thoughts outside of gaming. These videos are more in the vlog style used by many YouTube stars.

In addition to the IRL launch, Twitch revealed plans for mobile broadcasting. This add native streaming to the Twitch mobile app. This function sounds similar to the Periscope app or Facebook Live, two other live video services from the social media world. YouTube is also looking to add mobile livestreaming. This mobile trend emerged within the past two years, and with the number of large players now exploring the space, use of those tools may get more and more sophisticated.