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Wait... so they started JustinTV which was for anything. Games took off so they spun that off to TwitchTV. JustinTV gets shut down, and now they start 'allowing

by Arzh 11y ago

Wait... so they started JustinTV which was for anything. Games took off so they spun that off to TwitchTV. JustinTV gets shut down, and now they start 'allowing' other types of things on TwitchTV. I have no idea what the marketing and 'brands' people over there are thinking really...

minimaxir 11y ago
The difference between then and now is that YouTube Streaming and Periscope are now potential threats.
detaro 11y ago
They are using the better-working brand for re-entering these markets after the first attempt failed years ago... seems logical to me? The name JustinTV IMHO has a lot of negative baggage attached because it wasn't very successful for so long.
- berberous 11y ago
  It was also an objectively terrible name. I thought it was just iJustine's personal webcasting site.
  - 2bitencryption 11y ago
    It wasn't terrible for its original purpose, which was to livestream a man named Justin's life continuously, a la the Truman Show.
- loceng 11y ago
  It dilutes Twitch as a place for gaming, though. EDIT: Downvoted, maybe I wasn't clear enough. Context is very important within a brand. If you start offering all types of videos on Twitch, the landing page isn't just going to show gaming videos any longer.
  - Roodgorf 11y ago
    Does it significantly damage the image of Twitch as the place to go for gaming streams? YouTube has been gaining a lot of high production quality content makers for a while now (e.g. web series and music videos) but I feel like it still holds its reputation as the place to go for more independently made content as well.
    - loceng 11y ago
      I didn't mean to insinuate it was damaging, just that the brand would be diluted. Yes, if they can pull it off and maintain and support the different communities - then it won't be "damaged."
  - BookmarkSaver 11y ago
    Sure. But we've yet to see any competitor affect Twitch's dominance in gaming by any real margin, so it seems unlikely that people who have been using it exclusively for gaming will be turned off when other things become available. I mean, they have a dedicated viewer base which won't really care what Twitch does with their homepage. It's like Amazon expanding from just selling books to selling everything. People looking for books are still gonna keep going there.
eterm 11y ago
They've realised TwitchTV is a much stronger brand that JustinTV ever was? Also, iirc wasn't JustinTV polluted/tainted with a lot of dodgy re-streams of non-user-created content such as soccer? It's a success story that they've managed to successfully cultivate twitch out of that and grown it up where they can now branch other user-streaming back from it.
gotchange 11y ago
Maybe this is the Amazon effect on the management? I thought that they would spin off this Creative product in a new independent business venture so it won't clash with the established Twitch brand name or dilute it due to conflicting dynamics at play but this is Amazon after all and we're used to expect the unexpected from them.
vdaniuk 11y ago
Seems like perfectly sensible decision to me. Perhaps you should try to find objective reasons for this product development approach instead of insinuating incompetence of "brand" people?
debacle 11y ago
They're trying to build ecosystems around streaming. Gaming has taken off and is sustaining itself, so it only makes sense for them to try and expand into newer realms.
dsjoerg 11y ago
i assume they are thinking that they'd like to expand into new areas, and this was the best way they could think of to do it. do you have a better idea?
thezilch 11y ago
You have to realize that artists were already using Twitch to do what they are now providing a category for those same people to stream under. I've watched clay, 3D, 2D, etc artists on Twitch; I've watched/listened to DJs, including deadmau5, play with their equipment for hours on stream. These same people also tend to play games now and again, and a lot of the graphical artists tend to have gaming themes. The same is probably true for all of the streamers that will use this category.
baldfat 11y ago
Justin.tv people are no more the driving force. This is an Amazon move 100%.
- eleusive 11y ago
  The person leading this effort is literally the second Justin.tv hire from many years ago.
DaniFong 11y ago
The world has changed much since 2007!
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]

by Arzh 11y ago

minimaxir 11y ago

The difference between then and now is that YouTube Streaming and Periscope are now potential threats.

detaro 11y ago

They are using the better-working brand for re-entering these markets after the first attempt failed years ago... seems logical to me? The name JustinTV IMHO has a lot of negative baggage attached because it wasn't very successful for so long.

berberous 11y ago
It was also an objectively terrible name. I thought it was just iJustine's personal webcasting site.
- 2bitencryption 11y ago
  It wasn't terrible for its original purpose, which was to livestream a man named Justin's life continuously, a la the Truman Show.
loceng 11y ago
It dilutes Twitch as a place for gaming, though. EDIT: Downvoted, maybe I wasn't clear enough. Context is very important within a brand. If you start offering all types of videos on Twitch, the landing page isn't just going to show gaming videos any longer.
- Roodgorf 11y ago
  Does it significantly damage the image of Twitch as the place to go for gaming streams? YouTube has been gaining a lot of high production quality content makers for a while now (e.g. web series and music videos) but I feel like it still holds its reputation as the place to go for more independently made content as well.
  - loceng 11y ago
    I didn't mean to insinuate it was damaging, just that the brand would be diluted. Yes, if they can pull it off and maintain and support the different communities - then it won't be "damaged."
- BookmarkSaver 11y ago
  Sure. But we've yet to see any competitor affect Twitch's dominance in gaming by any real margin, so it seems unlikely that people who have been using it exclusively for gaming will be turned off when other things become available. I mean, they have a dedicated viewer base which won't really care what Twitch does with their homepage. It's like Amazon expanding from just selling books to selling everything. People looking for books are still gonna keep going there.

eterm 11y ago

They've realised TwitchTV is a much stronger brand that JustinTV ever was? Also, iirc wasn't JustinTV polluted/tainted with a lot of dodgy re-streams of non-user-created content such as soccer? It's a success story that they've managed to successfully cultivate twitch out of that and grown it up where they can now branch other user-streaming back from it.

gotchange 11y ago

Maybe this is the Amazon effect on the management? I thought that they would spin off this Creative product in a new independent business venture so it won't clash with the established Twitch brand name or dilute it due to conflicting dynamics at play but this is Amazon after all and we're used to expect the unexpected from them.

vdaniuk 11y ago

Seems like perfectly sensible decision to me. Perhaps you should try to find objective reasons for this product development approach instead of insinuating incompetence of "brand" people?

debacle 11y ago

They're trying to build ecosystems around streaming. Gaming has taken off and is sustaining itself, so it only makes sense for them to try and expand into newer realms.

dsjoerg 11y ago

i assume they are thinking that they'd like to expand into new areas, and this was the best way they could think of to do it. do you have a better idea?

thezilch 11y ago

You have to realize that artists were already using Twitch to do what they are now providing a category for those same people to stream under. I've watched clay, 3D, 2D, etc artists on Twitch; I've watched/listened to DJs, including deadmau5, play with their equipment for hours on stream. These same people also tend to play games now and again, and a lot of the graphical artists tend to have gaming themes. The same is probably true for all of the streamers that will use this category.

baldfat 11y ago

Justin.tv people are no more the driving force. This is an Amazon move 100%.

eleusive 11y ago
The person leading this effort is literally the second Justin.tv hire from many years ago.

DaniFong 11y ago

The world has changed much since 2007!

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]