The twitch boom : the rise of the platform due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic led various countries worldwide to implement social distancing measures and strict confinements, resulting in changes in people’s daily consumption habits. The prolonged lockdown fostered new forms of activities at home, driving various types of online entertainment and interaction. The main objective of this study was to measure and analyze the impact of pandemic preventive actions on content consumption on an online live streaming platform, Twitch. The research method involved the use of data related to the average total views on the platform, aiming to determine the initial and lasting effects of the pandemic on the behavior and evolution of the content consumed on the platform. The statistical techniques applied were Regression Discontinuity and Difference in Differences. The results suggest that the lockdown caused an increase in the number of concurrently connected users by 30% to 40%. Furthermore, it is evidenced that this change in the platform’s viewership level persists over time, and, in the new post-pandemic context, the growth trend observed before the pandemic is maintained.