u/Lobo_o

I’ve said it for awhile but I’ve been meaning to write it out for a minute. Twitter ruined online gaming communities by splitting them all in half.

Most of the people opening up Twitter every day are those attempting to self-promote. The people opening up Reddit everyday are typically seeking community. Reddit has a forum format while Twitter is basically microblogging. Most here know me as the guy who shares twitch clips, But the clips top players are posting on twitter make mine look utterly unworthy

Zeke, Wisely, CheesyPotato, Gekkinga, Stango, Sandstorm, Darai, etc, and Dan himself seemingly post exclusively on Twitter. They don’t show their faces/usernames here at all (shoutout to Nurse, Hyperflame, Remrin, Animal, Biobirb, and others who do both). Their reasoning seems sound at first. Why post on reddit where it does nothing for their brand in any tangible meaningful way? Their engagements, followers, and shares on twitter are their metrics for success….in a space primarily occupied by bots, fellow clout chasers, or sycophants (for the most part).

There is no “rivals community” on Twitter other than the small circlejerk of top players and influencers participating. There aren’t people with similar interests catching wind of the game and thus clicking “join” to participate in conversation and discussions about the game. The very few that are using Twitter for that are doing so in a format that doesn’t lend to discussion, interaction, and…COMMUNITY

I’ve been a community builder my whole life. As a teenager I was on GameFAQs forums back when Isai was posting under the moniker TheIceDragon. I merged the soccer players with the tennis players at my highschool because I played both and wanted all my friends to be friends. I moved around a ton in my 20’s and constantly joined friend groups, introducing them to each other, and always sought to “build a bigger table, not a higher fence”

Twitter naturally is a bunch of fences. Subreddits act as tables. I’ve watched the number for the rivalsofaether sub steadily decline down to 14k, but have recently seen it climb back up to where it is right now. This sub acts as place for people to come together who love the game, but it serves best for those new to it. And because so many with renown avoid it either to feel cool or remain exclusive, they end up shooting themselves in the foot.

If all the prominent players posting Clips on Twitter would just do that here, more people would see the game and get excited about it. Players on the fence would get more excited and the top player’s “brands” would benefit much more than relegating themselves to an app most sane people avoid entirely. “A rising tide lifts all boats” and if Reddit is the sea, Twitter is a shitty collection of swimming pools.

That’s a lot of words and I know it’s weird to care enough to write them, but I enjoy channeling my tism towards my interests

TL;DR

Prominent people in the community exclusively staying on Twitter ironically hamstrings not only their own success but the game’s success. Communities have always been best built on forums and this Subreddit is objectively the best place to centralize content for the community