We know that growing and maintaining your own Twitch community requires a lot of hard work. You have to continuously create content that has to be entertaining to your audience, and that is no piece of cake. It requires a lot of planning and commitment.
What is a Raid?
When one streamer sends their entire audience to another streamer’s stream, it is called a raid.
This is usually done when the first streamer is about to finish their stream for the day, and it can serve as a way to boost your connections with other streamers, help grow another streamer’s channel, and also, give your audience something new and good to watch if you know they’ll enjoy it.
How to Raid on Twitch?
To raid some other channel, type in /raid user12345 in the chat and press Enter. Or go to Twitch stream manager, and click on ”Start Raid”.
This is where Twitch raids from bigger channels come into play. Raid command can be quite beneficial to new streamers, allowing them to get more viewers and followers faster.
Let’s learn what is a Twitch raid and how they can help smaller channels to grow.
Table of Contents
What Is a Twitch Raid?
A Twitch raid is a command used by streamers, most often at the end of their stream, to send the current active viewer count from their stream to another streamer. This Twitch chat command is one of the best tools to help out fresh streamers and is often used by the most popular streamers on the platform.
Starting a Raid
One of the most common practices, if you want to start a raid on Twitch, is to notify your own viewers.
Your fans will surely appreciate the heads-up because you are changing the content that they are viewing.
Just before the raid starts, most of the streamers create a Twitch copypasta.
That means a certain piece of text that your viewers will paste in the raided channel’s chat.
This is a guaranteed fun surprise for the person who is getting raided!
Just out of nowhere, thousands of people raid your chat with lots of new messages.
That must feel great!
Now for the technical part of starting a Twitch raid.
There is practically nothing to it!
You don’t have to know any coding or anything similar.
So, how do you start a raid?
- You only have to type in your chat the following command: /raid followed by a username of the streamer you would like to raid, for example: /raid user12345.
- Another way to start a raid is to go to your Twitch stream manager and select the option ‘Start Raid’.
After you successfully entered your command or clicked on the option, you will get a ten-second countdown in your chat.
On that chat, you will have a button that says ‘Raid Now’ or the raid will start automatically after the countdown ends.
From that moment, both you and your viewers will be moved to the raided streamer’s chat and this is where the fun begins!
If you are an accomplished streamer with a grown community, it feels quite rewarding just seeing the smile you put on someone’s face or even just looking at their shocked expressions
The Origins of Twitch Raids
What is interesting is that stream raiding actually started out as a part of a toxic culture on 4chan.
Imagine, groups of people on the messaging board would target particular streamers they do not like and shut them down by invading their streams.
Female streamers were targeted more often than male streamers.
Then why did Twitch implement this function?
Apart from the toxic part, there are also wonderful effects of stream raiding.
Toxicity is regulated by the platform’s community guidelines and moderators Imagine that you are just starting out as a streamer, you are working really hard, streaming every day, but your viewer count is low.
Then, one day, a popular streamer with thousands of viewers decides to raid your channel!
The joy and excitement this brings to a small-time streamer are certain to make their day.
But remember, when someone decides to raid you, they are committing their viewers to your channel and your content, so it is a perfect opportunity to showcase your personality and earn some new followers!
Sharing a spotlight with your fellow streamers is what a raid on Twitch is all about.
Like I mentioned, a Twitch raid is a tool implemented in the platform that allows streamers to send their viewer communities to other channels and streamers with the idea to promote smaller, less famous content creators.
What Do You Do in the Case of a Raid?
We have covered the part of what’s a raid on Twitch and how to start one, but what should you do in case your own channel gets raided?
Well, to be honest, there are no defined guidelines to this but here is some of my own advice for you!
Be friendly
In the case that your channel gets targeted for a raid, you will have an explosion of new viewers and possible future followers at your doorstep!
You want to make a positive impression so that the majority of the new viewers would like to stay on your channel. And, of course, you want to thank the person raiding you.
Engage the audience
You should probably start communicating with your new viewers to find out what type of content they were previously watching and what made the streamer choose your account.
Was it the same game you play, or just your general vibe, it can help in understanding your audience better.
Promote yourself
A little self-promotion is always good, and when you are trying to make it a popular streamer, you are going to need all the promotions you can get, but try not to make it all about you.
Return the favor
Last, but not least, try to return the favor.
We should all help each other grow and share the spotlight, that is why the platform was made.
So, if you get raided, don’t forget to sometimes organize your own raids.
You never know whose day you can make better just by doing that one small thing!
But don’t forget that the act of raiding is practically a selfless act.
If you are the one doing the raiding you basically get nothing in return.
Still, it is always nice to give back to the community that helped you out when you were starting out!
If you raid someone there is no guarantee that the streamer will raid you back in the future, but why wouldn’t you?
It takes no effort to be kind to one another.
The raid tool can also be used by streamers who are part of a smaller streaming community.
By raiding each other’s channels, they can mutually increase their total viewer count.
What’s the Difference Between a Raid and a Host on Twitch?
If you are using Twitch regularly to watch streams, you’ve probably heard of another feature called ‘Hosting’.
Hosting and raiding are similar in nature but they have different effects.
By using the raiding command, you physically move your viewers and yourself into the chat of the raided streamers.
This way, you and your followers can directly interact with the raided streamer and his own viewers.
This makes it much more enjoyable and more personal.
Hosting, however, leaves you and your viewers in your own channel room and in your own chat.
Your viewers can then choose for themselves if they would like to visit the hosted channel with a single click!
Conclusion
After we got a grasp on the concept of raiding and hosting, we can see why raiding is the more popular option for streamers to take part in.
It provides a more sincere and interactive way for streamers to interact with fellow streamers.
As a viewer, you can discover new content and new people that you can add to your watch schedule!
I personally love when I discover new people who share my interests.
If you are a streamer and you are looking to grow your fanbase, this is a great way to network with your colleagues and you should definitely explore using this tool.
Almost all of the more popular streamers have said that raiding is the most beneficial tool to use when you are looking to expand your community and make yourself a full-time streamer.
