Twitch Friends List feature to be removed from the platform

On 29th April, Twitch announced that its Friends List feature would be permanently removed going forward following low engagement.

Streamers quickly reacted to the news all over the internet, with varying reactions. Some streamers are indifferent, believing that few people used the Friends List feature anyway, but others found themselves frustrated and sad that this long-time feature is going away.

Here's everything we know so far about Twitch removing the Friends List feature from both the app and website and what streamers and their fans are saying.

Twitch removing Friends List feature

The Friends List feature on Twitch allowed viewers to add one another and see one another's activity in real-time.

The announcement about Twitch removing its Friend List feature came in the form of a statement posted to the Twitch website.

"Today, we see the best viewer-to-viewer connections on Twitch happen when we experience live moments together on a creator’s channel, with very few viewers regularly using Friends to actively connect with each other," the statement read. "By deprecating this feature, we are able to further focus on building connections among communities while streamers are live. "

• Mizkif set to cancel Schooled after streamer cheats in $50k competition
• Twitch bans Adin Ross indefinitely
• Ninjoi trends on Twitter as Ninja reveals new logo
• Amouranth reveals insane monthly earnings from main OF account

The Friends List will disappear from the mobile app on 16th May 2022 and will be removed from the site shortly after on 25th May. After these dates, users will no longer be able to see their friends' activity in real-time, see their Friend Lists, or add new friends.

Streamers' and viewers' reactions to Twitch removing Friends feature

Twitch.TV user Kacy121 made a post on Reddit asking why the Friends List feature was removed, with the post gaining almost 2,000 upvotes and two awards.

Streamers and viewers alike took to the thread to speculate and share their feelings about the upcoming change.

"I would often join a stream I had seen a friend watching. May not have been my thing but it gave me a reason to check it out," said Redditor Dortmunder1. "I see no reason to put work in to remove a feature. Just leave it as is."

Another Redditor pointed out that there may be a practical reason for the removal of Friends.

"View/Follow Bots use it to join macro each other into streams as large groups," SUDTIN explained in the Reddit thread. "Removing friends are watching will force bots to automate their own system to join streams in large numbers instead of using an integrated feature."

With the upcoming removal of Twitch.TV's Friends List feature, it seems that the internet has mixed opinions. Only time will tell if the removal of this feature makes room for the introduction of more great ones.

To keep up to date with news surrounding Twitch and your favorite streamers, keep an eye on our Twitch section!

Featured image courtesy of Twitch.