Twitch GIFs are here – New Twitch Extension supports interaction through GIFs

Twitch GIFs are here! In a recent partnership with Giphy, Twitch has introduced a new way for viewers to interact with streamers – GIFs.

If you’re unaware of what GIFs are, they are basically image files which support animation. The Twitch community has been asking for this update for a long time, and it’s finally happened. This new way of interaction will result in more entertaining & engaging streams, benefiting streamers greatly and thus Twitch.

The extension is now available on their website and is called GIPHY by Twitch. Now, there are certain restrictions to what type of content will be allowed. Twitch won’t be allowing any GIFs with any inappropriate content which could be giving racist, sexual or violent references. This is what the extension description says –

GIFs are limited to a PG rating and below, meaning content with violence, sexual references, and lewd terms are all prohibited amongst other things. In addition, GIPHY content is moderated to remove content that is overtly offensive to any race, gender, ethnicity, or community.

Of course, streamers will have controls over all aspects of these Twitch GIFs in their chats, same as many other Twitch Extensions. A Twitch representative said that the GIPHY by Twitch extension will be customizable and the GIFs will be presented in a systematic manner. The broadcaster (streamer) will have full control. This is what the spokesperson said –

GIFs are queued up and delivered one at a time. As with all Twitch extensions, the viewer can minimize or close the screen at any time.

Twitch released Twitch Extensions back in September 2017 which introduced tons of customization features for streamers. It helped streamers to make more profit as well, through extensions like ‘Gear On Amazon‘ which streamers could use to link products or gear that they were using, which fans could then buy and the streamer would earn a commision. This extension was linked to the Amazon Associates program.

Since then, Twitch Extensions has gone through many advancements and new ways to benefit the Twitch community as a whole.