Twitch is rolling out its first Discovery Feed experiment where creators can showcase their featured clips. The experiment is limited to select users.
Twitch announced the new Discovery Feed at TwitchCon Paris back in July. It's a new feature that gives content creators more control over their discoverability to improve their overall presence on the platform. Among the features of the new Discovery Feed is the ability for creators to select featured clips that make it to the feed. This feature is now live, allowing all Twitch streamers to use it to boost their visibility.
Twitch's first mobile Discovery Feed experiment
As part of its TwitchCon Paris announcement, the first mobile Discovery Feed experiment began this month. The experiment is being rolled out to select Twitch users, granting them the opportunity to mark their featured clips. The Discovery Feed algorithm then picks these clips up and displays them on the Twitch Mobile app for users.
While only a select few users are a part of the experiment, the featured clips option is available to every streamer. This means any streamer can have their clips make it to the Discovery Feed. The Twitch Discovery Feed on mobile is similar to popular clip-viewing platforms such as TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Instagram Reels.
What is the Twitch Discovery Feed?
The Discovery Feed is a section in the Twitch app where viewers can scroll through a feed of clips. The algorithm selects a personalized assortment of content based on the viewer's engagement on the platform to create these clips. Twitch claims the experiment is available to a limited set of users in order to test the platform's algorithm and improve it based on viewership. Twitch creators have the option to select their featured clips for their channel. These clips make it to the end-user's Discovery Feed based on their engagement.
At the moment, the experiment only features horizontal clips. However, as the feed evolves, users will see more vertical clips. The Twitch App on mobile devices has received an update that enables featured clips as well. The algorithm is testing popular clips from streamers alongside featured clips and content that viewers follow.
On the Android app, the feed displays featured clips from smaller communities and some featured clips based on the user's viewership activity. In the screenshot above, the feed is viewed by someone who follows Apex Legends streamers on the platform. A clip by professional Apex Legends player DarkZero's Gent appears under the "Featured clips we think you'll like" section.
It looks like the Discovery Feed is amplifying small streamers as well. Considering this is among the USPs of the new Discovery Feed, the algorithm is headed in the right direction. Small streamers are excited to see the results of this experiment because it'll mean improved visibility for them.
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