Twitch has adopted watching the UK parliament sort out United Kingdom legislation and debate procedure as a new pastime thanks to an unofficial channel that now streams these democratic endeavors live as they're occurring. Twitch has become a sort of safe haven for these sorts of surreal looks at human behavior - it wasn't too long ago that many gamers outright abandoned many of the gameplay elements of Grand Theft Auto Online and began participating in strict roleplay using the medium instead.
In fact, this isn't even the first time Twitch has dipped its toes into broadcasting politics as a platform. Previously, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez famously appeared during a charity stream to discuss the importance of equality, sending shockwaves throughout not just the content creation community but also making headlines that helped fuel her political campaign. Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has also begun using Twitch as a platform to reach a younger demographic, and it is beginning to seem like the previously gaming-only broadcasting service might play a genuinely large role in democratic elections moving forward. If nothing else, it's become a useful tool for peeking in on what the process of democracy really looks like in the UK as the country remains embroiled in Brexit fallout.
The Twitch channel ukparliament, an unofficial broadcaster of the parliamentary debates of UK democracy, has begun gaining popularity after several politicians' personalities began garnering followings and generating memes. The channel also has its own emotes, which makes for some interesting chat spams when certain members of UK parliament begin speaking. Viewers are even treating some politicians like characters, going wild for their signature behaviors, like Speaker of the House John Bercow's unique way of shouting for order.
Watching politicians debate might sound like a recipe for an early night and a sound sleep, but Twitch is proving it's the exact opposite. It's yet another example of the way Twitch has left its gaming roots well behind it as it becomes something with much more reach and power. After Ninja left Twitch for Mixer, many wondered whether the content creation platform would be in trouble, but realistically, Twitch isn't just about video games any more, and that's becoming more obvious the further broadcasters dive into IRL streams and similar genres.
There's even a tie-in to video games available for those who are sticklers about what sort of content they want to watch on Twitch. It's hard to deny that Ubisoft's upcoming Watch Dogs Legion isn't heavily influenced by Brexit, imagining what the UK could look like after. Now, viewers can watch that event unfold from the comfort of their computer screens on Twitch and become more informed ahead of the new Watch Dogs to see if they agree with that vision.
Source: ukparliament/Twitch