#Boycotttwitch Trends On Twitter After A Streamer Broke Her Back At TwitchCon
Kristin Snyder is dot.LA's 2022/23 Editorial Fellow. She previously interned with Tiger Oak Media and led the arts section for UCLA's Daily Bruin.
Over the weekend, a Twitch streamer jumped off a pedestal into a pit of foam blocks. The result? A broken back and calls to boycott the live streaming platform.
Adriana Chechik broke her back in two places while at TwitchCon, an annual convention for live streamers and gamers. The booth, run by Lenovo to promote its Legion gaming PC, featured a tournament in which people had to knock their opponents off planks and into the foam pit. While Chechik said the booth allowed people to jump in, others said they were told not to dive into the pit and had to sign waivers.
Still, Chechik was not the only injured patron. EdyBot, the other streamer in the video, said she was in pain for the rest of the day after she fell into the pit. Streamer LochVaness dislocated her knee and sprained her ankle after her jump into the foam pit. In light of these incidents, Twitch users have since taken to Twitter to encourage people to boycott the platform.
By early Monday morning, #boycotttwitch was trending on Twitter. In addition to injuries sustained in the pit of foam blocks, one user tweeted that people fainted while waiting in lines. Another said the company underestimated how popular an event would be, leading to overcrowded spaces and that crowding apparently led to a service dog being injured and people in wheelchairs being “trampled.” Allegedly, some employees told attendees to get an accessibility sticker to bypass long lines. And two streamers were identified with incorrect pronouns on panel signage.
In the past, streamers have helped to coordinate boycotts against Twitch. Last month, multiple creators threatened to leave the platform after streamer Sliker convinced viewers to send him about $200,000 to gamble. Twitch responded by tightening up its policy toward gambling content—it prohibited unlicensed slots, roulette or dice games while still allowing sports betting, fantasy sports and poker.
reasons for #boycotttwitch to trend
a person broke their spine at an unsafe foam pit
the staff ridicules, misgenders and physically endangers attendees and streamers
lack of planning has led to dangerous crowds, and people pushing/shoving disabled people
feel free to comment more https://t.co/BPDMuL0QV3
— Ne(m)cromancer 💀 (@NemIsFine) October 9, 2022
In 2021, users ShineyPen, Lucia Everblack and RekitRaven organized #aDayOffTwitch. The short boycott was spurred by the platform’s failure to curb “hate raids”—bots spamming live chats with racist, sexist and homophobic language. Traffic was down by 22% and the site saw 10,000 fewer streamers that day. While the organizers said the boycott effectively demonstrated the power of content creators, Twitch is still struggling to protect its streamers from hate raids.
In light of this most recent episode, however, top streamers on the platform have yet to amplify messages to boycott the platform. As of writing this story, a review of top twitch streamers social media accounts reveal that they haven't commented on the alleged issues at the event or the boycott. Twitch has also declined to comment and instead directed dot.LA to Lenovo, who ran the booth.
“We are aware of the incidents of TwitchCon visitors who sustained injuries in the gladiator game soft foam pit at the Lenovo booth,” a Lenovo spokesperson told dot.LA. “Safety remains our top priority and we are working with event organizers to look into the incidents.”
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Kristin Snyder is dot.LA's 2022/23 Editorial Fellow. She previously interned with Tiger Oak Media and led the arts section for UCLA's Daily Bruin.
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