Donations on Twitch have been a source of income for content creators on the streaming platform for years. However, big streamers still get money “because people want attention,” says Pokimane.
For many viewers, it’s a phenomenon: Despite their already high income, high-reach streamers on Twitch still get donations. One of the most successful in this industry is Imane “Pokimane” Anys and she has explained why some people still give away the money.
“People don’t ask themselves the question, ‘How much does this person need my money?’ People donate because they want someone’s attention,” was Pokimane’s opinion in her stream last Saturday. She was responding to a Reddit user’s post questioning the motivation of donors. She also added: “The richer someone gets, the more valuable their attention becomes.”
Donations in these cases have nothing to do with rational decisions. Pokimane defends the phenomenon in this regard. “We don’t always spend our money logically,” says the successful streamer, explaining the donations she also continues to receive.
Due to the sometimes high donations, Pokimane introduced a limit on the amount of money donated last year. A maximum of five US dollars per person can only be donated to her since then. Pokimane is one of the biggest Twitch streamers in the world with over eight million followers and almost 6,500 paying subscribers.