What made Twitch ban one of its most loved emotes and why? Here are the reasons for this decision:
If you asked a random group of Twitch users to list their most-loved emotes, the PogChamp would be at the top of the list.
Twitch decided to remove the channel entirely from its platform in January 2021. Here’s why…
Why Twitch Removed PogChamp
To reverse Donald Trump’s 2020 electoral defeat, huge crowds stormed the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021. We didn’t know that chaos would soon follow on the Internet.
The riot resulted in Trump’s accounts being removed from Instagram and Facebook. In addition, Twitter, Snapchat and Twitch all banned Trump permanently. However, even though the former president lost his right to post on these social media platforms and was no longer eligible, his supporters continued to show their support.
Ryan Gutierrez is an internet personality and gamer known online as Gootecks. The image that inspired the PogChamp to emote is Gutierrez’s shocked expression in an online video.
In a tweet, he asked his Twitter followers if they would allow civil unrest for the victim of the Capitol riot. Twitch soon announced that it was closing the PogChamp emote.
Twitch explained that it did not want the “Pog”, a humorous type of joy, excitement, or shock, to disappear from the platform. Instead, it only wanted the face to represent it.
Twitch started, “Its meanings are much larger than the person depicted.”
Twitch Changes every day. The PogChamp Emote
It was clear that some replacement would be needed after Gutierrez’s Twitch image was removed. Twitch was immediately overwhelmed by tweeters who flooded the replies with photos of other streamers sporting the same open-mouthed, wide-eyed expression.
The Twitch team must have struggled to choose one image to reclaim PogChamp’s emote. This is probably why they came up with an alternative solution.
Twitch announced on January 8 that it would alter the PogChamp Emote’s face every 24 hours.
The live streaming service has kept its promises ever since. You can log into Twitter every morning to see who Twitch has named its PogChamp.
To be chosen as a PogChamp, streamers don’t have to have the most significant online reach. UnRooolie from YoVideogames and UmiNoKaiju are the two first PogChamp Emotes since Gutierrez’s removal. However, other streamers have been chosen with smaller audiences.
Gootecks Response to the Emote Being Removed
The former PogChamp face was locked out of his account on Twitter shortly after Twitch announced it. Gutierrez tweeted the screenshot of the Twitter notice on January 11. According to the report, he was blocked from Twitter because of tweets relating to hydroxychloroquine.
In the same tweet, Gutierrez also acknowledged that Twitch had removed the PogChamp emoticon from its platform. He concluded with, “My response will soon be on YouTube”. Gutierrez is likely to talk about both of these incidents in a video eventually.
The Emote changes, but the Sentiment remains.
Twitch is unlikely to continue swapping the PogChamp PogChamp emote face every day. It’s not sustainable. However, it is a unique and surprisingly community-driven approach to this situation.
You might consider tweeting at Twitch if you know of an influencer that you think would make a great PogChamp Emote.
