interNEXT Performers Panel Discusses Fun and Profit on Twitch

LOS ANGELES—Adult stars said they are finding fun and profit on the gaming site Twitch during Wednesday’s interNEXT Expo panel “Getting Twitchy With It.”  The panel, made up of performers Alana Evans, Catjira, Siri Dahl, Lauren Phillips and Xander Corvus, was moderated by AVN Senior Editor Peter Warren. To the uninitiated, Twitch is a live-streaming platform for gamers and other lifestyle casters that supports building communities around common and streamable interests like video games and similar topics. Twitch streamers broadcast their gameplay or activity by sharing their screen with fans and subscribers who can watch them live. “I like the games that are horror games and strong power games,” Phillips said. “It’s games where I can punch because in real life if I punched something, I’d break my hand.” Although her fellow gamers appreciate her gamesmanship, she admitted that she’s occasionally asked about her work and career, which can be dicey, given the site’s PG-rated content. “I have my mom there, so they’re not allowed to talk about work and scenes, so if they want to talk about that that they can go to my sites,” she said. Bur for Corvus, he said he takes those instances in stride and cautions his audience about the site’s rules and regulations. “For me, my audience in Twitch can get horny so I’m okay with it,” he said. “But my moderators and stuff try to keep things in order and if somebody wants to ask a question about the industry, I’m fine with it, but if people start asking about who’s got the most awesome boobs, I say shut up.” Evans noted that while she enjoys the community feel of the site, she understands the need for moderators. “Twitch is actually requiring you to moderate your chat, so those types of things don’t happen,” she said. “… I work alone and what I hate are the haters and the trolls so it’s not like a paid platform where people are supportive and nice. On a platform like Twitch, you have to be prepared for that. They can totally ruin the vibe of the room.” While game-playing and competition are at the heart of the site, adult performers enjoy the fact they can monetize their Twitch experience. Twitch users are able to monetize their channels with ads, subscriptions, a tip system otherwise known as “cheering,” and selling the games they're demonstrating. All content, however, must conform to its community guidelines, terms of service and DMCA guidelines. “The way I monetize it is to get traffic to my other sites and get people engaged,” said cam model Catjira. “So, if I reach my cam goal, I’m happy.” But for Phillips, money is only part of Twitch’s attraction: “I don’t usually do it for the money really, it wasn’t really something to make money,” she said. “But I’m an affiliate so there are opportunities there.” For Siri, Twitch is more of a distraction from her camming work. “As it is currently, I don’t stream for income anyway, it’s for fun, but I don’t use it to monetize it.” But all in all, the panel saw Twitch as a supportive and fun-loving community where they can play video games and connect with others who see them not as sex workers, but as fellow gamers. “I have a huge setup,” Phillips said. “My setup is four screens on top of a big massive TV and I have Xbox and PS and they go to my PC and I’m currently saving money to update that.”