Twitch Agrees New Grant To Help Fund Up-And-Coming Female Streamers
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Like many tech spheres, the video game streaming subculture is, well, a bit of a sausage fest. But Twitch is looking to change that thanks to a historic new agreement.
The live streaming video platform has agreed a partnership with the 1,000 Dreams Fund (1DF) to support up-and-coming female streamers, in honour of Women's History Month next month.
Throughout the month of March 1DF, which provides micro-grants to young American women to help them achieve their goals. will be awarding streamers with a Twitch BroadcastHER Grant.
The grants, worth between $500 - $2000, will be given to at least two streamers per semester and are open to any woman broadcasting on Twitch, although priority will be given to those at high school or at university.
The Twitch BroadcastHER grant is designed to help budding streamers cover the cost of travel to gaming conventions, hardware upgrades, or courses to help them in their creative or artistic pursuits.
"Many of the problems women face are because of lack of respect," said prominent Twitch 'caster Tina 'shadowfoxx086' Degenhart.
"But gaming is just another platform that we shouldn't shy away from. The industry won't understand how to treat women if we don't show them how to treat women."
The grants aren't the only thing that will be given to Twitch's female broadcasters in March to help give them a boost in the industry.
The platform will also be hosting a month-long live streaming telethon event, #StreamsforDreams, which will showcase content by ten of the platform's top female streamers and encourage people to donate to the programme.
"As an organization committed to all dreams, we are excited to partner with members of the Twitch community on this amazing new campaign," said 1,000 Dreams Fund founder and CEO Christie Garton.
"The initiative will not only raise critical funds, but will also boost awareness around the shortage of support for these creative young women in the digital broadcasting space."
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If you think that it's unfair that male streamers won't get the same help to get a leg up, it's important to remember that there is a gender imbalance on the platform from the off.
Polygon reported that a 2016 study found that women make up 35 percent of Twitch's user base. There are also no female streamers in the top 10 list of Twitch's most followed users.
All in all, this campaign is a positive initiative that will hopefully lead to more diverse and bad-ass content on Twitch. We look forward to seeing what comes of it.
