Just Chatting

A Twitch category launched in 2018 for non-gaming, conversational streams. Now the platform's largest category by watch time.

Overview

Just Chatting is a Twitch directory category introduced in late 2018 for streams that don’t fit into a specific game category — conversation, reactions, reading news, reviewing tweets, podcast-style content, and more. It has grown into Twitch’s largest category by watch time, overtaking traditional gaming categories.

Why it matters

Before Just Chatting, non-gaming streamers were orphaned in awkward categories like “IRL” or game-specific channels they weren’t actually playing. Just Chatting legitimized the “streamer personality as the content” model and coincided with the rise of creators like xQc, Hasan Piker, Pokimane and Kai Cenat for whom the talking, not the gameplay, is the product.

Criticism

Critics argue the category enables low-effort “react content” (watching YouTube videos on stream), which has prompted copyright pushback from YouTube creators and periodic policy changes on Twitch.