Kick kicks the anthill for the better… but mostly for the worse?
It’s been a few months now since the internet world welcomed a new player into its sphere. Kick’s name is everywhere on the networks, especially since May. While many describe this new space as a simple competitor to Twitch, specializing in live streaming, the Kick file is actually more extensive than it looks. What about this platform already in trouble?
More money, more customers
Although a modern saying is that a bad buzz is still a good buzz to take, Kick would surely have done without this early reputation as a problem platformer… or not. On paper, Kick is a live video streaming service that hopes to gain a foothold with the public after Twitch has almost completely dominated the market for several years now. Unlike its Amazon-owned counterpart, Kick doesn’t have a pandemic or lockdown to entice its audience.
However, it has a strong argument. At a time when the activity of videographer, and especially of streamer, pays off big, the platform intends to shake up the codes of monetization by leaving content creators more in control of their income. If Twitch today takes a commission on donations and subscriptions ranging from 30% to 50%, Kick only subtracts 5% for its own remuneration, leaving 95% of the sum to the influencerfor all participants, even outside the partner program.
A promise that has something to dream about, even the giants already well established. As we make a transfer in the world of football, streamers pay themselves a gold price. This is the case of xQc which has just changed platform for a sum between 70 and 100 million dollars to the signature. A contract that does not even force the videographer to exclusivity. But then, where is the catch?
Two sides of the same coin
The prospect of higher compensation is necessarily an undeniable advantage over Twitch. But what also attracts spectators is the more permissive censorship policy of the platform vis-à-vis its competitor, which tightens the screw over time. Bodies a little too bare, insults at all costs or even discriminatory, sexist and racist remarks: here is what awaits the viewers at the bend of a few streams on Kick.
In reality, this “freedom of expression” which knows almost no rules is above all a pretext for excesses and harm to the safety of others. Many denounce the fact that Kick recovers all the streamers deemed “problematic” by Twitch, in particular Amaru who had been accused of assault and sexual harassment a few months ago.
Good or bad influence, Kick is in any case a growing phenomenon. The network seems to meet a certain consumer need while rounding up some of the internet’s worst features. Without dwelling on the attack on people from minorities, the question of the safety of minors and control of what they watch is also in question. It remains to be seen how this evolves as the service grows.
