High-reach streamers comment on the court trial for their community – turning a serious topic into entertainment.
"Really now? There's no proof of her broken nose?" Imane Anys aka Pokimane, one of the biggest Twitch streamers in the world with nine million followers, is watching the Heard v. Depp trial live with her community.
Just now, Amber Heard, who is on the witness stand, spoke about her broken nose years ago, for which Johnny Depp is said to have been responsible. Pokimane is one of many people watching the much-discussed trial in the U.S. She's not alone in watching the broadcast. Around 100,000 people are following the stream, commenting in chat and sending links to the topics being discussed in the trial.
Pokimane Watches Heard v. Depp Trial Live
Since the end of April 2022, the trial between the two Hollywood stars has been underway, during which the argument and any violence that may have occurred between the ex-couple will be discussed in a court of law.
The live broadcast of the trial has also led to the internet community being able to comment on developments in parallel on any social media platform on a daily basis. In recent weeks, Twitch has joined this trend, or rather its prominent stars such as Pokimane.In contrast to other platforms, these livestreams develop a dynamic all of their own because the stream owner can constantly interact with her community. Missing knowledge is quickly supplemented with suitable videos from the net, contentious statements in the process can be discussed immediately.
No Experts on Twitch
The streamers who are currently paying attention to the trial on Twitch are not experts in legal matters, psychology, or other potentially relevant fields that would be necessary for professional analysis. Nevertheless, millions of young people now use these streams as their main source of information about this trial. The fact that misinformation or inappropriate jokes often accompany the stream is often not seen.
This also influences the audience, as recently seen in numerous videos on TikTok or YouTube. The serious aspects of the process are often ignored - it's all about entertainment, even in the streams. So, as always, be careful where you get your information.
