Pokimane has a pretty strong opinion on the whole "Subathon" phenomenon, and she wants you to hear it.
Ludwig is widely seen as the bloke who penned the idea of a Subathon. It's rubbish, of course, because content creators have been using this little hack for years. It's kind of the classic modern streamer's "MO" to just take concepts invented by others, make them trendy, and claim them as their own. Pokimane, however, isn't biting. In reality, she's "biting" in an entirely different way.
Pokimane has spoken her mind about Subathons, claiming that she believes that they are "unhealthy" for "a myriad of reasons". She's actually right, there are few things more lazy than a Subathon - a method which sees streamers using the concept of a "marathon" to get themselves a ton of new subscribers in as short a time as possible - and there are few things more tedious (except for, perhaps, the ongoing strife between Pokimane and Ninja)...
What was that reference to "biting" earlier, though? Well, Pokimane might not be "biting" into the trend of Subathons, but her thoughts are certainly very "biting". Similar to her recent remarks about Ninja and JasonR not interacting with women, she has spoken out, dropped a ton of truth bombs, and gone off to enjoy her day. Enjoy...
Pokimane Thinks Subathons Are "Unhealthy"
Pokimane has expressed profound concern over the ongoing trend of streamers using "Subathons" to garner new subscribers. "There is no way subathons are healthy for a human being to do", she said, before complaining that the phenomenon incentivizes huge profits, followers, and attention for those who use the strategy.
She doesn't agree with the idea of suffering for pleasure, believing that "the line kind of needs to be drawn at some point, and I don't really think we draw it at a good point." To be honest, Pokimane is absolutely correct here. Long periods of gaming that last tens of hours are very bad for people's health, and these kinds of streams not only incentivize but glorify that kind of behavior.
Ludwig's month-long subathon might have seen him supported by a "massive support system" as Pokimane claims, but this is certainly where I would draw a different line. It is a glorification of behavior that is very dangerous, and it is an extremely lazy way to get subscribers that you could otherwise have earned by producing actual, high quality content.
To conclude, though, Pokimane's following statement absolutely nailed her point on the head, driving it home with gusto:
[It won't be] cool to talk about until like 20 years from now when we have actual data regarding the implications of that kind of behaviour.
In years from now, when health scientists have had the time to properly analyze the implications of long-periods of streaming and gaming, we will see just what it does to people's bodies and minds. It is good to see someone like Pokimane speaking out about this, and we hope she continues to do so...