Today, we can find entertainment everywhere we look. This has become necessary since then beginning of the pandemic – and even before it. Some of us need to relax and forget about what’s going on, some people need jobs and find a way in online services, and some are just bored. No matter what your purpose is, services like YouTube, Facebook Live, Discord, and Twitch exist to help you out.
Twitch is a live streaming service, having video game live streaming as the main focus, although this platform has recently expanded to include non-gaming content, being presented as a teaching tool, charity platform, and allowing the broadcast of some professional sports matches, like the NBA, wrestling and the Premier League. It also offers a space for content creators, with some considering it an alternative to YouTube.
These features have attracted new niches; for example, the nature of Twitch allows massive numbers of people to interact with one streamer. Because of this, a lot of learners or students can interact with one instructor, creating their own classroom where anyone can learn any topic. Twitch also allows big charities to be made with broadcasters often hosting streams with profits going to fundraisers. Twitch has a lot of versatility, and while its main focus is on gamers, there seems to be a trend towards the general public use.
A platform so important right now for a certain niche that it has its own convention, TwitchCon, is hosted twice a year: once in North America and once in Europe. This convention focuses on the gaming community and offers great opportunities for creators to expand their brand and keep growing their channels.
Right now, there isn’t a better interactive platform for gamers out there on the internet, in comparison to Twitch, it’s the oldest one, the most established, and certainly the most known. With over 1.8 million average viewers on Twitch at any time, 100 million a month by 2015, and 3 million broadcasters monthly, there’s no doubt this platform is quite known worldwide.
On this website, you can watch your favorite gamers’ streams and interact with them. This is a great pro given that viewers can be a part of this streaming experience, unlike watching streaming videos on YouTube, for example. The platform is actively adding sources of revenue to offer more options of monetization for streamers.
Twitch is also very strict with its content policy, banning mature content, not allowing sexual and violent games and streams, like BBM XXX, Second Life, Yandere Simulator, and Eroge visual novel games. This has brought out some controversies due to the fact that Mortal Kombat X, The Witcher 3 and other violent games are not banned from the platform.
Although this platform has a lot to offer, it definitely has its downside. Twitch is an Amazon subsidiary, and has its corporate way of doing things that some users don’t agree with, which can be problematic at times. The platform also has a whole lot of bots, and it is very difficult to get rid of them, this can be annoying for both streamers and spectators. Another concern for users has to do with privacy issues.
In 2015, Twitch was a victim of a security issue that led to unauthorized access of some accounts. Because of this, a massive amount of private and personal data was made public and exposed on the internet. This issue was such a big deal Twitch had to address it publicly. Taking a few steps forward, in 2017 an unreported security problem allowed scammers to contact streamers and to request revenue sharing from the Twitch Prime subscriptions.
So, if you want a Twitch account but you value your online safety, what can you do? The answer is simpler than you think: get a virtual number. That way you won’t have to worry about some hacker or scammer leaking your real number, and the company won’t know it either.
In this guide, we’ll lead you on the way to create your Twitch account without using your phone number. It’s worth noting that this guide is made for US numbers, if you don’t live there you might want to use a VPN to be able to follow these steps.
Step 1: go to Twitch
In your browser, type “Twitch”. The first link you see should be the real one, click on it.
On the main Twitch page, click on “Sign up” at the top menu.
After that, you’ll be presented with a small form, fill it out with your username, password, and birthday but leave the “Phone number” section blank – this is the part where you’ll get a virtual number.
Step 2: getting a virtual number
Go to our website and sign in, or sign up if you don’t have an account. You can find both of these options at the top menu.
Once in, make sure the top tab says “United States”, because we’re using a US number to verify your Twitch account. Now, head over to “Services – Short-term numbers” on the left menu.
Type “Twitch” on the search bar located at the right portion of the screen, and click on the “Purchase” button underneath the number.
Mark the checkbox to confirm your purchase and click on “Next”.
You should be seeing your number. Copy it and paste it on Twitch’s page.
Step 3: let’s verify the account!
On the Twitch page click on “Sign up”. After that, they’ll ask for a code they’ll send to verify your number.
Click on “Next” back on your Major Phones account to see your code.
Enter it on Twitch’s page and that’ll be it! Click on “Done”.
All left to do is customize your account to have the best experience online.
Congrats! Now you have successfully created a Twitch account, and are able to enjoy all this platform has to offer, from Gaming to sports to chatting with some streamers, and much more. And you have achieved this without compromising any personal information, just using our virtual numbers!