UPDATED 14:55 EST / JULY 01 2016

NEWS

Twitch’s “Social Eating” category proves the internet will livestream anything

Earlier this week, Amazon’s popular livestreaming platform Twitch launched a new video category called Social Eating, which shows that Twitch can even get weirder than it already is.

Here’s how Twitch define’s Social Eating on an FAQ page for the new category:

“Social Eating is a new beta category that lets you share a meal with your community. Whether you are taking a break from gaming to refuel or enjoying a meal you cooked on Twitch Creative. It is like eating with friends via Twitch!

“Having your meal while watching someone else have theirs celebrates something people have done for eons: dining together. The spirit of Social Eating is therefore less focused on the act of eating and more on a sense of companionship and inclusiveness.”

According to Twitch, the concept of Social Eating originated in South Korea, where streamers have been eating in front of their fans for some time now. Twitch noted that one of the primary reasons it has created the new category is because a number of Korean streamers have been requesting the feature. The site also said that Social Eating is a natural companion to the cooking streams done through its Creative category, allowing streamer to eat the meal they prepared on air.

Twitch: No longer for gamers only

Twitch, which was acquired by Amazon in 2014 for $970 million, is known for being strict about the type content that can be streamed on its platform, and up until recently, Twitch only allowed live video game content on its site.

Over the last year, however, Twitch has been slowly adding more and more categories that have expanded beyond the niche of gaming. For example, one of the most popular categories added over the last year is Twitch Creative, which gives streamers a place to livestream a wide range of artistic and creative talents, including painting, digital art, music, cooking, and more.

When the Creative category was first launched, Twitch celebrated by showing a week-long marathon of The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross, and the stream was so successful that the site made a deal that allowed it to continue airing the show every Monday. Twitch repeated this same tactic again with The French Chef, and it seems like only a matter of time before Amazon itself realizes how much users enjoy the ability to chat while watching a show together.

Screenshot via ItsNatashaFFS | Twitch

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