News Twitch removes 'Blind Playthrough' after backlash from gamers with disabilities

[Clout]

Since 2018, Twitch has had a tag system that allows streamers to categorize their broadcasts according to their content’s contents and give viewers an at-a-glance idea of what they’re about. Until very recently, “blind playthrough” was one of these official Twitch tags.

“Blind playthrough” was meant to be applied to first-time runs through games, frequently with the implication that streamers didn’t want chat spoiling key story elements or trying to backseat game. Streamers and other content creators use the term pretty frequently. Recently, however, Twitch removed the “blind playthrough” tag following concerns about ableist language.

Twitch Removes 'Blind Playthrough' Tag After Disability Criticism

Since 2018, Twitch has had a tag system that allows streamers to categorize their broadcasts according to their content’s contents and give viewers an at-a-glance idea of what they’re about. Tags also tie into Twitch’s still-rudimentary (but increasingly prominent) recommendation system. Until...

kotaku.com

 

[PGen98]

I understand it from the perspective of trying to be as inoffensive as possible, but...is blind playthrough really exclusionary language? Is it genuinely offending visually impaired people, or inferring those playing are visually impaired? I just seems like a change made for the sake of seeming to be proactive in an issue that, genuinely, I don't see as being in any way a genuine issue. I'm on board with being as inclusive as possible, but sometimes things can get a bit too much.

 

[Bunker Hosting]

As a company, you can't just change somethings and look over others. Going to start demanding they change their name from "Twitch" as it is offensive to people suffering from cerebral palsy!

Kidding, but their are much bigger fish to be fried on Twitch than what they are focusing their efforts on..

 

[Clout]

I understand it from the perspective of trying to be as inoffensive as possible, but...is blind playthrough really exclusionary language? Is it genuinely offending visually impaired people, or inferring those playing are visually impaired? I just seems like a change made for the sake of seeming to be proactive in an issue that, genuinely, I don't see as being in any way a genuine issue. I'm on board with being as inclusive as possible, but sometimes things can get a bit too much.

It's a complete non-issue that is only creating faux outrage across the board.