Everything you Need to Know About How To Cheer on Twitch

Contrary to what the name might suggest, cheering on Twitch is about more than just showing appreciation for streamers. It is actually one of the ways that streamers can make a little money from their work. This page includes everything you need to know about cheering on Twitch.

Twitch is an interactive online video broadcasting service that got its start in 2011 with the video gaming community then expanded well beyond that in subsequent years. Now Twitch has over two million unique streamers each month, streaming video on just about any topic you can imagine. Cheering on videos that you like is part of the Twitch experience, enabling some 17,000 Twitch users to make money through their videos.

A Cheer is essentially a tip and is counted in Bits. One Bit is bought for 1 cent and can be sent to a streamer. The streamer receives the Bits which can then be converted into cash. The person who cheered gets a unique emote or chat badge indicating they’ve cheered (i.e., sent Bits).

This mutual reward system is neat and encourages streamers to continue to create quality streams and viewers to show appreciation. This system works well for hard working streamers creating unique content and for those of us just stopping by for a bit of entertainment.

Setting up Cheers as a streamer

As a streamer, you have to enable cheering. As a viewer, you need to load your account with Bits to be able to use Cheer. Twitch Affiliates and many Partners have cheering enabled by default but if you’re not either of these, you need to do it manually.

1. Navigate to Partner Settings in your Twitch dashboard.
2. Select to the Cheer section and select Enable Cheering with Bits.
3. Sign the tax form and review the Cheering Amendment to Content Partner Agreement.
4. Scroll to Bits Threshold Settings and set Minimum Bits to Cheer to a figure above 1.
5. Set the Minimum Bit Emote to something above 1.
6. Select Cheer Chat Badge Settings so your audience gets the love too.
7. Post an entry on your page to tell everyone you now accept Cheers.

Setting the Minimum Bits to Cheer above one Bit should stop most spammers. This is essential as there are a lot of spammers on the site. Setting this amount takes a little trial and error. Smaller channels will need to set it lower. Larger or more popular channels can get away with higher amounts. You will need to experiment with what you can get away with. It is better to receive 500 two Bit Cheers than ten 50 Bit Cheers so set your amount accordingly.

Setting up Cheers as a viewer

As a Twitch video viewer, you don’t have to worry about setting up your channel. You just need to load your account with Bits and then offer them to your streamers of choice. Bits are purchased with real money and are loaded onto your account. As far as I know, they are not refundable so don’t buy more than you’re likely to use.

At the moment, 100 Bits = $1.40 and 25,000 Bits = $308. You can buy them in 100, 500, 1500, 5000, 10,000 and 25,000 amounts.

It is easier to buy Bits using the desktop site but you can purchase on mobile too.

1. Log into your account.
2. Select either the Get Bits button at the top of the screen above the video player or in the message box in chat.
3. Select Buy and choose a payment method.
4. Log in and authorize the payment.
5. Select Continue to check the purchase.
6. Select Pay Now to do just that.

Purchases are immediate and you should see the corresponding amount of Bits appear in your account. There is an upper limit of 25,000 Bits that can be stored in your Twitch account at any one time.

If you don’t want to pay, you can still Cheer in Twitch by using Bits for Ads. This is a new service recently rolled out that rewards you with Bits in return for watching ads. It is available via the app right now and on desktop soon.

1. Install the Twitch app or update it to the latest version: Twitch for Android here and Twitch for iOS here.
2. Select the chat window and select Get Bits from within the chat box.
3. Select Watch Ad at the top.
4. Your bits should be automatically credited to your account.

You have to watch the whole advert to be eligible for payment but once you do, the stated amount of Bits will be automatically credited to your account. The system is still being tweaked and delivery can take a little while but seems to work okay.

How to Cheer in Twitch

Now you’re all set up, how do you Cheer in Twitch?

1. Select the chat box in on stream.
2. Select the Bits icon within the box and select a Twitch Cheermote.
3. Add the number of Bits you want to Cheer. You can use the menu or type ‘cheer500’ to Cheer 500 Bits.
4. Change the amount of Bits as you see fit.

That’s all you really need to know about cheering on Twitch. It’s a simple system that doesn’t cost a lot but can make a lot of difference to a streamer. It’s one of the reasons the platform is home to so many top quality streams and will continue to be as long as we support those streamers.

If you found this TechJunkie article helpful, you might also like this how-to article How To Activate or Enable Bits on Twitch.

Do you have some tips and tricks for cheering on Twitch? If so, please leave a comment below!