Do Twitch Moderators Get Paid? Dark Secret behind Channel Moderators community

Most Twitch Moderators are actually a volunteer from viewers that want to help the streamer by moderating the chat room. Because it’s charity work, most of them are unpaid workers.

Twitch Moderator using macbook to watch Twitch

Twitch Moderators are essential to moderate the chat influx during a stream. But most channel moderators are not getting paid for their work. Because not all streamers can afford and want to pay their moderators, moderators are usually get replaced at a fast rate on most channel

What are Twitch Channel Moderators?

Channel moderators are Twitch Users and bots that get special privileges from the streamer to moderate their chat room. Twitch mods have the privilege to delete a message that broke the streamer chat room rule and Twitch guidelines. Twitch moderators can also give time out and bans to the Twitch users that break the rule

Mods can be real humans (or basically Twitch users) or automated bots. It’s hard to determine which are better, but both mods are essential to all Twitch channels.

Why Twitch Streamers need Moderators on their stream?

Channel moderators are needed on any Twitch Channel. During the stream, it’s common to get attacked by spammers and trollers. Some uncivilized viewers can send toxic or rule-breaking words in the chat room

In this situation, moderators come to play to moderate the chat room. Their job is to monitor and delete chat that unsafe according to Twitch community guidelines and your channel chat room’s rule. The rule of course different for every streamer, so many streamers state their own rule that can be viewed on the chat room

Deleting the message of course not an effective solution for spammers and trolls. Moderators also give time out and ban to users that broke the channel and Twitch rule. This can prevent repeated offenses by the same users

This is important for big streamers because many of them have ‘hater and troll’ on their channel. According to The LoadOut, Pokimane’s channel moderator had ban 350,000 on her chat room

Because mods are important, it’s hard for streamers to get a good moderator to their channel. Many streamers believe automated bots are enough to moderate their channel. This is true because most bots are good enough to detect spam messages on Twitch

But bots are not good enough to combat spam and rule-breaking message by Twitch viewers. Human moderators are important to combat viewers that smart enough to exploit the weakness of automated bot

Streamers hire Moderators from their fans

Because streamers need good moderators, it’s common for the streamer to recruit their fans to become moderators. Usually, these fans are popular in the streamer community. Many Twitch users also recruit their mods on Reddit and Twitter, the social media that most used by Twitch streamer

Some streamers also hire mods based on the recommendation from their streamer friend. Because it’s easy to hire moderators, some moderators moderate more than 3 channels! With that many channels to moderate, how good the moderation will be?

Many streamers anticipate this by hiring more than 5 human moderators for their channel. Because not all moderators can do their job at any time, a backup for moderators always prepared by experienced streamers on Twitch

Do Twitch Mods get paid?

Most Channel moderators are not getting paid by their job. Most streamers can’t pay their channel moderators because they can’t get a living wage from streaming. So, it’s rare for a streamer to pay their moderators. Some popular Twitch streamer like Pokimane, Myth, and Ludwig do pay their moderators, so mods can still earn money if you moderate popular streamers on Twitch

Since mods are not earning any money for their job, why there still many channel moderators on Twitch?

Why do many people want to become Twitch moderators?

It’s simply because some viewers want to get close to their idol. Becoming a channel moderator is an easy way to get gratitude from the streamer. Not only that you have the power to ban someone from the chat room. Other viewers will respect you as channel moderators

Some moderators work not just for fame, but just for the love for the games themselves. In some unpopular games, the community is strong enough that some people will help moderate the streamer that plays their favorite game. This is common on a game with a huge speedrun community

Of course, it’s not as easy as it seems. Many moderators keep monitoring the stream, causing themselves to can’t get satisfaction during the stream

A Reddit user shared his story as moderators for a Twitch channel. He was asked by one streamer to become a moderator. Because he thought it’s fun, he agrees to become a channel moderator for the streamer.

But things progress to not what he expects with

“People think it must be fun to be a moderator on a popular channel, but there is a lot that goes on behind the stream. Being a mod has changed Twitch forever for me.  Watching other streams, I find I’m watching the chat room even though I’m not a mod there. It almost like I automatically moderate the chat every time I watch a stream on Twitch” A deleted Reddit user shared his cautionary tale

Imagine watching a stream for 4 hours yet not remembering anything from it.

Why Streamers don’t pay their Channel Moderators?

Because many fans would be happy to become moderators for free to their favorite streamer. Because streamers can easily hire mods from their fans, many streamers expect their moderators to do their job without getting paid. If the mods finally ask to get paid for their role during the stream, the streamer can easily replace the mods with another fan

Of course, there is no such thing as being a moderator is only a voluntary job. Just like what I explained above, some streamer do pay their moderator, which is a relief to any of you who want to become a channel moderator on Twitch

But Twitch doesn’t have a rule for the streamer to pay their moderator. So, it up to the streamer themselves to decide whether they will pay their moderators or not. The views that moderators are charity act will remain for a long time unless Twitch decides to regulate the moderator’s community

Should Streamer pay their Mods?

Yes, because moderation is a hard job, streamer must pay their moderators. Especially for the successful streamer that earns big bucks from their contract on Twitch.

Sadly, being paid as moderators is the exception rather than the rule. But some streamer do pay their moderators

According to SVG, Ludwig paid one of his moderators a whopping $167,000 during his legendary subathon. This is the most paid moderator in the history of Twitch

One of his mods even paid his credit card debt from earning during subathon according to Gamerant.

It’s usually expected that if you belong to the top hierarchy of Twitch streamers, you must pay your moderators. Of course, not all partnered streamer pay their moderators.

From one point, even if they are Twitch Partners, some of them are not earning enough money. This is common because many Twitch Partners only have daily viewers of less than 100. You may ask, how can they a Twitch Partner if they are not earning money on Twitch?

The reason is already explained on my previous article on why partnered channel doesn’t’ have a viewer or earning requirement. Even with views that less than some affiliated streamers, they still won’t lose their partnership status. This is the reason why some Twitch partners can’t afford to pay their moderators.

Does Twitch require streamers to have moderators? 

Twitch doesn’t force you to have moderators on your channel. But moderation is important to streamers according to Twitch Help. All Twitch streamer must moderate their channel so it can be watched safely according to Twitch rules. So having moderators is important and can prevent your channel from getting a ban

How To Become A Mod On Twitch

If any explanation above still doesn’t dissuade you to become Twitch mods, it’s not hard to get accepted to become Twitch channel moderator.

What you must understand it’s easy for any streamer to accept Twitch User as moderator. There is literally no requirement, except maybe having a Twitch account

So as long you apply for the position and the streamer accept you, then you 100% will become the moderator for their channel

Below are the tips to quickly get accepted as moderator on most Twitch channel

  1. Regular chatter on the chat room
  2. Be civil and polite
  3. Popular in the community (other viewers basically remember you every time you enter the stream)
  4. Friendly to other viewers
  5. Getting accepted as a friend by the streamer
  6. Message privately to check if there is an empty slot for moderator, and apply for the position when it’s open

As long you apply for the position, you will usually get accepted as a moderator on any channel. As long you market your skill and love for games. A bonus point if you are already a moderator on another channel.

Don’t expect to become a moderator on a popular streamer’s channel. They usually have a team of professional moderators that only work for top streamers on Twitch

Conclusion

Moderators are super important for streamers. Sadly, Twitch channel moderators remained as a hobby or voluntary job, instead of a real job. Even though some streamer generously paid their mods, Twitch mods generally are not expected to get paid for their job. There is no punishment for not paying moderators because this is the normal thing on Twitch

Philip Maynan is a hobbyist streamer and digital artist. What he loves most are writing, gaming, and drawing. Currently, he focuses on blogging and learning digital art.

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