Imagine this: you’re an avid viewer of a rather small streamer jumping on to catch their daily video game session when you notice something odd. The streamer, who you’ve watched regularly for six months alongside a few dozen viewers, has nearly 10,000 viewers. The stream chat, usually populated by just a few engaged fans, isn’t flooded with new chatters. What’s going on?This is viewbotting, or the practice of artificially inflating viewer counts with automated software, aka bots.
In the robust and ever-changing creator economy, which is currently grappling with how to approach streaming as short-form content and clipping become more popular, viewbotting is quickly becoming a major issue.
Why and how does it happen and who does it affect?
WTF is viewbotting?
Viewbotting is when live streams get an influx of artificial viewers powered by bots. Companies offer viewbotting services, with AI recently helping make the fake accounts seem even more legitimate by imbuing them with personalities and interests.
