Tracking Pokimane's success: The Twitch Streamer who became an Internet sensation

Pokimane is a 24-year old Morrocan-Canadian Internet personality. She currently has more than 5.7 million followers on Twitch, with an additional 5.67 million subscribers on YouTube. Despite still only being 24, she has been streaming since 2012.

As a child, she got into gaming due to her elder brother, who was also an avid gamer. Initially, Pokimane used to play games such as the legend of Zelda, along with Pokémon. As for education, she went to a French Elementary school, after which she switched to an English High school. This was followed by a Chemical Engineering course at the McMaster University, which she later dropped out of.

As for video games, the first online multiplayer title that she got into was Endless Online. Somewhere in early 2012 she came across a bunch of female gamers who had been streaming on Twitch. This in turn inspired Pokimane, and she began to create her own content.

Pokimane has even been accused of being a 'Clout chaser'.

Tracking Pokimane's success: The Twitch Streamer who became an Internet sensation

2012 was an important year for Pokimane’s career. She began playing League of legends, and in time, was recognized primarily as a LOL streamer. By the end of 2017 Pokimane had around 700,000 followers on Twitch. Shorty Awards even named her the ‘Best Twitch Streamer of the year’ in 2017 due to her LOL streams.

For years she worked hard to create an online presence, and was largely successful. Pokimane introduced a new style of streaming where she would talk and engage with her viewers for hours together. She soon came to be known as a ‘variety’ streamer, and would often post reactionary content on other peoples’ videos.

Why is Pokimane so controversial?

Apart from this, her above average gaming skills and cheerful persona became integral parts of her channel. Her Twitch platform grew slowly and steadily, and by the time 2017 ended, she was a notable female streamer who was perpetually growing. In July 2017, Fortnite was released. Pokimane became one of the innumerable streamers who switched to the game, with great results.

She ended 2017 with around 700k followers. However, by the end of 2018 Pokimane has garnered a total of 2.5 million followers. It was here that she truly transformed into a world renowned streamer, and garnered the loyal support that still stands by her. Her Fortnite skills - something she doesn’t often get credit for, and her cheerful and witty personality, were the major reasons behind this success.

Image Credits: Twitch Tracker

However, other reasons have been talked about too. The ‘Simp’ argument gained traction, and her rate of growth has only been increasing since then. Pokimane has gained almost 2 million followers on Twitch since the beginning of this year. However, people will argue that the reasons have been unpleasant.

A number of controversies have marred her career of late. Feuds with notable content creators like Leafy and Keemstar, along with the accusation of having too many ‘Simps’ as fans, have made her one of the most hated streamers around.

Imagine having a boyfriend but acting like you single online so sad lonely guys donate money to your twitch stream. That’s so fake & pathetic!

— KEEM 🍿 (@KEEMSTAR) May 17, 2020

Pokimane was even blamed for Leafy’s YouTube ban, and is said to have a community full of overeager men who are a bit too willing to support their favorite streamer.

content stone age - pokimanehttps://t.co/gsrlfm80RV pic.twitter.com/J1ltX2aSou

— Leafy (@Leafy) August 20, 2020

Regardless, all the controversies cannot take away the fact that she is indeed an Internet sensation, and probably the most well-known female streamer in the world. Pokimane's past controversies led to the following apology being posted by her.

my overdue apology.https://t.co/cTMasKoGdx

— pokimane (@pokimanelol) August 18, 2020