Smoking on stream?

In order to learn more about the platform and to try and be a better streamer, I keep going aroung and checking out other channels on Twitch.

And I've noticed a disturbing amount of people vape on stream, perhaps even as high as 30% of streamers in the categories I'm looking in. And as a life-long asthmatic and anti-smoking proponent, it just seems completely out-of-touch to me.

I mean don't get me wrong, if you want to smoke, you are certainly free to do so. Even if you want to smoke on stream, it's technically not against the community guidelines.

However, you should also consider that there is a very good chance that young impressionable people will be watching your stream, regardless of age restriction. Effectively making you an advertisement for smoking.

So ask yourself this question: "Would I be okay if a 10-year old starting to smoke because they watched my stream?"

This is not up to me, and perhaps not even up to Twitch (until it becomes a legal concern). It is something that only you can decide for yourself. But I doubt that the streamers in question, has even thought of vaping as something that could potentially become an issue.

So far I've seen 1 and only one streamer, who - in my opinion - handles smoking respectably.
She/They put up a "BRB / smokebreak" image over their webcam, and turned off their mic for the duration. This signals to me, that the streamer is mindful of the negative consequences of their actions, and does not wish to promote it.

There are probably more ways you could do this, I'm not saying that this is the best or only way.
But personally, I wouldn't follow or recommend someone who freely smokes on stream. I might even unfollow if I see them smoke after I've already followed them.
So perhaps another good question you should ask yourself is: "Would I care if someone refused to follow, or unfollowed me, just for smoking?"


Well, this is just my personal opinion, but what do you think?
Do you smoke on stream? Do you care if someone does?
Perhaps this is just another "me vs. the world"-thing, so please feel free to comment.

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