Listen, we’re like nine months into a pandemic and apparently desperate for any form of entertainment, whether we find it online or in video games.
So when a quiet clamor arose regarding Twitch having a tag ‘Blind Playthrough’ and it somehow, beyond all measure of education and just plain common sense, it somehow ended up getting latched onto by ‘social network activists’ whose primary concern is getting people to like them by proxy of their rhetoric, it was another day at the batting cages for the vast majority.
Concerns that the language was ableist and could offend blind people who read that tag were mounting and Twitch did the only thing an organization could do when backed against the proverbial wall by a few angry people giving each other’s the old thumbs-up on things that they post to various forums.
They removed the hurtful language. The dictionary was clearly not readily consulted when making this decision.
Gotta cancel the official dictionary now damn
— Mattness (@Mattness8) December 5, 2020
Now, blind people will no longer be disparaged by seeing Twitch streamers doing blind playthroughs, or by reading a tag that has the word ‘blind’ in it, as that is largely thought to be wrong speak and leading into the dangerous territory of thoughtcrime.
‘Blind Playthroughs’ are (was?) the vernacular used by Twitch streamers to let their audience know to not try and help the streamer by constantly offering tidbits of advice on the game. The term ‘Blind’ refers to the fact that the streamer playing the game is going in generally sight-unseen, without watching trailers and any snippets of gameplay while having no intention of allowing people to spoil it.
Chat is heavily moderated, and it’s generally an enjoyable experience for everyone. Except for the blind people, watching.
One vocal individual on Twitter, a self-labeled marketer for Twitch, lauded the confused company that bought the most successful streaming platform for removing the word that is considered hurtful to those that can simultaneously see it while not seeing anything.
Yet how she tweeted has a few wondering if they should cancel her, for a buffer of safety – she stated in the tweet congratulating herself that she was ‘happy to see’. This is considered relatively inflammatory to both the blind and depressed.
Happy to see Twitch has listened to everyone who shared feedback and removed the “Blind Playthrough” tag to encourage more inclusive language for our community.
You can still use “First Playthrough” or opt to use it in combination with "No Spoilers" for the same sentiment. 💜
— Aureylian (@aureylian) December 4, 2020
Discussions are currently reported as ongoing within Twitch, as a ‘speedrunning’ tag (referring to playing through a game as quickly as possible) could leave those lacking lower limbs without a leg to stand on, so to speak.
Twitch encourages streamers to now use ‘First Playthrough’ along with the tag ‘No Spoilers’, in spite of growing concerns that the blind people that were previously offended by seeing the term ‘blind’ now have twice as much reading to do.
