AOC’s Twitch stream debut is genuinely among the 20 biggest streams ever. That’s not just spin; that’s according to sites like TwitchTracker. Last night, AOC, as we said, was streaming Among Us with a variety of big-name streamers. We clocked her peak at 439K viewers, but it did dip down to 300k. A measly 300,000 viewers; chump change, right? We had it on here in our house, where this writer’s roommate was remarking how quickly she hit 400,000 viewers. It’s no mean feat, that’s for sure.

It’s also fun to note that AOC is pretty great at Among Us, with only a day to practice. TwitchTracker also pointed out she could be in the top 10 for an individual in terms of peak viewers on a livestream. That’s how huge AOC’s Twitch stream viewership was. So who exactly joined Representative Ocasio-Cortez online? Representative Ilhan Omar, Pokimane, HasanAbi, Disguised Toast, DrLupo and many more. It was a huge turnout and was definitely for a good cause. The cause? Voting!

This is a tremendous way to get the word out to voters in a language they understand. Sure, Biden’s campaign created an Animal Crossing island, and even Bernie Sanders was a part of Twitch last year. He understands there’s an audience on Twitch that’s receptive to the message he’s trying to get out there. Perhaps most interesting of all, the Twitch chat was not a toxic landfill of miserable people being . . . well, Twitch chat. 

We all know what Twitch chat is like for big events like GDQ, and major esports tournaments; let’s not kid ourselves. It’s probably part in due to AOC having smart mods for her stream, and the turnout simply being very Pro-AOC. Perhaps the hate-filled parts of Twitter didn’t want to contribute to her numbers. Whatever the reason, it seemed overall like a very positive event, where everyone had fun. 

This year’s elections may be the most important ballots cast in America. So having AOC out here, hitting huge Twitch viewership numbers for her stream, it sounds like she’s really got people behind her, listening to what she has to say. It’s incredibly smart, and this could turn into a real big move for the Rep for New York. Can you imagine these kinds of things turning into regular Town Hall meetings, where people could air grievances in a respectful manner, through the power of Twitch? If nothing else, AOC proved she’s got what it takes to entertain and inform. You love to see it.