The main trends in entertainment and communication industries we wait for in 2025.

The main trends in entertainment and communication industries we wait for in 2025. How will embeded AI move further? What should we do with live-video streaming? What is with tokenization, gamification, and mysterious hyber localization that became 

Six Trends of 2025 We Can’t Miss

We studied many reports on 2024 and predictions about the following year made by the most influencing research companies, media, and technological giants, and grabbed the most interesting trends, the significant quotations, and the bravest predictions for the future of communication and entertainment—just for you and for us to build the most exciting, ambitious, and actual roadmap.We studied numerous reports in 2024 and examined predictions for the following year from the most influential research companies, media outlets, and technological giants. From these analyses, we selected the most intriguing trends, significant quotes, and boldest forecasts for the future of communication and entertainment. We’ve gathered insights to craft the most exciting, ambitious, and relevant roadmap for both you and us.<h2>Mainstream Adoption of Live Streaming</h2>Trend: Live streaming continues to dominate, with users focusing on interactive, real-time experiences.We wrote it not once: live-streaming has been one of the most notable vague in the entertainment industry for the last few years. Users get used to streaming, watching other users’ streaming; everything can be streamed, and everything can be sold during the stream. Twitch and YouTube created this trend, but it doesn't mean that other services can use it for their own interaction with the audience.<blockquote>“Live-streaming viewership is up 12% from Q3 2023 to 8.5B hours watched, indicating renewed interest in the industry following the post-pandemic dip. Kick solidified its position in the live-streaming space, now holding the #3 spot with 534M hours watched after growing it (together with Twitch and YouTube; the fourth place goes to Facebook Video). This resurgence has been fueled by a wider variety of platforms, like Kick which has doubled in viewership compared to Q3 last year.” Stream Hatchet; Q3 2024 Report</blockquote><blockquote>“As live-streaming commerce grows, it’s&nbsp;clear that e-commerce will need to evolve or risk being overshadowed by this inherently dynamic approach. Through advanced personalization, moderation and real-time analytics, content will be tailored to real-time preferences based on input and reactions." <a href="https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbesbusinesscouncil/people/luxnarayan/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(17, 85, 204);">Lux Narayan</a> for Forbes, October 2024</blockquote><img src="https://watchersweb-prod.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/d79539d2-8bef-4b9c-b6ae-4dd9bfc7e684.jpeg"><blockquote>“We now expect to see a new era of streaming, one that prioritizes user experience and innovation. The future of AI-powered streaming lies in platforms that can anticipate individual preferences, deliver tailored content, and blur the lines between traditional viewing and interactive experiences.” Kevin Westcott, Deloitte Global Telecommunications, November 2024</blockquote><blockquote>“60% of those respondents who budget for influencer marketing intend to increase their influencer marketing budget over next year.” Influencer Marketing Hub</blockquote><h2>Consolidation of Embedded AI</h2>Trend: AI integration becomes a demanded part of functionality for enhancing UX through personalization, chat assistance, and predictive analytics.The growth of embedded AI happened fast and users adopted it really fast as well. Now, companies and services should not fall behind and give users what they expect to see: convenient tools for interacting with AI or services improved with AI for better personalisation.<blockquote>“...companies hope to create an all-in-one app, where users can act on what they have learned and never have to leave. 73% of consumers believe customer service quality will improve with the&nbsp;use of AI and expect more interactions with it in their everyday lives.” CX Trend 2024; Dmitry Shevelenko, Perplexity</blockquote><blockquote>“If you think about the world’s data, the majority of it is sitting in cold tiers and archives. Enterprises are now using that data to feed AI models and realize the full value of the data." Arthur Lewis, <a href="https://www.barrons.com/market-data/stocks/dell?mod=article_chiclet" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(17, 85, 204);">Dell Technologies</a>’ infrastructure solutions group; Barron’s, November 2024</blockquote><blockquote>“In 2025, this democratization of AI usage is accelerating, promising to reshape industries and revolutionize decision-making processes across every sector of the economy.” Forbes, November, 2024</blockquote><h2>Surge in Gamification</h2>Trend: Gamification elements, like achievements, leaderboards, and streaks, are key to driving engagementGamification is not a new trend; it has been evolving over the last decade or so. As more users develop habits of playing games and video games, they increasingly tend to respond to achievements and expect to receive them for their behaviour. If platforms want to retain users and build loyalty, achievements are becoming a necessary element of this.<blockquote>“Gamification is about motivating people through data-driven experiences that tap into the core of what makes us human—our need to learn, grow, and be rewarded.” Gabe Zichermann, Onward, October 2024</blockquote><blockquote>“The gamification market size has grown exponentially , and it is expected to grow with GAGR in 24.4%. The growth in the historic period can be attributed at increased use of gamification in gaming industry and rise of mobile games.” Global Gamification Market Growth Drivers 2024/ Report</blockquote><h2>Hyper-Localization</h2>Trend: Platforms are demanding tailored experiences to specific geographies, languages, and cultural contexts.<blockquote>Personalization is no longer a luxury; it’s an expectation. Players want experiences that resonate with their individual preferences.” Yogonet iGaming news, October 2024</blockquote>This trend is closely tied to the development of embedded AI and the full adoption of big data, and interestingly, it intersects with both globalization and anti-globalization movements. Some platforms aim to protect their content, while others focus on offering users the freedom to move seamlessly across borders without losing their connection to the platform.Users demand a close, personalised connection with their favourite services, whether they are at home or abroad. Personalisation is a king, detailed localisation is a necessity.&nbsp;<blockquote>“The drivers for local differentiation include: Businesses in highly regulated industries must adhere to national or regional regulations and ensure that regulators’ systems can connect with their own. Data privacy and security laws, such as the European Union’s GDPR and China’s Data Security Law, apply to all industries and may include <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/risk-and-resilience/our-insights/localization-of-data-privacy-regulations-creates-competitive-opportunities" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(17, 85, 204);">requirements affecting local infrastructure</a>, such as cloud providers, and mechanisms to control data flows, such as isolated access controls. The user experience may need to be tailored to reflect local&nbsp; communication preferences.”McKinsey and Company</blockquote><h2>Blockchain and Tokenized Incentives and Crypto Growth</h2>Trend: Blockchain and tokenized economics are gaining traction for easiness and transparency processing and unique rewardsIf your platform operates globally and involves financial transactions—whether users trade stocks, buy or sell goods, pay for services, or place bets—they need a secure and seamless way to manage their money. To avoid complications with various currencies, some platforms have adopted crypto operations. While this trend may not exhibit the fastest growth, it remains strong and steadily gaining confidence.<blockquote>“Tech-savvy players who value anonymity and fast transactions are particularly drawn to crypto-friendly platforms. Additionally, the rise of PayPal casinos is also notable, as many players prefer the security and ease of transactions that the platform offers. As global regulations around cryptocurrency and digital payment methods continue to evolve, their roles in the gambling industry will only grow stronger.” Yogonet Gaming news, October 2024</blockquote><blockquote>“Tokenized financial assets are moving from pilot to at-scale deployment. Adoption is not yet widespread, but financial institutions with blockchain capabilities in&nbsp;place will have a strategic advantage. For instance, we believe tokenization feasibility is highest for asset classes with lower technical complexities and regulatory considerations.” McKinsey &amp; Company, 2024</blockquote><h2>Community-building</h2>Trend: The social part of user experience now is a necessity.If two years ago, developing social tools was really important for entertainment businesses: users got used to social media, and social networks stole retention and attention from platforms, channels, and services. It was essential, but now it is required. All users of all platforms need to share their opinions: your users can watch movies or sports, study analytical reports, share their ideas about the best cookie recipes, bet on hockey or buy tickets to the theatre: all of them need to receive advice or give them. ﻿﻿<img src="https://watchersweb-prod.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/93c2e6ff-df46-4428-ad0b-4a3af6e20b3b.jpeg">All of them were really into these activities, and they had to create WhatsApp or Facebook groups for such discussions, but now platforms see these needs and add this functionality on the platforms. Interesting that it doesn't matter if the platform is big or small; community chat, comment section, and in-app live-video streaming can be added on any platform where there is a topic to discuss and users who are actually interested in such discussions.&nbsp;<blockquote>“Engaging with your audience shows you value their input and are willing to evolve based on their needs.” <a href="https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbescommunicationscouncil/2024/10/01/the-power-of-community-how-fashion-brands-are-building-loyalty-among-gen-z/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(17, 85, 204);">Forbes, October 2024</a></blockquote>

Last month, we boosted opportunities for engagement, which you can get with our social platform at times, with two significant features.

Integrated in-app live streaming, AI bots and many other engaging tools for the content platforms...Learn more about Watchers SaaS product updates!

Live streaming and AI bots: share exciting new features we launched in October

Live Streaming ToolsEven a month ago, you could use video in our chat only by redirecting video streams from other platforms; now, you can provide a live stream directly into chats, directing RTMP stream through OBS. Their video stream will be transmitted to the chat on your platform. You won’t lose your audience on Twitch, Discord, or Facebook Video because everything they need will be gathered on your platform exclusively.﻿<img src="https://watchersweb-prod.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/08a30051-9b58-4edf-a162-47856ad73e4c.png">However, redirecting video streams is also possible if you got used to having such events on Kick or Facebook; you can easily embed this video into your in-app chats and gather maximum engagement there.Easy AI bots integrationDo you have an AI bot, or are you developing one right now? You can add them to your community chats! It’s the best way to keep users busy and engaged and provide all the information they need. You can add any bots you wish via API and activate them at any time.&nbsp;Small adjustmentsThere are many more options for a period of a ban: there are 7 of them now!The user counter works more precisely than ever.If users share their bet with a violent comment, the moderation system hides only the text, but the bet stays in a chat.Nickname block list: You can add words and phrases you would like to restrict users from adding to nicknames. Users will be able to text these words in messages but not in their names.Masking crypto wallet numbers: We used to mask only regular bank accounts and phone numbers, now crypto wallets.

We participate in three huge industrial events during November: Web Summit, SIGMA Europe Summit, and Google Startup Academy. 

Community chat and live streaming provider Watchers participate in Web Summit, SIGMA Europe Summit, and Google Academy this year. Book a meeting to discuss the integration or book a free trial

London, Lisbon, and Valetta: Where do you plan to meet Watchers this November?

How do you plan to spend the end of the autumn? We've decided to make it as fruitful as possible. Watchers' team will actively participate in three industrial events during the month and be happy to meet and network there.Google for Startups Growth Academy (London, UK, since the end of October)We've been selected for the program as one of the most promising AI startups to accelerate growth and impact the industry. We’re proud to be recognised for our trail-blazing efforts in using AI to continue bringing socialisation to the platforms and making users' communication engaging and safe. Most offline events will be held in London.Web Summit (Lisbon, Portugal, 11-14 November)We are participating in the Web Summit for the third time in a row. This time, we are showcasing as a beta startup. Our showcase will take place on 14 November on Stage 13. We be happy to see you there! If you plan to attend the expo, visit our booth on November 13 (B311). By the way, we have a special offer for Web Summit attendees—an opportunity to book a 3-month free trial. So, hurry up and connect with us if you want to integrate community chats with widgets on your app or website, and have tickets to Websummit.&nbsp;SIGMA Europe Summit (Valetta, Malta, 11-14 November)This time, we won't just attend the biggest SIGMA event of the year; our CPO, Adel Gaisin, will also participate in a speaking panel, "Startups Stories: Following up with SiGMA and AIBC Startup Pitch Winners", and share our experience as a startup that won SIGMA Pitch twice during the year. Feel free to join the panel on 14 November at 13:15.&nbsp;You can always contact us to book a meeting.***If you don't plan to be in Lisbon, London, or Valetta during November but would like to talk to us, discuss the functionality, or have a demo call, contact us via email or fill out the form.

AI moderation for images, changelog, and marvellous iGaming stickers: what we added to the product last month.

Watchers' integrated chats now include AI moderation capabilities for checking images sent by users. Users can communicate in a habitual and convenient way without unpleasant content. That increases engagement and revenue on all type of platforms

AI moderation for images, changelog, and marvellous iGaming stickers: what we added to the product last month

<h3>Features</h3>Influencers’ stream recordingIf you provide audio streams on your platform and your users share their screens with some visual materials, voice can be recorded and re-used to attract more users and even for your promotion on social media or other platforms to attract more people to use your service.AI moderation of imagesWe provide users with the opportunity to send pictures and allow them to communicate in a completely trusted and healthy space with AI moderation tools. You can activate the AI moderation tool, which will block all inappropriate messages with images automatically. Alternatively, you can activate manual pre-moderation and check all messages before they get into the chat.However, manual moderation is available for both options: if you find the image AI allowed for sending inappropriate, you can hide it afterwards.ChangelogIntroduces a changelog to track platform updates and modifications. Partners can subscribe to all updates through the admin panel and receive a letter with product news after every release.<h3>Improvements</h3>Text Input for Bet/Win Sharing&nbsp;Users can add some additional text while sharing their bets or winnings.Chat Disable Management&nbsp;Any partner can pause or turn off a chat on their side directly on the admin panel and add an announcement for users as to why the chat is unavailable and when it will be open again.Toggle for threads and automatic banning&nbsp;You can turn threads functionality on and off anytime, as well as the opportunity to ban users automatically based on other users’ claims. You can activate and deactivate these features at any moment.Asian localisationWe’ve added Korean and Japanese pre-moderation tools and localised the chat interface.Custom sticker settings and a new iGaming sticker packPartners can add as many sticker packs as they wish, activate several at a time, and assign an emoji to each sticker. When users type this emoji into a chat, the assigned sticker will be proposed for sending despite an emoji.<img src="https://watchersweb-prod.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/af2dd38c-5ca4-4ec8-8736-4465e5846733.png">We’ve also added a default sticker pack for iGaming, which a marvellous Brazilian illustrator created especially for us.

How to use interactive consumption content pattern to boost the platform usage?

Boost content engagement with integrated community chats and interactive tools. Audiences of all ages now seek interaction through mobile devices, gaming, and second-screen strategies. Increase retention with live chats and gamification features.

​​​​Who enjoys the interaction while consuming content? Spoiler: Not just Gen Z

Who enjoys the interaction while consuming content? Who finds classical TV broadcasting a bit outdated and struggling for interaction while watching news, shows, and sports, applying to their smartphones and other mobile devices? Who adores interacting with a gamer before gaming themselves? The popular answer to this question is Gen Z, but this answer looks a bit outdated.&nbsp;Patterns with high levels of engagement and interactions appeared when Gen Zers became a goal of entertaining companies. However, patterns quickly spread around users and viewers of different ages and generations. As discussed during the ‘The Future of Content Viewing’ talk at the IBC summit this year in Amsterdam, it is a mistake to talk about YouTube users as only young people. That’s just a cliche; if you use it, you just avoid statistics and big data provided quite widely.Yet, if the cause differs, conclusions stay the same and even become more critical. Suppose such a pattern is widespread and applied by various people. In that case, services and brands must meet these needs through communication strategies and product development.Let’s see some various use cases for such content viewing to realise how platforms can use this new habit for the greater good of both the business and the users.<img src="https://watchersweb-prod.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/630c8706-b4ea-4e73-a10c-70a0aa14614b.png"><h3>Boost games with social interaction</h3>There are different ways for games: from video games to iGaming, from single-player games to group and public ones. All of them can be enhanced with a high level of interaction while gaming if we are talking about group games and observing other players’ games or between games considering single-player games. This player can comment on their actions with audio or video, while other users comment on a chat with text, stickers, emojis, and gifs. Twitch, it seems like a video stream with commenting actions is a more customary and convenient approach, but we can argue that audio is much simpler. Streamers don’t need to prepare much for the technical part or, for example, their appearance; if the game is simple, they can play and comment from any place they locate in a moment. Also, their audio won’t distract users from the game when the video stream is too complete content itself and sometimes can be very distracting from the main content we want users to pay attention to. At the same time, they can like, share, comment and respond to the streamer and the game process; this is engaging and sticky: users share their emotions here and are more likely to come back to your platform/app as they used to come back to Twitch and Youtube.&nbsp;How to do itYou can add audio or video streams with a chat to your platform with any type of game. Your gamers will provide streams to their gaming process, which will accumulate more users. Particular gamers can gather communities with the habit of consuming gaming content on your platform.<h3>Enhance watching of sports with dynamic interactivity and after-messengers habit</h3>Mobile-first and mobile-only audiences are growing, at the same time the same audience watches programmes on TV because of traditions, habits, collective watching, and coverage: for example, some significant sports games and popular reality shows are broadcasted exclusively on TV. Such viewers lack attention to the TV screen and consume mobile content while watching TV. So, the goal for such an audience is to ‘keep their attention to the main content. It can be achieved with several tools. The first and primary is a second-screen approach: if viewers want to use their mobile phones while watching TV, you can provide them with this opportunity with a link to the main content. They can chat and discuss what’s going on in the main content; in this case, the second screen will be used as a community-building tool. Also, the second-screen approach helps to provide additional content for viewers, such as polls, quizzes, trivia, and bots that enhance the watching experience and focus the viewers’ attention on the content even when they would love to be distracted by their phones.How to do itThere are simple and more complicated ways. The easiest one is to connect a big screen to a mobile phone by scanning a QR code. So, users can scan QR on a TV screen and get into the chat as a specific mobile page or into your main app with additional features, polls, and tools for communications. The next level is to connect these devices in both directions: when users get into mobile by scanning something on the big screen, then they can send something to this screen: it can be some moderated messages, stickers, or emojis, which will be shown as a feed, or poll results.<h3>Grow retention with specific tournaments and rewards</h3>When users play on your platform, watch something, or use your app in any other ways but regularly, spending much time there, they wish to be noticed, and they wish to be entertained. Such a desire is also connected with gaming as it is: people get used to getting rewards even for the activities they like. Because of that, you can use gamification mechanics for users by assigning them different badges and achievements. But what is the meaning of it if they can not show off with their rewards? It returns us to the talk about the community. Even achievements work better and give more joy to their owners if other users can see them and comment. Also, users value specific and exclusive things like special stickers, emojis, or new opportunities with the usage of tools unavailable for most other community members. Users become sticky to the service if they get something there—you don’t want to throw away something you achieve.How to do itYou can add an opportunity for users to communicate in community chat and show their achievements there, as well as reward them with specific communication tools, such as stickers. When you award users with badges, it is necessary to show the losers how to get such a badge and stimulate them to take target actions.*Actually, there are many opportunities to give users tools and ways to communicate how they got used to doing so. Variants depend on the type of content on your platform and the results you want to achieve. However, you should remember that retention is a crucial metric for almost all platforms, and successfully integrated community-building solutions grow it in any case.

Watchers triumphed at the SiGMA East Europe Startup Pitch Competition, clinching the top prize with our innovative SaaS solution.

SaaS Watchers which integrates community chats to content platforms triumphed at the SiGMA East Europe Startup Pitch Competition, clinching the top prize with an  innovative solution.

Watchers Wins Top Prize at SiGMA East Europe Startup Pitch Competition in Budapest

Chosen from numerous industry startups, we had the opportunity to showcase our solution in Budapest and connect with investors, experts, and leading industry players among the six finalists.<img src="https://watchersweb-prod.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/3971a760-f354-4ac7-b058-30bb451376ac.png">On September 3rd, Alina Kuzo, Head of Content at Watchers, presented our company. The judging panel, consisting of Robert Duboff (Director at Velo Partners), Marianna Tavella (Chief Legal Officer at SiGMA Group), Harmen Brenninkmeijer (Managing Partner at NYCE International), Mariusz Gąsiewski (CEE Mobile Gaming &amp; Apps Lead at Google), Vinicius Moraes De Carvalho (Investment Partner at Ikigai Ventures), Vladimir Malakchi (CEO &amp; Managing Partner at Xanada Investments), and Jarek Bialek (CEO of Revenue Capital), selectedour pitch and solution as the best.<img src="https://watchersweb-prod.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/dd6701bb-baac-41ac-8ff2-7c03c4bc18a2.png">The SiGMA East Europe Summit (September 2-4) brought together a vibrant community of providers, experts, operators, and investors. It is a significant platform for market leaders to network and explore the latest trends and technologies.

When was the last time you watched or listened to a live stream? Do you do it regularly?

Learn about the different user motivations and platform-specific interactions during live streaming, and why video and audio streaming integration on your platform can significantly boost engagement, retention, and revenue.

Internal audio and video streams: Let's delve into the most interactive type of content

Platforms like YouTube, Twitch, and Steam have become integral to our digital habits, where participating in and consuming live streams is more than just a trend—it's a routine. When a new game is released, many users prefer to watch others play before deciding to purchase it. Often, users are uncertain about engaging with content, playing, or buying a game, but they are eager to see how others experience it, feel about it, and what they think.Users' attitudes towards participation in streams vary widely. Understanding these differences is key to exploring the specific uses and gratifications that attract new viewers to streaming sites.<h3>What are the motives for watching streams? Types of users according to their goals</h3>In our participatory culture, digital users increasingly feel the neccessity to interact with the content they consume. Live video streaming, particularly of gaming or watching processes, is one of the most interactive forms of content. Analysing these interactions offers valuable insights into user consumption behaviour, emotional involvement, and audience engagement.Emotional involvement is crucial for platforms to build strong connections with their audiences, fostering loyalty. Meanwhile, user interaction is a major factor in attracting and retaining viewers. Video Game Streaming (VGS) motivates viewers to actively engage with broadcasters and other co-viewers, sharing their passion and experiences with the game.﻿<img src="https://watchersweb-prod.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/6a082009-df0f-4bf8-9f9e-f225e6209612.jpg">A study of 1,060 streams across video gaming and talent shows, provided by Xu, Wu and Zao for the study “Exploring viewer participation in online video game streaming” found that the streamer’s level, number of fans, and stream start time have little impact on real-time user interactions and comments. Frequent updates and the constant influx of new streamers have made audiences accustomed to seeing fresh faces, reducing the importance of a streamer’s level or fan count. Notably, female streamers received more real-time comments than male streamers, while the duration of a live stream had minimal negative effects on comments. The number of viewers, likes, and gifts all positively influenced real-time comments.Comparing game video streaming and talent show streaming revealed that the number of viewers had a stronger positive effect on real-time comments in-game streams. In talent shows, likes were a more powerful stimulus for real-time comments, unlike in-game streams where they had a less significant impact.Through a questionnaire study, provided by Sjöblom and Hamari for their article “Why do people watch others play video games,” five distinct types of motivations for using streaming platforms were identified: cognitive, affective, personal integrative, social integrative, and tension release. Information-seeking was positively associated with the amount of time users spent on the service and the number of individual streamers they watched. Social integrative motivations were the primary predictors of subscription behaviour.At the same time, Speed, Burnett, and Robinson divided users who interact with streamers into four groups:<ul><li>Try before you buy</li></ul>Users who watch video streams for entertainment and making a final decision about a purchase.<ul><li>Antisocial viewers</li></ul>Users who watch streams for entertainment but reject any other interactions.<ul><li>Loyal Lurkers</li></ul>Users who consume a variety of content related to their favourite streamers but are not interested in others.<ul><li>Social viewers</li></ul>Those who use the platform to create and support social communities with other streamers and viewers.Considering these groups, you can predict the level of interaction and engagement of the stream and imagine how many users stay with the platform, how many stick to the particular streamer, and what share of users will be ready to buy content per product the stream is dedicated to.<h3>Differences in Streaming Across Various Platforms</h3>The three primary platforms for live video streaming are Twitch, Discord, and YouTube. However, each of these platforms serves a different purpose, even at the most fundamental level. Twitch is a dedicated streaming service designed to enable individuals to broadcast live content to others. Discord, on the other hand, began as an instant messaging app tailored for gamers, allowing them to communicate with each other through text and voice while gaming. Then, the platform developed other functions for community activities, for instance, you can co-watch YouTube videos via Discord. YouTube, primarily known as a video-sharing platform, is the most public and traditional of the three. As a result, both users and streamers have different expectations and goals when using these platforms, even though they may all seek to deliver a similar live-streaming experience.When discussing Discord, it’s important to mention audio streaming, which is a unique and intriguing avenue for platforms, users, and streamers.Audio streams require significantly less energy, time, technology (such as OBS), and financial investment compared to video streams. While audio streams can be just as interactive as video streams, they have their own specific characteristics and cannot be used in exactly the same way. One example is the Clubhouse app, where users were able to join groups to discuss topics via voice. However, it didn’t gain long-term traction because users lacked pre-planned topics or events, making it challenging to continuously generate new themes for discussions.<iframe class="ql-video" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fOkNd4y57YU?showinfo=0"></iframe>Despite the ease of use associated with audio streams, streamers still need to invest effort into creating engaging content. If streamers are willing to dedicate more attention to this medium, audio streams can serve as open podcasts, for example. One of the simplest formats could be live commentary on various types of content, such as sports games or films, where influencers can rewatch movies with their audience and provide real-time commentary without worrying about their appearance.Additionally, major social media platforms like Instagram offer streaming capabilities, notifying all of a streamer’s followers when a stream begins. This is effective for both streamers and the social media platform itself. However, a key question remains: how does this benefit the platform that pays the streamer?&nbsp;<h3>Why Hosting Streams on Your Platform is Beneficial</h3>For companies, hosting streams on their own platform rather than relying on third-party services like Twitch or YouTube offers several advantages. First, it keeps the audience within your ecosystem, which boosts engagement and retention rates. For example, brands that integrate live streaming into websites or apps often see a 20-30% increase in user engagement and a similar boost in user retention compared to those relying on external platforms. Additionally, owning the streaming platform allows you to monetise content directly, capturing 100% of the revenue from ads, subscriptions, and virtual goods. It also strengthens brand loyalty, as users associate the streaming experience with your brand rather than a third-party service.Finally, having direct control over the streaming environment enables better data collection and analysis, allowing companies to refine their content strategies and improve user experiences based on real-time feedback and interactions, and providing absolutely trustful space which cannot be guaranteed by social media platforms.<a href="https://watchers.io/post/moderation_sports-online_communities" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent;">Read about social media and trusted spaces during sports tournaments</a>If you would like to discuss opportunities to integrate live streaming solutions, both audio and video, fill out the form below.

Since July, our partners can activate sending images to a chat for users, create a developed system of badges and assign them to users to stimulate engagement and paid actions. 

Add integrated community chats and allow users to communicate not only with text, voice, stickers, but also with pictures. Award users with badges and achievements. Provide tools for meaningful communication directly on your platform with Watchers. 

Images and badges: what great we’ve added to chats for users

Let's see what’s new on the Watchers product side?The developed badge system<img src="https://watchersweb-prod.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/00780b60-8797-483b-bdb9-dd11876e0232.png">Partners can create a developed ramified system of badges for awarding users, or just one specific badge and assign them to users or different groups of users. Users themselves see a tooltip on how to get the badge and a notification about a new assignment. Users can be awarded multiple badges, and all of them will be visible on the user profile.Pictures and images<img src="https://watchersweb-prod.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/556a478a-dbcf-44cb-8fe3-c7b12c0b211c.png">Users can send pictures and images to a chat if you activate this opportunity. Users can send up to 10 pictures at once. Other users can report, react, and reply to messages with pictures. Admins and moderators on the partners' side can block the image sending or just hide a sent picture. Especially important that sending pictures can be disabled at any moment. In this case, the button to attach a picture will just disappear.Some small adjustmentsModeration of threads is linked to their parental roomsThreads can be moderated with the parental rooms, and all restrictions users have in the main room work for threads as well.Notification about the activation of the autotranslation toolUsers will see the notification linked to the button if the partner activates the autotranslation feature for them (remind: this feature allows users to communicate in a multilingual chat by choosing a needed language. All messages including new ones will be translated to this language automatically)Admins can pin messages in a chat through the admin panelNo need to open the chat on the interface for it.Opportunity to block users externally through bearer tokenIt allows partners to block users, specifying a reason and a length, in a particular room or all rooms, or unblock them.***If you need any help with the activation, or you would like to get more details, text us through the form below. We are here to help!

Our solution has been updating non-stop to make your experience and your end-users' journey excellent and bright. We’ve gathered all essential updates made during the last quarter to improve our partners' and end-users' experience.

Webhooks for push-notifications, tools for sharing screen, autotranslation, and personalised marketing pop-ups—read about Watchers last released features and try integrated community chats today

All Watchers' new features for the last quarter: Try and enjoy

<h2>New in UX</h2><h3>Threads&nbsp;</h3>Threads allow users to communicate with each other, save meaningful context, and organize dialogues conveniently. They encourage meaningful discussions without distracting other participants in a chat. Additionally, they provide users with a way to gain more clarity without starting personal texting.<img src="https://watchersweb-prod.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/9775d2b7-c6a5-4dab-a9b1-c9022b7b8e67.png"><h3>Autotranslation in chat&nbsp;</h3>Users can choose the language in which they want to read messages and activate it with a click. This feature allows users to feel comfortable in multilingual chats and enables you to provide one common chat for all language groups of users.﻿﻿﻿﻿<img src="https://watchersweb-prod.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/fa5b8aa8-5981-4c45-82fd-a2d6534bf7e9.png"><h3>Sharing presentations and other visual materials during audio streams</h3>If you provide audio streams in chats, hosts of such streams can share their screens with any visual materials. This can be crucial for domains like stock trading, where influencers prefer to illustrate their strategies.<h2>New features</h2><h3>Personalised pop-ups&nbsp;</h3>We've added a tool for sending marketing offers or announcements in a chat. You can customise your pop-ups (both their visual part and how they are sent to users). You can also link this tool with your CRM system and personalise these pop-ups based on API. <a href="https://watchers.io/post/personalised-marketing-offers" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent;">Learn more about the feature.</a><img src="https://watchersweb-prod.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/94efde46-80bc-48db-aaf8-8550346082eb.png"><h3>AI tools for semantic analysis of messages&nbsp;</h3>You can perform semantic analysis of users’ messages through the admin panel with our AI tools based on Open AI. You just need to provide the correct prompt and add messages that can be exported from the admin panel as well. If you want a deeper semantic analysis made by our specialists with insights, examples, expert comments, and visual graphs, we will be happy to provide it.<img src="https://watchersweb-prod.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/fa346425-361e-405b-9889-4742c615978f.png"><h3>Automatic posting of messages to empty chats&nbsp;</h3>If you want to prevent users’ fear of empty chats (sometimes people don’t like to be the first to start a conversation), you can set up automatic sending of messages to a chat. These messages can be localised to different messages; also, you can choose a delay for sending and the type of chats. <a href="https://watchers.io/post/multilingual-community-chat" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color: transparent;">Learn more about the feature.</a><h3>BigWin Widget&nbsp;</h3>This widget works perfectly for iGaming platforms. If you want to send announcements in a chat about big winnings, just set it up to encourage users to engage in games more.<h2>Updates in the back office</h2>&gt;Dark mode of the admin panel for comfortable usage of the service&gt;History of message corrections If users edit their messages, moderators see a specific mark on the message and can also check all edits.&gt;Descriptions for all admin panel sections to help you navigate easily<h2>Small improvements and tech stack</h2><ul><li>Webhooks for transmitting events to your side help you build a system for additional features, such as push notifications about new replies to the user’s message in a chat.</li><li>Opportunity to customise colours of badges for users.</li><li>Added decrypted userIDs to the data export of users and messages.</li><li>Opportunity to ban users from the list of chat participants, not only through the context menu of messages.</li><li>Added links to the documentation scope in the admin panel to help you find all necessary information easily.</li><li>There are distinct toggles for allowing users to change avatars and nicknames. Now, you can allow users to change only avatars or nicknames or restrict both parameters.</li><li>Opportunity to restrict users from sending all links in a chat. This can be set through a toggle as well.</li><li>We combined all language settings into one page.</li><li>All settings for live streams on the platform are also gathered on the same page.</li><li>API for external creation of rooms with specific room IDs.</li></ul><h3 class="ql-align-center">***</h3>If you need help with activation or usage of any of these features, please connect with us. Also, we are happy to get your feedback!

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