More than 400,000 people tuned into a gaming stream hosted by New York congressional representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Ocasio-Cortez, known to many of her fans as AOC, had joined the live video streaming site Twitch a day earlier, and had announced that she would be playing the hit multiplayer game Among Us in an effort to tell people to vote.
Her stream, which took place last night (20 October), was one of the biggest debut streams in the platform’s history, and featured contributions from several prominent streamers and other politicians.
Among Us sees a group of players attempt to work out the identity of the “imposter” in their midst, who is also a randomly selected player.
The game was first released in 2018, but has experienced a surge in popularity this year, becoming one of 2020’s unlikely gaming success stories.
Ocasio-Cortez’s stream, which featured appearances from Minnesota representative Ilhan Omar, as well as streamers including Pokimane, HasanAbi, Jacksepticeye, and DrLupo, enjoyed a peak concurrent viewership of around 440,000, which ranks among the highest ever for an individual stream.
Reaction to the stream was resoundingly positive on social media, with many praising the politician for the novel and authentic way of reaching out to young potential voters.
“AOC's stream with a lot of super prominent streamers is probably going to be the single-largest event to reach young voters,” wrote one person on Twitter. “Soooo many people tuned in. Probably going to be lost in the general internet illiteracy, but it was a huge stream.”
“I can’t find the words for how inspiring it is to watch AOC gaming on Twitch to encourage young viewers to be politically active,” wrote someone else. “She cares so much about doing right by us.”
“She reflects it in her policies, words, & actions. Watching tonight gives me such hope for positive change.”
