Twitter’s hashtags allow communities to form on the platform, making it easy for like-minded individuals to find each other. Hashtags have since spilled over into most of the other major social media platforms, from Instagram and TikTok to LinkedIn. Today, #gaming is one of the fastest growing communities on the Twitter platform. 

According to research by Brandwatch, conversations around #gaming have risen by 93% between 2019 and 2021, and the numbers continue to increase. In The Birdseye Report: Analyzing Twitter’s Gaming Communities, Brandwatch analyzes key trends around Twitter’s gaming communities. Here, NetInfluencer dives into the results and what they mean for influencer marketing.

Who Conducted the Survey?

Brandwatch is “the world’s premier social suite, empowering over 5,000 of the world’s most admired companies to understand and engage with customers at the speed of social.” Brandwatch combines “pioneering, AI-enriched digital consumer intelligence with industry-leading social media management tools.”  Brandwatch aims to provide solutions to brands and agencies so they can “adapt and thrive in today’s fast-moving digital world by 

making smarter decisions and executing data-driven social strategies at every customer touchpoint.”

Brandwatch, a Cision company, was founded in 2007 and is currently headquartered in Brighton, United Kingdom. Brandwatch serves over 7,500 companies, has 15 offices across the globe, and employs more than 1,000 employees worldwide. The current CEO is Cali Tran. Tran has an MBA from Harvard University and prior to leading the team at Brandwatch, he held leadership positions at top companies like Centerfield, Vericast, and Valassis.

Survey Methodology

The data in Brandwatch’s survey was collected from Twitter using Brandwatch Consumer Research between January 1, 2018 and September 18, 2022. All data analyzed was in the English language only and includes all public mentions across Twitter. All filtering and segmentation of data took place within the Brandwatch Consumer Research platform. 

All brand and video game title-specific queries were created by Brandwatch once Twitter provided specific brands and titles. Streaming and streamer data was pulled into Brandwatch Consumer Research by use of its Tag & Rule functions. AI analysis was conducted by Brandwatch’s Iris within Consumer Research. All additional analysis was conducted by the analyst and author of the report. 

Full details on the methodology, including more specifics around analyzed hashtags, can be found at the end of the official report.

Three Key Takeaways

1. The #gaming hashtag has grown in use every year since 2019. In 2021, there were over 25 million mentions of #gaming or #gamers. Data shows mentions are expected to continue to rise.

2. Mentions of eSports reached over 15 million total mentions by 2018. Monthly mentions of eSports only dropped below 200,000 four times between January of 2018 and July of 2022.

3. Alongside #gaming, #NFT mentions have reached over three million on Twitter. There were 2.8 million mentions of #GameDev. With #gamer, there were 2.9 million #Twitch mentions and 1.4 million mentions of #streamer.

What Does This Mean for Influencer Marketing?

The first takeaway shows the conversation on Twitter around #gaming has increased each year since 2019. There were over 25 million mentions of #gaming or #gamers and the research suggests 2022’s mentions would surpass those in 2021. In 2021, there were 11.5 million Tweets containing #gamer and at the time the research was published in 2022, there were already close to 11 million mentions. 

According to Brandwatch, gaming community growth on the platform is largely due to Twitter’s history of making its platform multimedia-friendly. Trends in the research also suggest an increase in unique authors, meaning more gamers are using Twitter each year. Influencers in the gaming space may want to leverage Twitter if they aren’t doing so already. The platform has proven to continue to be gamer-friendly with its ability to show off multimedia content through streaming services, like Twitch.

The second takeaway highlights the steady growth of eSports mentions on Twitter. When Brandwatch began tracking eSports mentions in 2018, they discovered 15.2 total mentions. After looking at eSports conversations over a month-to-month basis, the data revealed mentions only dipped below 200,000 per month a handful of times through the middle of 2022.

eSports continues to take the stage as some of today’s colleges and universities are beginning to take gaming seriously. If you’re a gamer looking for a professional sponsorship, the trend of eSports mentions is promising news. Brandwatch also mentions in their report that the world of eSports is starting to adopt a similar business model to traditional sports, further bolstering its legitimacy.

The third takeaway discusses the most popular hashtags across gaming and gamers. Brandwatch found a clear link to trending technology terms such as #NFT and #GameDev and traditional mentions of gaming and streaming. Brandwatch’s report discusses the importance of incorporating nuance when analyzing these mentions, as the conversations around these topics can be extremely broad. They also found mentions of music and books closely tied with mentions of gaming.

Influencers in the gaming space who are also interested in NFTs and game development may consider taking advantage of publishing content on Twitter, as those topics continue to trend across the platform. Additionally, there may also be benefits to starting communities on Twitter that incorporate gaming as well as other parallel interests. The research suggests that gaming audiences are also seeking out complimentary topics and leveraging those in content could extend reach and boost engagement.

In summary, Brandwatch’s analysis of Twitter’s gaming communities provides valuable insights for influencers and marketers within the gaming space. In addition to the major social gaming platforms, the research suggests Twitter can be an untapped opportunity for those who don’t already have a Twitter-based strategy.

Link to the Report

The Birdseye Report: Analyzing Twitter’s Gaming Communities can be found on Brandwatch’s website, along with additional insights, guides, webinars, and case studies on brand marketing.