Pokimane is the most popular female streamer on Twitch. Since 2013, she has amassed a huge following and a loyal fan base who regularly tunes in whenever she goes live.
Many fans say that it’s because of Pokimane’s laidback and charming personality that makes her streams appealing to watch. But is her charisma all that there is to thank for?
Brief timeline
Born in Morocco on May 14 1996, Imane Anys emigrated shortly after to Canada where she began her streaming career. She got her iconic gamertag “Pokimane” by combining Pokemon, one of her favorite games, and her name “Imane”.
As to why she won’t ever use her legal name? She hilariously explained that her last name Anys is one letter away from anus. If you ever connect her first and last name, Imane Anys, it can just be easily written off as “I’m an anus”. This particular sense of humor has drawn lots of audiences to become loyal fans.
Back in 2013, many popular channels on Twitch were focused on gaming content but Pokimane was one of the first to heavily engage with her audience through answering their questions and comments on the chat box. This was long before the Just Chatting category was created in 2018.
It was a mix of her laidback interactions with fans and passionately playing the popular multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) League of Legends that made her grow her channel to great heights on the platform.
Thanks to her start in the League of Legends community, she easily attracted lots of game enthusiasts and would even cosplay as popular characters such as Lux.
Her channel continuously grew even when she attended McMaster University in Ontario, Canada. But, she wanted to pursue a full-time streaming career at some point and so she decided to leave college and moved to Beverly Hills, California.
In 2013, at the peak of her channel’s success, she became one of the most popular Fortnite content creators after being invited by Epic Games to a Pro-Am tournament at E3 2018. She also landed a sponsorship thereafter.
What’s the secret behind her massive success?
- Wide scope or variety of content
Pokimane doesn’t limit her channel’s content to playing a game or two. Although titular games like Fortnite and League of Legends surely help rake in the views, she also holds just chatting streams with her fans to ask them about their day.
She also uploads vlogs and other real life content to share a glimpse of her life with her massive following. In 2017, the online star also created a second YouTube account called ‘Poki ASMR’ where she uploads ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response) videos.
- Engages in collabs
Streaming isn’t a one-man act. One thing you’ll notice with most successful and established streamers is how they collaborate with other content creators in the community to reach a wider audience. Pokimane does this by collaborating with some of the biggest names in the industry — like RedMercy and Lilypichu on a League of Legends duo queue.
A collaboration with other streamers means new content for her followers. Most likely, new fans would also be curious to check out her latest collab video. Those who don’t know Pokimane might become a loyal fan after hearing about her from their favorite streamers.
- Physically appealing to the eyes of most male audiences
Pokimane being easy on the eyes is advantageous for her chosen career, especially since she has to stay on camera for long hours in a day. That said, making herself presentable before the camera goes live is hard work and lots of effort on Pokimane’s part.
For instance, she has to go to the gym and meet her trainer daily to be in her best shape. Streaming doesn’t require any physical movements that much, so she has to find a way to be in her best condition. She also has to do her make-up all by herself.
- Humility and work ethic
If you ask any successful streamer what’s the secret behind their success (like Shroud’s answer as to how he made it big on Twitch), chances are they’ll tell you it’s all about their hard work and perseverance to stream daily. In most cases, they’re actually saying the truth! The same is true for Pokimane, who makes it her goal to stream on a daily basis.
She rarely takes a break, but when she does — it’s all well-deserved! Recently, she was seen on a trip to Japan with some of her close friends from OfflineTV.
- Light-hearted personality
In one of her popular videos, she was playing Fortnite duos when she randomly got paired off with an 11-year-old. Throughout their interaction, Pokimane remained wholesome and “too pure” which reflects her light-hearted personality. This particular side of her has struck a chord with a lot of fans.
She’s also known to tweet positive encouragement to her fans, along with reminding her viewers on stream to take care of themselves and at least eat one piece of vegetable for the day.
- Keeps fans curious by the day
Pokimane spices things up by saying rather controversial but random stuff to get her fans worked up. In a recent tweet, she broke the internet by saying “i love girls”.
Some were curious to find out if this was Anys’ way of letting her fans know her sexual orientation. However, there’s also a possibility that it may only be a random tweet taken out of context and blown out of proportion.
Compared to other female streamers though, Anys has successfully remained controversy-free. She even refrains from commenting on other online personalities to avoid confrontation.
Then again, staying in the spotlight requires her to be quite the talk of the community every now and then.
Branding & Social media empire
Most of Pokimane’s videos often get an average of 60,000+ views on Twitch, with her most popular ones reaching over 500,000 views. The online star has also built up a loyal fan base and in the top 50 most subscribed channels on the platform, according to third-party tracking sites.
With her 3.6 Twitch sub count aside, the streamer is not just solely a big hit on the platform. Pokimane has also worked hard to build up her name across major social media channels.
On October 4, she reached a huge 4 million subscriber milestone on her official Youtube and Instagram accounts. Her Twitter account also has around 1.47 million followers.
Building a solid following outside Twitch is important for her to remain in the number 1 spot. If the camera’s not live, she can still stay connected with her fans and share real-time moments with them.
What does a typical day look like in the life of Pokimane?
Many fans are curious as to what a typical day looks like in the life of Pokimane, the number 1 female streamer on Twitch.
If you’ve long since wondered what a day in the life of a Twitch superstar is like — Pokimane was generous enough to share her personal experience as a way to celebrate her 4M milestone on Youtube.
Her fans are granted a behind-the-scenes look at her typical day and daily activities, which included making a fancy salmon and cream cheese toast breakfast, picking her outfit for the day, playing with her cute kitty Mimi, interacting with her amazing viewers in chat, going to meet with her funny trainer Michael at the gym, and getting spotted by a young fan at the streets as she makes her way back home.
At night, she plays video games to turn off her brain, personally responds to business emails, and unwinds during her relaxing nighttime routine before bed.
The art of being wholesome
Pokimane is known to be a rather wholesome streamer, who takes every chance she gets at being positive and saying words of encouragement to those who need it. In particular, she has emphasized how streaming has been beneficial to her, especially whenever she makes a positive impact on another person’s day.
“I think I just really like the feeling of being able to impact someone’s day hopefully positively and…creating like enjoyable or entertaining moments for everybody that’s watching and that can make their day better.”
Sharing a piece of yourself to thousands of viewers online isn’t an easy thing to do. Streamers are prone to controversy and backlash over the littlest things, but huge props to Poki for taking the opportunity to be a positive influencer we all need in this time and age.
“In this day and age, we’re all just looking for ways to feel a little bit less lonely and I think livestreaming does that really well.”
To her, making someone else’s day and bringing someone to smile from her humor already means she’s met her goals as a streamer. How can one get possibly more wholesome than that?
Conclusion
The Moroccan-Canadian streamer is continuously building her online empire and focusing on channel growth across multiple platforms, thanks to all her hard work and perseverance.
Pokimane’s bright personality and laid-back streams have made her lovable to thousands and millions of people, and when you combine this with her gaming skills, it’s not confusing to figure out what made her Twitch’s #1 female streamer.
To this day, she remains to be a figure many streamers look up to!
