Hasan ‘HasanAbi’ Piker told fans the reason why he’d never leave Twitch and return to doing political commentary on mainstream media, claiming it gives him the freedom to say what he wants.
It’s hard to believe that Hasan has gone from working as a host on a political talk show and a writer for the Huffington Post to a full-fledged Twitch streamer with 1.5 million followers on Twitch in the span of three years.
However, he hasn’t lost his roots and is still dedicated to discussing left-wing politics with his fans. And in an exclusive interview with Insider, he explained why he’d never go back to mainstream media and believes Twitch is a better fit.
“At The Young Turks, everything I did was prescripted,” he said. “I was terrible off the cuff. I could not keep up. I could not keep conversation for extended periods of time.” Mainstream media has a tendency to do that.
However, Twitch gave him the freedom to say whatever he wanted. “Over time, I just stopped caring about choosing a particular type of language, and instead just did what felt normal and natural to me.”And for that reason, he’d never go back.
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He also claims he “always had an interest” in introducing left-wing politics to young gamers to show them its “cool” and believes Twitch is “like an AM broadcast radio for Zomers,” making it the perfect platform to do that.
Hasan wrapped up the interview by stating that he doesn’t see himself as a brand. “I’m just a dude. I’m just a guy who likes to have fun and talk sh*t,” he said.
For that reason, he’s adamant that Twitch is the most suitable place for him to do his thing, and it will take a lot to convince him otherwise.
