Vtubers are becoming bigger and bigger. While they have always had a cult following,  personalities like Ironmouse have made the streaming category a bit more mainstream. It seems like some streamers have noticed this trend and have decided to exploit it for more viewership. 

Some of the most popular streamers on Twitch have started using the "Vtuber" tag to pull in bigger audiences. Tags are used to help communities better find streamers that fit certain categories or niches, so when someone uses a certain tag, it can start flooding that category and pushing down smaller content creators that are also using the tag for hopeful exposure. 

So, Vtubers have started calling out some of Twitch's biggest names for using the Vtuber tag — despite having never done that kind of streams ever. Some of the more well-known offenders include Felix "xQc" Lengyel, Kaitlyn "Amouranth"  Siragusa, and Matthew "Mizkif" Rinaudo. Has it become the new "Twitch meta" to purposely misuse the Vtuber tag?

Whatever the reason for xQc and the others using the Vtuber tag, the core Vtuber community has not been welcoming of the trend. While the category is growing steady, it's still "niche" compared to the dominant influence that "mainstream" streamers have when they enter a smaller market. One content creator even pointed out that using the "wrong tags" is against Twitch's Terms of Service.