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This article was published on January 11, 2021

Twitch’s rotating PogChamp is a clever replacement for the banned emote

A new "face of the emote" is chosen every 24 hours


Twitch’s rotating PogChamp is a clever replacement for the banned emote

Days after Twitch removed the popular PogChamp emote, the streaming platform has announced that it will roll out a new face to replace it every 24 hours.

Twitch got the idea from gaming personality Sean “Day9” Plott, who suggested plucking a random picture from a database of faces whenever someone types PogChamp.

PogChamp was banned last week after the person depicted in it called for further “civil unrest” from the US Capitol rioters.

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Twitch pledged to work with the community on a replacement. But until a permanent successor is selected, the company will feature a rotating line-up of new faces.

[Read: Meet the 4 scale-ups using data to save the planet]

The first face to have the honor was that of Kenny “Unrooolie” McWild, a streamer who announced his candidacy on Twitter.

The rotating replacement is a nice way of engaging the Twitch community that should protect the people featured in it from online harassment. It will also be easy to remove any individual emote if necessary.

While a permanent replacement for PogChamp could still be on the horizon, Twitch’s interim solution will help the spirit of Pog live on until then.

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