What Is #SMGlitch and The Story Behind It

Streamate models for the past month have felt the struggle, it has even become a popular hashtag on Twitter. #SMGlitch, which refers to the glitchy and horrendous behavior that Streamate has been displaying, still has not been solved. Streamate has continued to make promises that it will be fixed, but it is still an on-going problem, which has caused their traffic to completely plummet.

Additional Note: To realize the full effect, you’d have to also analyze the lost traffic on the Streamate whitelabels.

According to online statistics, since the glitches have started traffic has caused the site to drop in global rank by over 1,000 spots. How do you know if you’re experiencing the glitches and it’s not your fault? Here are the common problems members and models are having…

Cam To Cam Issues

If your members are having problems initiating cam to cam, and it won’t load on your end, it is more than likely a result of the dreaded glitch. Streamate has suggested that your member should attempt to reconnect using the Mozilla Firefox Browser, which is inconvenient but will fix your problem.

Lagging and Glitchy Audio and Video

If your audio and video are out of sync, or you are lagging and your audio seems to be “robotic” due to skipping, you’re dealing with a glitch. Closing out of your encoder and re-opening it, or selecting a different microphone source are some ways to trouble shoot this problem, but that will not always correct the issue.

The best fix is to guarantee you will stay online and be understandable is to broadcast directly from the “Start My Show” page and not use an encoder. It will definitely effect your placement on the home page, since you won’t be in crystal clear HD, but it will fix your audio. (This is good if you already have a show lined up and you’re looking for a quick fix.)

Getting Hit By User Disconnects

If you are suddenly hit with a string of user disconnects, and your internet is connected fine, you are probably experiencing a glitch. There is no fix for this, you may or may not have just lost a group of potential customers. If you notice it happening often, encourage the members of your room to come back if they experience a disconnect, explain that it isn’t on your end and that the site is undergoing some changes or issues. Usually, the viewer will commiserate with you and come back instead of giving up hope of a show.

Public Nudity After Leaving Private

If your members are catching views of you in the nude after getting out of a private during your “30 second break” then you are probably experiencing a glitch. Due to all the glitches it is important to be a “good bookkeeper” during this time. Note when your chats are happening and when they end, so if you are reported for public nudity and it isn’t your fault you will be able to explain your situation better.

Streamate has acknowledged that there are issues happening, so if you say “my chat ended at x time, and the ‘public nudity’ at this time, therefore it was during a break” they shouldn’t keep persisting with trying to discipline you. I know it seems ridiculous to have to bookkeep when it is something the site itself should be doing.

Since many models use Streamate as their primary site, switching will be hard and will cause major financial consequences. If we’d like to keep Streamate a functioning and time-worthy site we have to assist support in identifying when issues are happening.

Video Not Loading

If your members are complaining of problems with your video endlessly trying to load, you’re probably a victim of the glitch. Members can switch browsers, or view you from a different site. (Instead of Streamate directly, they can go through Cammodels.com which is a whitelabel of Streamate.)

If this doesn’t fix the problem, your encoder may be having problems connecting to your stream. This can be caused on Streamate’s end, or on yours. If you’re not hard-wired with an Ethernet cable, do that before you message support. (That’s what support is going to tell you to do unless you state you’ve already done it.) Run a speed test on your hard-wired connection. If you can select a test in Washington since that is where Streamate has their servers. Screenshot your results (if they are good ones) and include that in your message to Streamate Support. They should be able to help you further.

Connection Randomly Being Lost

If your connection is randomly being lost, and it’s not your internet, you have been hit by the glitch. Due to the issues going on with Streamate right now, I highly suggest not trying to run Gold Shows. Just last week I personally lost out on a lot of money because of the “connection lost” in the middle of a Gold Show, I also messaged Streamate Support asking if it could be reimbursed since I was already far along in the show. A member of their support reached out to me to tell me they would credit me the money, and then never did.

When Will #SMGlitch Be Repaired?

I do not know if #SMGlitch will ever be repaired, although it should considering the site takes 65% from its models, which is on average 15% more than most other comparable camming websites. Streamate also continues to host contests, which boast of prizes in the thousands.

The issues with the glitches clearly isn’t an issue of not being able to gather funds to fix, so all of us who use Streamate as our primary site will have to wait for answers. When you log in now, there is a note on the homepage that if you are experiencing issues to report it, and please do! The more we focus on this issue, signal boost it, and actually provide information about the issues, the more likely we will be to have these issues eventually solved!

For those of you who don’t want to stick with Streamate (trust me, I’m there right now, after 3 hours making less than minimum wage because members get randomly glitch booted) many other camming sites have taken this opportunity to boast of their perks, some even using the #SMGlitch hashtag to target the models who are experiencing problems specifically.

Should Models Consider Leaving Streamate?

Be wary of leaving Streamate, because although it isn’t the best site out there right now, sites that are comparable to its particular style (Privates, Exclusives, a more “one-on-one” type feel) aren’t doing so great either. Streamate is the top of its class in “private based” cam sites, so unless you are willing to change your style of camming altogether (i.e. token site style) then consider giving Streamate a second chance.

The switch will also be difficult if Streamate is your primary site due to your inability to advertise other sites and social media. Many of your members who are regulars on Streamate may not know that you switch, and may feel like you’ve kind of left them hanging. If your cam name on Streamate is unique enough, telling people to “search you on a search engine” will be a good way to try to hold on to some of your audience if your heart is set on switching.

What Happens Next?

Where do we go from here? We wait. Streamate has to fix its issues and they are realizing that now (since their numbers are dropping.) Streamate has even offered incentives to new models who sign up because of the backlash from the glitches,. You can even tell that they try to make themselves seem better than they are, because they lie about how many models are online.

I just went onto their website, and it says there are 1,575 models online. But offline models start displaying on page 11. So do the math, if there are 80 models displayed per page, multiplied by the 11 pages it took to get to offline models, there are only about 880 models online. They almost doubled the amount they claim to have online. Once they realize that these last ditch efforts aren’t working they will be forced to fix their problems, or lose their site. All we can do is sit back and hope for the best!