How to Run Stream Polls on Twitch and YouTube

Stream polls are one of the simplest ways to get your audience involved. Instead of passively watching, viewers can vote on decisions, pick what you play next, or weigh in on topics, all by typing a single number in chat. When you multistream to Twitch and YouTube, Rebeam counts votes from both platforms together so you get one unified result.

Why polls matter for engagement

Most viewers never type in chat. They watch, they lurk, and they leave. Polls lower the barrier to participation. Typing "1" or "2" takes zero effort compared to forming a message. That tiny interaction can be the difference between a passive viewer and an engaged one who sticks around.

Polls also create shared moments. When your whole chat is voting on the same question, there is a collective energy that makes the stream feel more alive. It gives you natural talking points and keeps the content dynamic.

How Rebeam polls work

Rebeam's poll system is built directly into the dashboard. Here is how it works from start to finish:

1. Create a poll

While your stream is live, go to the Chat tab in the Rebeam dashboard and click "New Poll". Enter your question and between two and five options. Hit create, and Rebeam announces the poll in both Twitch and YouTube chat automatically.

2. Viewers vote in chat

Viewers vote by typing the number of their choice ("1", "2", "3", etc.) in Twitch or YouTube chat. Rebeam detects these votes automatically. Each viewer gets one vote, and votes are deduplicated across platforms so nobody can vote twice.

3. Watch results in real time

Vote counts update live in the dashboard. You can see how many votes each option has and the current percentages. When you are ready, click "End Poll" and Rebeam announces the final results in chat on both platforms.

Cross-platform voting

The biggest advantage of Rebeam polls over platform-native polls is that votes from Twitch and YouTube are counted together. If you run a poll on Twitch natively, your YouTube viewers are excluded. With Rebeam, every viewer on every platform can participate in the same poll.

Show polls on screen with an OBS overlay

Rebeam includes a poll overlay you can add to OBS as a browser source. It shows the current question, options, live vote counts, and animated progress bars. The overlay appears automatically when you create a poll and disappears when you end it. You can customise the colors, including title, text, vote bars, and more, from the overlay customisation page in the dashboard.

Ideas for stream polls

• Game selection. Let your audience pick what you play next.
• In-game decisions. "Should I go left or right?" Let chat decide.
• Topic voting. Choose what topic to discuss or which challenge to attempt.
• Community feedback. Ask viewers what they want to see more of.
• Fun questions. "Pineapple on pizza?" Sometimes polls are just for fun.

Want more than polls? Try stream quizzes

If polls feel too simple for what you want, Rebeam also offers stream quizzes. Quizzes add timed questions with correct answers, scored responses, and a live leaderboard. They are great for trivia nights, game knowledge tests, or any time you want to add competitive energy to your stream. Learn how to run stream quizzes.

Getting started

Stream polls are available on the Creator plan (£10/month) and Creator Plus (£15/month). Check the polls feature page for more details, or sign up and upgrade to Creator to start running polls during your next stream.