Why is Twitch so popular?

Or to watch people stream? As a little kid, I loved to watch my big brother play PC. But I would not have thought that so many would like to watch this dull watch what another is doing and what he thinks and thinks of it.

Why is soccer so popular? You just watch others play.

Footballers do something on the grass.

Guests move the mouse back and forth and then cheekily call it "e-sports".

Footballers run after a ball.

There's also a strategy, tactics and years of training behind e-sports.

So for me Twitch is just like YouTube, it's a great platform to talk to, to laugh about, etc. I don't think there's any difference between watching other sports on TV.

I think you only see a very small aspect of Twitch. I'm a moderator for a streamer myself and have been on the platform for ages and 3 days, so maybe I can say something about it.

It's not just pure, dull watching. Of course you can do that too, but it is the smallest part.
There are tons of categories on Twitch and it's not just games anymore. ThisEguy e.g. Is a DJ and does a professional live show.
Then there are people who stream their craft, so you can watch a carpenter doing something like that too. Like a documentary only with someone professional whom you can ask live questions about their work.
The largest category is not called "Just Chatting" for nothing. This is a live interaction with the audience and depending on which streamer you catch, a wide variety of topics are plowed. I've even caught a priest's stream. Such things are then simply huge discussion groups, or a small frame.

Then there are the entertainers and that brings us to something like Gronkh. That's what you're most likely to mean. The talent of these people is not just playing the games and commenting a bit. Gronkh, for example, makes various games a lot more entertaining than they would be at first glance and by testing you can also see what interests you. I got to know the majority of my game library through streamers.

Then the area of e-sports. Tournaments and leagues are usually broadcast on Twitch. The pros also stream their practice games, or just as they play. This is interesting with e-sports titles because these are usually PvP and as a beginner you are often extremely bad off if you have absolutely no idea. League of Legends and Dota can't even be started like that anymore. Apart from that, professional streams are generally not the wrong place to go for people who want to get better.
Also, these are almost the only streamers who can only stream gameplay because viewers are watching for the skill and not for entertainment alone. But even here the professionals have the advantage, who can at least explain their trains of thought well. For example, Noway is one of the few League of Legends streamers who can maintain the highest European level for years, while entertaining and explaining at the same time. Incidentally, this is almost an avoidance, because streaming makes the players worse and worse.

So Twitch is now a long way from dull watching

Twitch is considered the best streaming platform, mainly because of the chat, ease of use, overview, many setting options and many extras.
With the betterttv add-on you can personalize everything even better, which makes Twitch absolutely unbeatable for me from the current perspective.

There are an extremely large number of regular streamers on Twitch who make their living from it. So who do it full-time.
i.e. They run it professionally and are usually very good entertainers for the general public or for many. Partly borders on art.
Or they're just incredibly good at certain games, or both. Many players who are in the top 100 in the world in various games stream there.
Or pro tournaments are also broadcast there, with the best in the world.

In the end, you have a very large and varied selection, especially if you also understand English well. (There are many more English-speaking streamers and therefore better ones like German-speaking ones in my opinion.)

So once you've found the right streamer for you, it can be extremely good entertainment. But tastes are different, because it depends a lot on which games you personally like or what kind of humor you have and such.
In short, it's not just about watching someone play. The whole package counts, so it can be extremely entertaining. It's just a lot of searching, especially at the beginning, until you've found really good streamers for yourself.

Of course, not everyone is up for live streams in connection with games, I can understand. (Not all Twitch streamers play games, but also other things. Painting, cooking, handicrafts, vlogs, traveling, etc.)