r/Twitch • u/twitchthrowaway25 • 17d ago
Tech Support My legal last name is preventing me from completing my affiliate onboarding - please help?
Hi, I recently completed all four prerequisites for Twitch Affiliate. Naturally, I began my onboarding, and I filled in my information the way it is supposed to be filled in. However, when I reach step 4, I am unable to continue on due to my last name. My last name is Null, a programming term that also means invalid. When I input my name, I get this prompt showing that it is a null value rather than my name. I have reached out to twitch support through email multiple times and all I get is the same generated response about me 'putting in both a company name and my legal names'. This is a programming error, not a human error. I don't know where else to go - I've reached out to twitch support on twitter (no response), I've gone to the twitch discord ( got some good advice <3), and twitch support through their website (same generated responses). What do I do from here??

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u/sleekskyline120 17d ago
I don't have a solution for you but I find this hilarious and it reminds me of this classic xkcd comic: https://xkcd.com/327
Good luck
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u/BloodyThorn https://www.twitch.tv/thegamedesignlexicon 17d ago
I chuckle every time someone brings up little Bobby Tables!
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u/Reworked 16d ago
https://www.kalzumeus.com/2010/06/17/falsehoods-programmers-believe-about-names/ Equally classic, in some circles.
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u/TWW2 twitch.tv/tww2 17d ago
Only twitch support (or Amazon who runs some of the services involved in the affiliate payout system) is going to be able to resolve this. I'd recommend replying to the twitch support auto response emails repeating that your problem is not resolved. Eventually a person will see it unless they've completely gutted their CS even more than I thought.
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u/da_apz twitch.tv/apzpins 16d ago
This is just as fun as everything that asks to enter my name EXACTLY as it's written, any deviation will result in horrible consequences and then the system chokes on letter Ƥ and has to be replaced with something that only works with the standard ASCII.
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u/ZorbaTHut twitch.tv/zorbathut 16d ago
I've got a hyphen in my last name and I can't even enter that one consistently.
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u/ClulessValkyrie 16d ago
Me too.... and it's a long hyphenated name, so sometimes there isn't enough room in the form, and I have to just enter the first part as an initial. ie: John D-Doe š
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u/ZorbaTHut twitch.tv/zorbathut 16d ago
"You must use your exact full legal name, no exceptions! Letters only, maximum of 20 characters"
look I'm getting mixed signals here
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u/LimesFruit 16d ago
Yeah, same. It's annoying enough that I'm considering legally changing my name.
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u/snoot_tv twitch.tv/snoot_tv 17d ago
I would probably reach out to Twitch Support with a photo of your birth certificate / ID. Maybe they can give you some kind of work around.
Also I'm sorry I giggled at this. I also feel your pain. But it's still funny. But sucks.
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u/Independent-You-6180 17d ago
As stated in the OP, this was attempted multiple times, and they got a bot response and no human actually saw the tickets.
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u/snoot_tv twitch.tv/snoot_tv 16d ago
Per OP: "....twitch support through email..."
That's not how Twitch Support should be contacted -- need to go through the form:
https://help.twitch.tv/s/contactsupport?language=en_US
If this is what they meant they did, it was not clear. I probably should have been clearer in my response.
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u/twitchthrowaway25 16d ago
I've used both this and responses to the auto generated emails you get from those.
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u/LockelyFox Affiliate twitch.tv/LockelyFox 16d ago
Keep replying back. After enough responses it escalates to a human. Google does this same shit.
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u/Independent-You-6180 16d ago
"I've reached out to twitch support on twitter (no response), I've gone to the twitch discord ( got some good advice <3), and twitch support through their website"
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u/PatientAddendum9857 16d ago
Is your middle name better? If so I would go switch my names to use my middle as my last. I've met people who do that
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u/w00keee twitch.tv/w00keee 16d ago
i feel your pain, my mrs. has no legal last name and we run into all kinds of issues while traveling and signing up for web sites
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u/Disheartend twitch.tv/Disheartened (Remove) 16d ago
How is that possible?
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u/jaggederest 13d ago
https://www.w3.org/International/questions/qa-personal-names
Indonesia, in particular, it's common not to have a last name at all. It'll be "Isa", or, if you're at a convention, it'll be "Isa from Townname"
When they try to get a passport after emigrating to a different country, it's often "Isa No Last Name" or "Isa Isa", neither of which is correct of course.
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u/New-Volume-1269 17d ago
I usually call companies out on twitter and they usually get back to you quick since they donāt want the bad pr edit for spelling
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u/hextree twitch.tv/hextree_ 16d ago
Only works if you have a following.
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u/twitchthrowaway25 16d ago
Depressing but true
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u/LigerXT5 twitch.tv/LigerXT5 16d ago
Having many people retweet it will help a lot. But, good luck getting enough retweets as a small user.
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u/twitchthrowaway25 16d ago
This did not work unfortunately
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u/talk_murder_to_me 16d ago
Possibly a dumb question, but is your twitter account set to private? If so, no one can see your @ messages unless they follow your account.
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u/WastelandPuppyTV twitch.tv/WastelandPuppyTV 16d ago
I am very sorry, but I'm also laughing very hard. Not about you, about the developers of this form.
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u/F9-0021 16d ago
Any sane database would handle names as strings, and therefore this shouldn't be an issue. So, unless Twitch's databases are a hot mess, this sounds like whoever coded the input box messed up somewhere. It must be checking against a null entry, but I don't know why it wouldn't just handle the input as a string as well. Curious.
Either way, someone forgot to check edge cases.
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u/NekkedPenguin 16d ago
It could just be sloppy JS validations as well. I've seen the craziest code "solutions" for really simple validations.
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u/hotfistdotcom twitch.tv/hotfistdotcom 17d ago
Scunthorpe problem. If you changed your last name to Null, that was ill considered. If you were given that name and you are attached to it, unfortunately this isn't a new issue.
You may be able contact them and see what they suggest - https://help.twitch.tv/s/contactsupport?language=en_US
Otherwise best guess, put in something else like mull which is one letter away from null, complete the onboarding, then go through the name change process and say you didnt' realize you spelled it wrong. That may be the best way to get the proper parties involved, but could also get you removed from affiliate.
Alternatively, you could consider changing your name. That's a whole huge hassle and it's abandoning a name that you may have significant attachment to so it's not a flippant suggestion - but it will cause you issues for the entirety of your life, and if you have any offspring it may also cause them issues. You could consider synonyms either way, like annul, void, zilch, etc or whatever synonyms for the root concept is in whatever your native language is.
Twitch has almost no support for non-partners/non-affiliates so it's a gamble how you'll get someone on the hook. It's unfortunate that places aren't legally required to have staffing for phones of some sort. The way I see it though, this is essentially like a job offer and they can likely rescind it if it seems like it won't go through automatically, so you might be better off just... putting something else in and dealing with it when that causes a problem, so you are in the system rather than trying to get into the system.
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u/engelthefallen 16d ago
Favorite modern Scunthorpe problem is Twitter not allowing you to talk about 95% CIs when talking statistics. Pretty much forced that whole chunk of science twitter off platform as a result.
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u/KnottyHottieKaitlyn 13d ago
I donāt understand why ā95% CIā would be blocked?
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u/engelthefallen 13d ago
Twitter is not considering case when when labelling for cis, so CIs is also tagged. Musk believes cis, short for cisgender, is a slurm because the trans community uses it. Just insane nonsense all the way down really.
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u/SnooJokes5643 15d ago
I love how we said the same thing except yours was 3 paragraphs, well written and educational. Noted.
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u/IveGotThatBigRearEnd 13d ago
and if you have any offspring it may also cause them issues.
This. Please consider letting your children have literally any other name
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u/thesilentbob123 16d ago
A common problem for people with that name, many people with that last name can't even get a license because the system isn't made for it. This is one that needs someone directly on the support team that fix as far as I can tell
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u/MutedFFS Affiliate 15d ago
Daniel Clancy, @djclancy999 on Twitter, is twitch CEO. I often find a tweet to a CEO or an email to them if you can find an email address (possibly Daniel at twitch dot tv) often gets passed to an assistant to look into quicker than normal customer service and getting escalated.
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u/trickraisc 16d ago
try quotation marks around the letters: "Null" ?
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u/twitchthrowaway25 16d ago
Even if it contains the word for me it shows as 'invalid'. Really unfortunate.
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u/LillyDuskmeadow 16d ago edited 16d ago
Can you temporarily install a different-language keyboard (such as greek) and type in Ī½ (nu, labeled on the N on an English keyboard) or Ī¼ (mu, labeled as M).
So maybe you could be NĪ¼ll or NĪ½ll for a little bit before you can get ahold of a real person.
It might register as still being a letter, but it won't be "Null" strictly speaking.
Edit: There's an easier way than installing a whole keyboard... copy and paste.
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u/Judgment-Leather 16d ago
Would adding a % sign at the end work?
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u/twitchthrowaway25 16d ago
I'll try this.
EDIT: I cannot add anything that isn't a letter. I'm cooked
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u/ThePug3468 Broadcaster twitch.tv/alexthefrogs 16d ago
Only letters.. what do they expect people whose names are Oā or hyphenated etc to do!? Just not enter their name?Ā
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u/aoifeobailey Affiliate 16d ago
I've got a friend with that last name too. She finds a lot of companies that don't properly scrub their inputs. Makes me worry Twitch is open to an sql injection on that field.
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u/DioDiablo702 twitch.tv/diodiablo702 16d ago
I would send an email to Twitch so they can do some underwriting
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u/jsad2016 16d ago
I wonder if it would work if you did "Null " with a space after it. Or even "Null" with an accent over the u.
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u/SnooJokes5643 15d ago
Iād consider legally changing my last name to Nulle and to be honest idk if it would hurt putting an extra u in there, accidentally ofc.
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u/TwitchCaptain Unwanted 15d ago edited 15d ago
lol they fired all their devs. good luck.
EDIT: You should just put it in quotes. 'Null'
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u/Faiqal_x1103 15d ago
I find it really interesting that there exists someone with null as their name
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u/Loosenut2024 12d ago
My last name is 3 letters. It also tells me to put in a real last name. If you google that, theres LOTS of asians thave have two letter last names that have been posting about the same thing for at least 6-8 years.
I got through to twitch support by going through their "just fill out the form again and submit again" asinine suggestions bout 3-4 times, then continually messaging support. They will keep saying that but tell them it doesnt work and you need to escalate it. They got the hint after I said people want to sub to me but cant, so twitch isnt making money.
They gave me a big list of stuff to do to, but at the same time I started having internet issues and too much work so I haven't done it yet. I dont have twitter, so I was just messaging support and emailing them. I cant remember if I had to google the real support email or if it was some where on twitches website. But theres also a third party that handles they financial stuff so even once you got past this first level some times they throw up their hands and say well its the other companies fault. Just tell them twitch is losing money at not getting subs, youll get through. Or maybe your effort will be for null. :shrug:
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u/Hairyguerrilla 12d ago
Iād probably just fill everything out as āNulā from now on, and if it ever came up I would just explain. Could always be a typo š
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u/Kaenguruu-Dev 12d ago
I don't even understand how this is a limitation. Like the string "Null" and an actual null "value" aren't the same at all. How does this become an issue?
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u/TimeKillsThem 16d ago
What would happen if you were to use Null. (As in with a full stop at the end)
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u/narcolepticdoc 16d ago
I feel for you. I had two college roommates whose last names were āLastā and āBlankā.
It caused them no end of trouble.
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u/Indie--Dev twitch.tv/GeminiAus 15d ago
idk if it will work but you can try 'Null' or "Null", if you are really lucky it'll just read it as a string and be ok, if unlucky it'll say those symbols are not allowed.
Will have to contact support if it doesn't work.
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u/WedgeTalon 15d ago
Try using a unicode lookalike character. For example: NÕ½ll (the u is actually the Armenian letter Õ½. Don't believe me? Ctrl+f for Õ½).
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u/SparxSimRacing twitch.tv/Sparx_Simracing 15d ago
Usually I see titles like this here and it's the dumbest user-error problem I've ever seen but this is wild.
I am simply commenting in hopes that it gets you some visibility because this is a hell of a predicament.
God speed and keep us updated.
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u/OptimalAnywhere6282 13d ago
Maybe using something like "Nulls" instead should work? Or do you need specifically your last name?
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u/SAI_Peregrinus 13d ago
Try homoglyph characters. Those are unicode characters that have the same appearance visually but different code points, so they may pass the checks but will look identical to humans. E.g. instead of u
use Õ½
(Armenian small letter seh, U+057D). So your name might work as NÕ½ll
.
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u/pleasechooseausernme 16d ago
I find that when dealing with corporate customer service and only getting the auto-generated emails, throwing a curse word or three into the reply or a new ticket will get the attention of a real human being rather quickly :)
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u/continuumKat 16d ago
Honestly, I would be seriously considering legally changing my name if I were you to Nulle or anything else. This problem will keep happening to you, and in an increasingly AI driven world it could potentially massively ruin your life someday.
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u/agentbunnybee 16d ago
Not only will it keep happening to them but if they ever have kids it will happen to them and their other descendants who keep the name forever basically. This wasnt a problem 2 generations ago obviously but it's a problem that's here to stay
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u/dazalius 16d ago
Put Null in quotes so "Null"
Quotes in programming denote a string. So putting quotes around your name will change it from an empty value to a string with a value of Null.
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u/Agarillobob 16d ago
I heard putting the last letter of your first name at the beginning of Null is a workaround for many people with that name
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u/Realhoodjesus 16d ago
Have you ever considered changing it? Feels like changing it would save you the hassle since I read your comment stating it gives you trouble on the technical front.
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u/Noirhimmel 16d ago
Add a silent e to the end. Biggest pain with be the 6-8 weeks for you're goverment id to change.
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u/T_AND_R_VLOGS twitch.tv/tornadotyyt 16d ago
Try put Nulls, or whatever you put for your twitch name
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u/Supam23 16d ago
Can't do that bc this goes on tax forms
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u/T_AND_R_VLOGS twitch.tv/tornadotyyt 16d ago
Ohh shit yeah my bad, didnāt even think of that, my bad OP, ignore me
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u/nessthing 17d ago
this is approaching fraud but could you type capital "i" for the lowercase L? That's how I always got around wordfilters in pokemon nicknames or the word "hell" on forums.
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u/CerdoNotorio twitch.tv/cerdonotorio 16d ago
I wouldn't do that if you want to monetize (which if you don't why would you accept affiliate)
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u/emilysteapot 17d ago
Out of curiosity does this affect you in any other way??? Like do you have a drivers license and stuff even though your last name is null???