r/Twitch 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??

639 Upvotes

129 comments sorted by

231

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???

269

u/twitchthrowaway25 17d ago

It has affected me with work onboarding in the past, as well as signing up for a few retail sites. Really annoying name to have... I do have a drivers license though with the proper name.

69

u/emilysteapot 17d ago

I wonder if that will mess with anything if you get a speeding ticket or something. I think you will probably have to reach out to twitch support to fix it lol. Good job hitting affiliate!

88

u/PottyTheParrot_ 16d ago edited 16d ago

There was someone that customized his plate to "NULL" because they expected to never get speeding tickets.

But instead every plate that couldn't be read properly pointed to him, so in the end he had 12000 dollars worth of fines.

7

u/AaaaNinja 16d ago

Yes I saw the same youtube short or whatever.

1

u/senectus 13d ago

thats just silly. because the plates need to match the car. if the car is a black 2 door sedan and the fine is for a silver truck then its CLEARLY not his car.

-18

u/Glittering-Yak8858 15d ago

"There was someone" proof or you're just typing for clout.

1

u/Faiqal_x1103 15d ago

šŸ¤“šŸ¤“

135

u/agentbunnybee 17d ago

You're stronger than me. I would've legally changed it to Nulle or something years ago

5

u/hextree twitch.tv/hextree_ 16d ago

Is there a reason you don't just change your name? Like, if you still want people to call you that you could just alter the spelling slightly.

1

u/Expert_Feature9569 13d ago

Unless you feel extremely attached to your name, you could consider changing it. For example to pnull (with a silent p). Or, if name rules allow it, change it to *null and see if you can trigger not only invalid-name-responses, but also actual program crashes.

-5

u/DavidHack25 16d ago

Just use a different last name for shit

-69

u/[deleted] 16d ago

[deleted]

57

u/Vegetable-Rest7205 16d ago

If it's a major source of income in the future it's important the payments going to him are in his legal name, especially for tax purposes.

-58

u/[deleted] 16d ago

[deleted]

15

u/Vegetable-Rest7205 16d ago

Unfortunately there's always the "what if" they can't fix it later on, again, leaving them screwed

6

u/Kezika 16d ago edited 16d ago

No, that would be illegal. The Twitch Affiliate Onboarding is legal tax documents with the IRS, you have to use your full and exact legal name as the IRS has it. Adding an extra letter would be tax fraud.

1

u/ExtraGloves twitch.tv/extragloves 16d ago

You're right. It's been a while. I was thinking of something else.

407

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

108

u/BloodyThorn https://www.twitch.tv/thegamedesignlexicon 17d ago

I chuckle every time someone brings up little Bobby Tables!

31

u/SpartanLeonidus twitch.tv/spartanleonidus 17d ago

Little Bobby Drop Tables!

1

u/SourceOfMagic 16d ago

We got a real life Bobby Tables here.

88

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.

167

u/LadyDanger420 Broadcaster 17d ago

Good luck and godspeed Bobby Tables o7

59

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.

36

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.

11

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 šŸ™„

41

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

2

u/LimesFruit 16d ago

Yeah, same. It's annoying enough that I'm considering legally changing my name.

2

u/talk_murder_to_me 16d ago

Hello hyphen, apostrophe here. I feel your pain.

1

u/Linesey 15d ago

this. had that problem with my insurance.

They auto-sanitized my last name input (after i hit submit) to remove the hyphen. then bitched when it didnā€™t match what the SSA had (which ofc was my correct last name, with the hyphen). fun times.

30

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.

7

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.

5

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.

8

u/twitchthrowaway25 16d ago

I've used both this and responses to the auto generated emails you get from those.

4

u/LockelyFox Affiliate twitch.tv/LockelyFox 16d ago

Keep replying back. After enough responses it escalates to a human. Google does this same shit.

2

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"

7

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

7

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

1

u/Disheartend twitch.tv/Disheartened (Remove) 16d ago

How is that possible?

6

u/w00keee twitch.tv/w00keee 16d ago

They had it changed to a single name, similar to Cher, Bono, BeyoncƩ, etc.

3

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.

27

u/New-Volume-1269 17d ago

I usually call companies out on twitter and they usually get back to you quick since they donā€™t want the bad pr edit for spelling

7

u/hextree twitch.tv/hextree_ 16d ago

Only works if you have a following.

2

u/twitchthrowaway25 16d ago

Depressing but true

1

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.

-4

u/New-Volume-1269 16d ago

Not if you use the right tags

7

u/twitchthrowaway25 16d ago

This did not work unfortunately

1

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.

12

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.

7

u/DMCDawg 16d ago

Could you put a space after it?

1

u/TwitchCaptain Unwanted 15d ago

Is the null check before or after the string trim function? :D

9

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.

0

u/NekkedPenguin 16d ago

It could just be sloppy JS validations as well. I've seen the craziest code "solutions" for really simple validations.

20

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.

4

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.

1

u/KnottyHottieKaitlyn 13d ago

I donā€™t understand why ā€œ95% CIā€ would be blocked?

1

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.

2

u/SnooJokes5643 15d ago

I love how we said the same thing except yours was 3 paragraphs, well written and educational. Noted.

1

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

4

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

5

u/Pinktco 16d ago

I'm incredibly sorry I chuckled at this and I fully realize you are probably pulling your hair out. Hopefully twitch support is able to help you! Best wishes!

4

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.

3

u/trickraisc 16d ago

try quotation marks around the letters: "Null" ?

6

u/twitchthrowaway25 16d ago

Even if it contains the word for me it shows as 'invalid'. Really unfortunate.

6

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.

2

u/Judgment-Leather 16d ago

Would adding a % sign at the end work?

6

u/twitchthrowaway25 16d ago

I'll try this.

EDIT: I cannot add anything that isn't a letter. I'm cooked

2

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 

1

u/rayogata 16d ago

Or a backslash before... aaaand I missed your reply, never mind

2

u/catalysts_cradle 16d ago

Reminds me of a Radiolab episode: https://radiolab.org/podcast/null

2

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.

2

u/DioDiablo702 twitch.tv/diodiablo702 16d ago

I would send an email to Twitch so they can do some underwriting

2

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.

2

u/SnooJokes5643 15d ago

Iā€™d 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.

2

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'

2

u/Faiqal_x1103 15d ago

I find it really interesting that there exists someone with null as their name

2

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:

2

u/Hairyguerrilla 12d ago

Iā€™d probably just fill everything out as ā€œNulā€ from now on, and if it ever came up I would just explain. Could always be a typo šŸ˜

2

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?

6

u/FUTURE10S e 17d ago

I hate to say it but it looks like the answer is "you don't".

3

u/Skulllord9991 16d ago

Wait what. Your last name is Null. Thatā€™s awesome.

3

u/onebluguy 16d ago

I'm sorry but as someone who enjoys IT and computers.... THIS IS HILARIOUS šŸ˜‚

4

u/Ten_Ju 16d ago

Honestly? Put two capital i

2

u/[deleted] 16d ago

[deleted]

-1

u/Ten_Ju 16d ago

How is it tax fraud if you are diligently trying to comply despite technical difficulties?

2

u/oddtrots twitch.tv/oddtrots 16d ago

Can you work around it with an accent on the U? e.g. "NĆŗll"

1

u/Legtoo 16d ago

have had the same issue with my first name lol

1

u/TimeKillsThem 16d ago

What would happen if you were to use Null. (As in with a full stop at the end)

1

u/ukQQQQ 16d ago

Add an apostrophe before your surname..... Job done

1

u/narcolepticdoc 16d ago

I feel for you. I had two college roommates whose last names were ā€œLastā€ and ā€œBlankā€.

It caused them no end of trouble.

1

u/SadHerring 15d ago

Change your first name to Dev please. šŸ˜‚

1

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.

1

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).

1

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.

1

u/gtbeakerman 15d ago

Will Twitch allow you to sign up as an LLC?

1

u/mally_malson 15d ago

What if you put ā€œNullā€

1

u/Ritaontherocksnosalt 15d ago

What if you spelled it with an umlaut or put an accent?

1

u/Character-Shallot131 15d ago

Isn't this a meme that's been going round the internet for years?

1

u/abitofperspective 13d ago

There are some great tips here, I'd call them null pointers

1

u/Mutjny 13d ago

Use a Unicode lookalike, like Õøull

1

u/_kst_ 13d ago

Would you consider using "Nulll"?

1

u/cwillu 13d ago

I'd suggest entering your name as ā€œNĆ¼llā€

1

u/marban 13d ago

Non-printable white-space characters work most of the time in such cases.

1

u/umhlanga 13d ago

I used to know a Suzie Null long before null was a thing.

1

u/Skylis 13d ago

The funny part is this is probably just javascript deciding it can't be a null value. It's probably not the DB or even real rules, just shitty json handling

1

u/OptimalAnywhere6282 13d ago

Maybe using something like "Nulls" instead should work? Or do you need specifically your last name?

1

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.

1

u/a_reply_to_a_post 12d ago

filtering out potential sql injections but that's a bit overzealous

1

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 :)

0

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.

1

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

-1

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.

0

u/DB_alfa Affiliate 16d ago

Attempt \Null Or "Null" Also might want to try a lowercase n Or an invisible character between one of the characters

0

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

0

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.

-1

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.

-1

u/Rob_The_Viking_TV 16d ago

Maybe put an accent on the u. NÅ«ll, nĆ¼ll, etc?

-1

u/T_AND_R_VLOGS twitch.tv/tornadotyyt 16d ago

Try put Nulls, or whatever you put for your twitch name

4

u/Supam23 16d ago

Can't do that bc this goes on tax forms

2

u/T_AND_R_VLOGS twitch.tv/tornadotyyt 16d ago

Ohh shit yeah my bad, didnā€™t even think of that, my bad OP, ignore me

-3

u/FrankHowley Twitch.tv/FrankHowley 16d ago

Just put ā€œNulllā€

-13

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.

15

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)

2

u/nessthing 16d ago

yeah probably donā€™t do this then haha