How exactly does twitch.tv count the number of views that is displayed next to the Eye Icon? Is it based off IP addresses, Accounts, Cookies or even something completely different? A thing that also Interests me is whether Visits from my own account are also influencing the number or not.Also When does it refresh? On my account I often see that it takes a pretty long time to refresh the count (sometimes up to 8 hours). 
How does the view count work on Twitch?
twitch.tv