Live streaming your life is a 'gruelling' $100,000 per month job in China
Chinese live streamers have to appear 'cute and happy for hours on end', but is it worth it?

A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
Live streaming your life on the internet is rapidly increasing in popularity in China, and the Washington Post reports that some streamers can earn in excess of $100,000 (£77,000) per month from the craze.
One online streamer, called Yu Li, cracks jokes, talks about pop music and chats with other users - all in front of "tens of thousands" of people. He's even opened up his own talent agency, the newspaper says, "which trains and promotes wannabe online stars".
These stars are an array of personalities, it adds, ranging from "aspiring celebrities hoping to parlay their voice" to people just "brushing their teeth or getting through the last minutes of a long shift".
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
According to The Economist, Chinese life live streamers make the majority of their income through advertising deals and viewer donations.
Some streamers are paid to play commercials on their streams, the website says, while others rely on "digital stickers representing things like a beer that fans buy online and can be converted into cash."
However, The Washington Post says streamers may only see a small cut of what they earn through user donations, as websites that host these live streamers - such as YY - can take up to a 50 per cent cut. If the streamer has a manager, they can expect to pay them between "20 to 30 per cent more".
It can be a "gruelling" job as well, the paper says, as people streaming their life often have to appear "cute and happy for hours on end" even if they have had a long and difficult day at work.
The Chinese government is also making it increasingly difficult for live streamers to succeed, says Mashable, as three major networks - Weibo, iFeng and ACFUN - were banned from streaming live video last month.
"In the past, even though I didn’t have money, I could do whatever I wanted. Now, I have to watch every word I say", Yu told The Washington Post.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
-
The week's good news: Sept. 28, 2023
It wasn't all bad!
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
Make America dumb again
By The Week Staff Published
-
Will Democrats save Kevin McCarthy's speakership?
Today's Big Question On the eve of a likely government shutdown, the speaker is left with no good choices
By Joel Mathis Published