Why do people in China spend so much on live streamers?

From sending nudes to dates with the highest bidder, live streaming in China can be a strange world

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Why do people in China spend so much on live streamers?

Published: 8:46pm, 24 Jan 2019Updated: 8:51am, 20 Sep 2019

This article originally appeared on ABACUS

Remember the teenage girl who spent approximately US$75,000 of her mother’s account on tips for live streaming hosts? It looks like she’s not the only one spending on tips and virtual gifts more than she should have.

Before we go on, some background: Live streaming is huge in China. Deloitte estimates that the country’s live streaming industry made US$4.4 billion in 2018. Some live streaming stars can make hundreds of thousands of dollars every week (most don’t). But not much is known about the motivations that drive people to give their money to live streaming hosts. And sometimes the spending can end up somewhat shady.

Xiaoming (alias), a young live streaming fan, describes how she ended up giving out gifts to her favorite hosts.

“Every time the host would get a gift he would be very enthusiastic which will likely satisfy your vanity,” she says. “He'd make you feel valued.”

Some of the biggest users of live streaming in China are not teenagers, they’re farmers

Xiaoming says she started watching live streaming because she was bored and started giving out small rewards. Her favorite hosts were male, handsome and humorous. As she started giving gifts more often her account rating would rise: The hosts would welcome her into their live streaming feeds with more enthusiasm.

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