Men model women’s underwear, mothers yell into the microphone, influencers celebrate fake weddings: the fight for attention in the Chinese live stream market is creating strange trends. It’s all about one thing.
From
Florian Mueller, Shenzhen
If you want to get somewhere in China today, you don’t have to go to an expensive university or move to a metropolis like Beijing or Shanghai. All it takes is a phone camera, a cellular connection, and an account on an online platform like Douyin, Kuaishou, and Taobao, or whatever the Chinese equivalents of Tiktok, Youtube, and Amazon are all called. Then the live streaming can begin: People tell their life stories online, they sing, dance and present products, while in the best case scenario millions of users of all ages watch it live in front of their smartphones. It’s a gigantic, fast-growing business.