Banzz has 3.3 million fans.
Have you ever heard of "eat broadcast"? It's an online craze, with millions of viewers watching hosts enjoy a lot of food in front of computers.
In most cultures, eating is a social activity. You can get rid of your daily chores and get together with your loved ones. But if you happen to eat alone and feel bad, what should you do?
Although 1/4 people live alone in South Korea, eating alone is still considered humiliating. In this social trend, "eat and broadcast" (Mukbang) began to become popular.
"eat and broadcast"
Food broadcast originally originated in 2010 on the South Korean website AfreecaTV, where anchors and viewers can interact.
The word "Mukbang" combines the Korean words "Muk-da" and "bang- song" to make it clear that bloggers in: live broadcast face enough food for a family to eat. Eat and tell interesting stories.
American video website r Kim Thai
Eating and broadcasting has received a high degree of attention. Banzz, a South Korean blogger, has an average of 500000 views of videos, and 3 million people have subscribed to his channel.
He reportedly eats a lot and exercises for 12 hours a day to burn these calories.
But why is "eating broadcast" so popular?
A career with a considerable income
Food occupies an important position in Korean culture. "just as the Eskimos have thousands of words for snow, so do Koreans have thousands of words related to food," Jeff Young (Jeff Yang), a cultural commentator, told The British Broadcasting Corporation.
"Food and TV" has quickly become a lucrative industry in South Korea, with bloggers paying as much as $10,000 a month, excluding sponsorship revenue.
Bloggers are not paid according to the number of shows, ads are paid, and there is no salary, but instead make money in the form of "star balloons". Star Balloon is a virtual currency that can be exchanged for cash.
"Food and TV" bloggers earn a lot of money, causing more people to pour into the industry.
"Food broadcast" is also very popular in the United States at present.
"eat broadcast" is not only popular in South Korea, such videos from the South Korean website AfreecaTV to video website, and then to the United States, American bloggers began to make their own "food broadcast."
Yelena (Yelena Mejova) studies the relationship between real-world activities and online behavior at the University of Qatar. She believes that the rise of "food broadcast" in the world is not uncommon.
She believes that food is an international language that allows everyone to participate. "it's an important part of everyone's culture, and we always want what's on the media as close to real life as possible."
Fight against loneliness
There are other reasons for this craze.
"some Koreans have been alone for a long time, and they want to find some kind of social outlet for themselves," Jeff said.
In Korean society, eating alone is not a glorious thing. "if others think they are lone rangers, people will worry about reputation damage," said journalist Chang May Choon, South Korea.
About 5.6 million people live alone in South Korea in 2017, according to South Korea's Bureau of Statistics. Such a large number means that people have fewer opportunities to eat together.
A 2018 study surveyed 1000 adults in South Korea. According to the study, 46 percent of people living alone "always" feel lonely, 44 percent sometimes feel lonely, and nearly 90 percent feel lonely at some point.
Overcome eating disorders
"eat broadcast" may have unexpected health benefits, and some bloggers say their live broadcast helps viewers solve eating disorders: those who do not have an appetite are stimulated by live broadcast and begin to want to eat.
Erik the Electric, a blogger in the United States, said some of his viewers "have strict diet controls and hope to make themselves feel like they've eaten by looking at me (live broadcast)."
He has been suffering from anorexia for years, saying that making these videos makes him feel easier for food.
Beauty "eat and broadcast"
Female bloggers tend to have a better audience than male bloggers.
Hyunee's video website channel has 1.2 million fans.
Jeff said attractive women are very popular on the 'eat and broadcast' channel, mainly because Korean culture requires young women to be polite and restrained. Viewers will have a wonderful thrill and excitement when they see young women break through these restrictions on the "eat and broadcast" channel.
dispute
Critics of the videos say eating and broadcasting encourages people to overeat. Obesity rates in South Korea rose from 26% in 1998 to 34.8% in 2016.
In 2018, South Korea's Ministry of Health and Welfare announced a plan to develop guidelines for these "eat and broadcast" media, improve dietary behaviour, and establish a monitoring system. But (OECD), the economic partnership and development organization, forecasts that obesity rates in South Korea could still double by 2030.
At the same time, thousands of people continue to watch their favorite "eat TV" channel every day.
"whether it's to meet social needs, overcome eating disorders or have fun. Can't we watch things as harmless as eating?" Jenny Cha (Jenny Cha), who watches "eat broadcast" at least once a day, said.
"our government can decide who we are and what we can't look at, and it's scary to think about it," Jenny said.