Meok Bang Food Broadcast Craze: South Korean Viewers Pay Millions to See Others Eat on Webcam (Video)
We may have the Food Network in the United States, but something like this can only come from South Korea, the world's most connected country in terms of internet and one with some surely interesting pastimes.
34-year-old Park Seo-Yeon lives on money earned from broadcasting herself eating on Afreeca TV, a peer-to-peer video network that offers recorded and live-streaming video content.
Viewers pay her in virtual currency called Star Balloons which she then converts into Korean won. A single broadcast can earn as much 1.1 million won ($1000) and she says she has an average monthly income of around $9250.
"People enjoy the vicarious pleasure when they can't eat this much or find that food at night or are on a diet," she said. "Loneliness is another crucial factor. The show is addictive as you can communicate with thousands of people at home." There is some truth to this as one quarter of households is occupied by just one individual in South Korea.
According to the Independent, "Park says that she's only put on around 20lbs (9kg) since starting her show, saying that she has an unusually high metabolic rate and inherited her gluttonous appetite from her family. She also denies she has any eating disorders, and often stays online after the meal to chat with her audience about the food and prove she's not 'purging' afterwards."
"Park's evening meals are not simple beans-on-toast affairs, but feasts that can go on for hours. She spends almost £2000 each month on top quality ingredients and in a single sitting can eat as much as 12 hamburgers, 12 fried eggs, and three bowls of kimchi stew."
Other users make money by playing video games in front of the camera. More than half of the webcam channels on Afreeca TV are for gaming voyeurism. The most popular things people like to watch are Starcraft and Grand Theft Auto.