Live streaming your life is a 'gruelling' $100,000 per month job in China

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".

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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.