Imagine earning a living by pointing a camera at yourself and chatting with people who then send you valuable gifts
W ould you livestream every aspect of your life? If you’re not a pop star or reality TV wannabe, the answer is probably no. But if you could earn more than ?100 an hour for sitting in your bedroom talking to strangers around the world, would that tempt you to turn the camera on yourself?
But when he’s finished for the day the 22-year-old flicks on his camera and chats with some of his almost 37,000 fans on webbplats här the livestreaming platform . Whether he’s playing games or just chatting, for every session that he’s entertaining his bank balance increases thanks to people sending him virtual gifts, which he can later redeem for cash, in a bid to attract his attention.
As an estate agent, Josh Day spends hours on his phone speaking to property buyers and sellers
Day lives in Huddersfield and started livestreaming in August last year after stumbling across the app one evening. In his second session he attracted 7,000 views and a stranger gifted him a virtual castle worth $200 (?150). It was unreal, he says. I was just in my bedroom talking day-to-day stuff and having a prat around. I screamed and ran to tell my mum! From there it just went from great to amazing.
On another occasion a stranger sent him gifts worth $1,400. I kind of freaked out it felt like winning four numbers on the lottery. I never expected to make money from it.
Day typically spends 10-12 hours a week on the platform, earning an average of about $2,400 a month after takes its cut. While he generously spends a chunk of his virtual currency on gifts for other broadcasters, he often cashes in. It’s helped me get on the property ladder I wouldn’t have done so otherwise. I also bought my girlfriend a Mulberry bag.
Following the rise in popularity of livestreaming platforms such as Facebook Live and Periscope, more millennials are choosing to share private moments of their lives for a slice of mini-stardom. But can it really prove to be a money-maker, too? For every Day there are thousands of others who come away empty-handed. For most it takes time and effort (and perhaps a flash of the flesh helps, too: a cursory tour around seems to indicate that more skin equals more viewers) for the dollar signs to start rolling in. But for those who can command huge audiences, perhaps livestreaming will be the latest internet moneyspinner following the rise of blogging and vlogging as professions over the past decade.
The extra income has helped him save for a deposit for a house
Live broadcasting is becoming a digital career in the same way YouTube and Instagram are platforms for influencers, says chief executive, Yuki He. We have broadcasters earning $20,000 a week or more from virtual gifts, and have heard from many people that they have quit their jobs in order to put more effort into broadcasting and work on it full time.
A regular YouTuber with more than 100,000 subscribers, Emma Jacobs*, a 29-year-old from London, was recently chosen to become one of the YouNow platform’s 4,000 partners someone able to earn money from fans sending virtual gifts via the app. YouNow claims its top broadcasters rake in up to $200,000 a year. Jacobs entertains her audience by livestreaming herself with exotic animals such as meerkats and crocodiles, and her own pets which include snakes and giant cockroaches.
