HX-Online Magazine 海翔个人期刊
Internet Cafe Residents
The reasons for the formation of internet cafe residents and how they become internet celebrities and change their lives?
foreword
Internet cafe Residents transforms from social fringe to short video star
Internet cafe guru 'AMao' addicted to the virtual world
The term "Internet cafe god" refers to those groups who live in Internet cafes because of economic distress or social competition failure. Most of them gather in third and fourth tier cities, take Internet cafes as the core of their lives, and maintain daily expenses through extremely low materialistic standards (such as surfing the Internet overnight, instant gratification). Driven by the wave of digital economy, this group has quietly emerged relying on the short video platform of the Internet. They use internet cafes as their base and short video platforms to record their "useless life". At the same time, they interweave the virtual world with real survival into a unique survival scene, and through the combination of short video platforms and internet celebrity economy, they have achieved a fate leap from the edge of society to the center of traffic.
Internet cafe resident "Ah Mao" left home to work at the age of 16. After experiencing the trials of society, he chose to become addicted to internet cafes. After living there for several years, he created the persona of a "righteous hero" on short video platforms, attracting millions of fans through his "Kill Matt" style, brotherhood, and daily internet cafe activities. His single video has over 100000 likes, and his live streaming reward income can reach up to 3000 yuan per day. This identity transition from "survivors" to "performers" marks their transformation from invisible individuals in society to explicit symbols in the flow economy.
AMao, who is broadcasting on Tiktok platform
By 2024, the market size of China's internet celebrity economy will exceed 250 billion yuan.
According to the Industry Research Report website, it is expected that the market size of China's internet celebrity economy will exceed 500 billion yuan by 2031.
As of December 2022, the number of live streaming e-commerce users in China has reached 515 million, accounting for 48.2% of the total internet users. The number of short video users has exceeded 1 billion, with a user utilization rate of 94.58%.
As of December 2024, the number of live streaming users in China has reached 617 million, accounting for 62.4% of the total number of internet users.
According to the 2022 China Internet Celebrity Economy Research Report, the average annual income of Chinese internet celebrities is about RMB 500000, but the income distribution is extremely uneven.
AMao, who is editing his own video
The essence of the red economy is to realize traffic monetization through content creation and fan interaction, and its core lies in "capitalization of attention". According to the "2024 China Short Video Ecology Report", over 60% of short video creators come from the lower tier market, with "grassroots counterattack" content occupying the high traffic. This economic model provides a low threshold upward channel for the "internet cafe gods": they do not need education, funds, or fixed residence, and only need a mobile phone to participate in content production.
For example, A Mao created content memory points through standardized processes such as staying up all night and spinning games, and combined them with a "low desire narrative" to resonate with the audience, successfully transforming internet cafe life into a sustainable business model.
However, the high algorithmic dependence of the internet celebrity economy also leads to risks such as content homogenization, traffic volatility, and the issue of "persona constraints". Part of the 'internet cafe gods' have lost fans due to leaving the internet cafe scene, falling into the paradox of' the more successful, the more trapped '
AMao's Tiktok account
A Mao's path to becoming an internet celebrity was mainly due to his videos of living in internet cafes, which resonated with some workers and were ridiculed by some netizens. Many netizens enjoyed watching A Mao's "tragic" life. By watching A Mao's exaggerated performances in internet cafes, some netizens gained joy, some netizens gained entertainment, and many netizens gained a sense of satisfaction and superiority in their own lives. A Mao used their psychology to shoot many videos and began to accumulate fans, becoming an internet celebrity and earning his first bucket of gold in life
AMao is managing the restaurant he has invested in
Now, as a new online celebrity, A Mao is also thinking about transformation. He has taken a stake in a fan restaurant and continues to promote it in Tiktok. At present, the restaurant is operating well, but whether A Mao can seize this opportunity to realize a change of fate and completely change from an Internet cafe resident to a business person is still unknown
video
MUSIC FROM:https://www.aigei.com/
Chinese internet cafe residents usually refer to those who have spent a long time in internet cafes and have a deep love and exquisite skills for online games. They are familiar with every corner of the internet cafe, with games as their main form of entertainment and even their way of life. These internet cafe residents often have outstanding performances in games and are the focal points of the internet cafe
With the rise of Internet live broadcast and short video, some Internet cafe residents began to try to share their game process and daily life on the Internet. They demonstrated game skills through live streaming platforms and shared interesting stories from internet cafes through short videos, gradually attracting a large number of viewers' attention. With their unique personal charm and gaming skills, these internet cafe residents gradually became popular on the internet and became internet celebrities with numerous fans. Their transformation not only brought new development opportunities for themselves, but also allowed more people to understand internet cafe culture and their inner world.