Damming the Stream: CCP Edition

The Chinese government is cracking down on livestreaming and video games among children. (via Twitter, @lillianmli)

The Chinese government introduced restrictions on video games and livestreaming for children in August, banning those under sixteen from signing up as livestreamers and limiting video games for players under 18 to three hours per week. Moving forward, the Ministry of Commerce plans to ban livestream e-commerce of socially harmful goods such as sex toys, medicines, spy devices, and foreign newspapers. 

These regulations follow a period of aggressive government crackdown on Chinese tech giants like Alibaba for their monopolistic behavior as well as on celebrities that promote “incorrect politics” and “sissy and other distorted aesthetics.” These measures all make up a part of China’s broader goal to tackle internet addiction and revive patriotism among the youth generation and ultimately to achieve common prosperity”—a phrase coined by Chinese President Xi Jinping outlining his plan to narrow the growing wealth gap and solidify the Community Party’s rule. 

“What they’ve been saying a lot is how they want to bring culture, bring the economy, bring these companies back to socialist values…  The internet should be used to better spread socialist values. There is a vision for what the internet should be like from Beijing,” said Brenda Goh, tech correspondent for Reuters, in an interview with Slate.

Although these crackdowns may bring troublesome costs to internet companies, it is nearly impossible for the government to put the genie back in the bottle. In the last decade, the internet has become highly integrated into Chinese culture in an almost science fiction manner, surpassing the U.S. in both speed and innovation. 

Livestreaming to the Ex-Stream

The livestreaming industry is particularly influential. According to the China Internet Network Information Center, there were 616.85 million online streaming users in China in 2020. Unlike the West, where the livestream user base is dominated by the esports industry, China's livestreamers come in all shapes and sizes—although e-commerce undoubtedly receives the most attention.

E-commerce related livestreams are among the most watched content category in China. (Source: Statista)

China also has more successful livestream platforms, especially since well-established technology companies have invested in the sector.

Breakdown of Chinese livestreaming platforms by function. (Source: The China Guys)

The streamers and the watchers are the two main stakeholders of livestream platforms. Their motivations can be broadly sorted into two categories: functional and social.

Both the U.S. and China have the technical capabilities for livestreaming. What accounts for the difference in the level of integration of livestreaming with mainstream culture?

Lillian Li of Chinese Characteristics points to the contrast between livestreaming as a technology/product and livestreaming as a cultural medium/distribution channel. Enabled by local services such as digital payment systems, efficient delivery and returns, talent agencies, and fandom culture, livestreaming has become a fundamental way Chinese people interact with each other and an everyday medium to accomplish basic tasks. Chinese technology companies have successfully built the infrastructure needed to capitalize on livestreaming on a nationwide scale.

What Flows Isn’t Water

For both countries, the foundation of the livestreaming ecosystem—what links livestreamers, watchers, and the platforms together—is social interaction. Forging meaningful relationships and building trust are crucial for platforms in China and the U.S. alike. Twitch's eSports users Donghee Yvette Wohn and Guo Freeman argue that social factors are more important than what is being played, viewed, and livestreamed: "eSports is still experience-centric—how players feel about themselves and their connection with others may drive them to sustain, support, or leave this area." Platforms and streamers can develop a sense of community by increasing participation opportunities for voters, such as voting in polls, including viewers in the planning process of livestreams, and greeting them personally.

In the Chinese livestreaming e-commerce sector, swift guanxi—"a swiftly formed interpersonal relationship between buyers and sellers in an online market"—is important for facilitating online transactions. The factors that affect swift guanxi and encourage buyers to purchase a product include perceived expertise and likeability/popularity of the seller and similarity in taste between themselves and the seller. The latter especially only comes after users form a familiarity and trust with the seller.

Although livestream e-commerce is less common in the U.S., sellers still employ relationship-building techniques that mirror swift guanxi. In Blockchain Chicken Farm, technologist  Xiaowei Wang writes about an American pearl seller who streams on Facebook Live called Kristie's Krazy Kultured Pearl Parties. During streams, she addresses her viewers by their first names with a compassionate voice. Viewers cannot help feeling entranced, as if they have known her for a long time.

The U.S. may be unlocking its potential to build a robust live streaming ecosystem as the country gradually transitions to mobile payment through systems like Apple Pay and Venmo and streamlines its distribution networks, as Amazon delivery is working toward. But given the growing skepticism of Facebook and Instagram among politicians and older generations, not to mention the six-hour outage that hit the company last week, the transition could be as slow as a trickle.