Mukbang and Covid

Lockdowns Boosted this Odd "Cure for Loneliness" World-wide.

Mukbang, which translates to “eating broadcast”, is a trend that began in South Korea in 2010 and started to spread globally around 2014. It was given a big boost in 2020 by Covid lockdowns and social distancing, and continues to explode world-wide.

Mukbang began as a response to many Koreans feeling alone when eating. In Korea, dining is a social activity that is done with others. With many Koreans living alone and increasing loneliness in this digital age, they started doing live streams of them eating and talking about their day. The start of mukbangs was with live streams on a Korean platform called AfreecaTV because it allowed users to connect with the person leaving comments in real-time, asking them questions, or telling them to mix certain foods.

This lady makes $45,000 per WEEK eating things online, or aprox 2.5 Million per year. The amplified chewing sounds evidently help alleviate Korean digital loneliness.

Don’t let your teenagers tell you they “can’t find a job”. If they live in mom’s basement, at least make sure they are working from mom’s basement and paying rent! :)

It’s a strange, surprising world out there.