Live-streaming, already a booming industry in China, is experiencing a new wave of popularity with many cities locked down and millions staying home to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, which has killed more than 2,000 people in the country as of Wednesday.
While the outbreak has hit China's economy overall, a strong move from offline to online activity from those confined to their homes has boosted the fortunes of some tech companies, including those with live-streaming platforms.
Short video platforms with live-streaming features saw a sharp increase in user activity since the outbreak was first reported in late December, according to a QuestMobile report this week.
Over the recent Luar New Year holiday, which began in late January, users on Douyin, China's version of TikTok, spent an average of 37 more minutes on the platform as compared with the festive season last year.
Kuaishou, another Chinese streaming platform, saw a similar rise during the same period. People on average spent 27 more minutes on the platform every day.
Yuansan, a part-time actor, streamed himself sleeping on February 9. He woke up to 800,000 new followers and $11,000 virtual tips.
When he tried again, he attracted another 18 million viewers. Even he was baffled to find people "more bored than I was."
"Everyone in the live-streaming room is pushing me to sleep, but it's 5 o'clock in the afternoon!" said Yuansan in a live stream.
As a large chunk of the population in China remains shut in at their homes, entertainment and commerce have increasingly taken place online.
Farmers struggling to sell their produce through brick-and-mortar shops, as the outbreak has left many stores closed, are live-streaming to clear stocks.
One live stream on Taobao helped a farmer clear a healthy portion of his stocks: 11,000 pounds of tomatoes, 16,500 pounds of cucumbers and 6,600 pounds of strawberries. Taobao is owned by Alibaba, which also owns Inkstone.
Others are using the live stream to recharge their minds. As schools remain closed, students are going into free live-streamed courses offered by China's prestigious Tsinghua University and Peking University, which would be off-limits to most students in real life.
"I can't believe I am in a Tsinghua University class," one student commented in a course of paper writing in engineering.
While this shift is certainly benefiting online businesses, one analyst said the boom may be short-lived.
"Once the outbreak is under control, the traditional offline industry will bounce back," said Zhang Dingding, the former head of Beijing-based research firm Sootoo Institute.
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