Positive Comments: The Ebb of the Industry is a Rational Return to De – foaming, and Hangzhou is Nurturing a New and Higher – Quality Form of Internet Celebrity Economy
The “withdrawal of internet celebrities” from Hangzhou’s Lijing International Building may seem on the surface to be a microcosm of the industry’s decline after reaching its peak. In fact, it is an inevitable result of the transformation of live – streaming e – commerce from wild growth to rational development. This “ebb” not only squeezes out the inflated bubbles in the industry but also gives rise to a more sustainable business model. With its unique content ecosystem and business environment, Hangzhou is becoming a fertile ground for incubating the new form of internet celebrity economy.
First of all, the ebb of the industry is essentially “de – foaming,” creating space for healthy development. The explosive growth of early live – streaming e – commerce relied on platform traffic dividends, consumers’ curiosity, and the low – threshold “pretty – girl shouting” model. However, the core of this model was “traffic arbitrage” rather than real content value or business efficiency. When the crazy period with a compound growth rate of over 200% in the industry ended, the income of mid – and lower – tier internet celebrities dropped sharply from 30,000 – 50,000 yuan per month to less than 10,000 yuan, and they even couldn’t cover the rent. This just shows that the market is weeding out those “fake internet celebrities” who only rely on “good looks + sales talk.” This elimination is a positive one – it makes the industry return to the essence of “content is king” and forces practitioners to improve their professional abilities. As mentioned in the news, “an 18th – tier amateur easily earning tens of thousands of yuan a month through traffic” was an abnormal phenomenon. After the tide recedes, only the “real internet celebrities” with real content – creation ability, product – selection ability, or user stickiness will remain.
Secondly, the rise of merchants’ self – broadcasting and virtual digital humans is promoting the efficiency upgrade of the industry. In 2024, the sales volume of merchants’ self – broadcasting exceeded that of internet celebrity – led live – streaming for the first time, which means that live – streaming has shifted from “relying on individual IP” to “serving brand value.” The advantages of merchants’ self – broadcasting lie in controllable costs (employees’ basic salaries are much lower than internet celebrities’ placement fees), flexible time (24 – hour circular live – streaming is possible), and more focused content on the products themselves. This change makes live – streaming return to the essence of “advertising display” – merchants no longer need to pay for the “entertainment attributes” of internet celebrities but can convey product information through continuous exposure. What’s more noteworthy is the explosion of virtual digital human anchors: cases such as JD.com’s “Procurement and Sales Dongge” and the digital human created by Baidu for Luo Yonghao prove that AI anchors can achieve “human – level interaction” at a lower cost. For small and medium – sized merchants, this is equivalent to replacing “high – priced internet celebrities” with “AI employees,” significantly lowering the threshold for participating in live – streaming e – commerce; for platforms, the technological leap from pictures and texts to videos and then to AI interaction will directly drive the growth of transaction volume. As the headquarters of internet giants such as Alibaba and NetEase, Hangzhou’s AI ecosystem and technological reserves (such as the virtual anchor service that Alibaba may launch in the future) can precisely provide technological support for this trend.
Finally, Hangzhou’s content ecosystem and business environment provide an irreplaceable foundation for the transformation of the internet celebrity economy. Although the traditional live – streaming form of “small single rooms + beauty filters” has declined, Hangzhou’s advantages have not disappeared. Firstly, Hangzhou has the most concentrated digital content industry resources in the country: creators in fields such as animation, games, short videos, and online literature gather here (such as the Online Writers’ Village and the Zhijiang Screenwriters’ Village), providing rich content – creation inspiration for internet celebrities; secondly, the offline scenarios of the “beauty economy” (beautiful scenery, beautiful clothes, delicious food, etc.) enable internet celebrities to more conveniently produce high – quality content such as “store visits and origin tracing” and “lifestyle sharing”; thirdly, Hangzhou’s business atmosphere is highly friendly to internet celebrities – with a dense presence of enterprises and mature cooperation processes, an internet celebrity can connect with multiple brands in a single day, greatly improving the integration efficiency of content and business. The fact that a lifestyle – oriented internet celebrity in the news “lamented that it’s really convenient to be an internet celebrity in Hangzhou” is a microcosm of this ecological advantage. In the future, when the internet celebrity economy shifts from “shouting – style sales” to “guided display” and “in – depth conversation,” Hangzhou’s content reserves and scenario resources will become its core competitiveness.
Negative Comments: The Ebb Exposes the Industry’s Structural Contradictions, and Hangzhou Needs to Be Vigilant about Short – term Pains and Long – term Concerns
Although the “ebb” of Hangzhou’s internet celebrity industry is reasonable, it also exposes the industry’s deep – seated problems. The survival crisis of mid – and lower – tier practitioners, the unsustainability of the top – anchor model, and the impact of virtual digital humans on real – human anchor employment may all become potential risks hindering the industry’s upgrade.
First of all, the “halving of income” of mid – and lower – tier internet celebrities may lead to a brain drain and weaken the industry’s innovation vitality. The golden age of live – streaming e – commerce attracted a large number of young people, but most of these practitioners lack systematic business knowledge or content – creation abilities and rely on platform traffic and the “low – price shouting” model to survive. When the industry ebbs and their income can’t even cover the rent, they will surely choose to leave. The loss of this group not only means setbacks in individual career development but may also cause the industry to lose the soil for “grassroots innovation” – the early internet celebrity economy was full of vitality precisely because amateurs broke the monopoly of traditional marketing through differentiated content (such as funny and talent – based content). If the mid – and lower – tier segment continues to shrink, the future internet celebrity economy may be dominated by top – tier institutions or large companies, narrowing the innovation space.
Secondly, the “high – intensity dependence” on top anchors exposes the fragility of the industry model. Although top anchors like Li Jiaqi and Dong Yuhui have created great commercial value, their model is essentially “personal IP + concentrated traffic,” which has two major flaws: one is that anchors must “continue to broadcast” to maintain traffic, and once they stop broadcasting, fans and sales will quickly decline; the other is that the high – intensity work (over 300 days of live – streaming per year, 10 hours a day) causes physical and mental exhaustion for anchors, and even leads to public – opinion crises due to the “work – like attitude” (lack of enthusiasm). The decline of top anchors is inevitable, but it remains uncertain whether the industry can smoothly complete the “replacement of the old with the new” – the rise of new top anchors requires multiple factors such as platform traffic support and changes in users’ aesthetic preferences. If the transition is not smooth, the industry may fall into a “top – anchor vacuum” in the short term, affecting the confidence of merchants and consumers to participate.
Finally, virtual digital humans may impact the employment of real – human anchors and pose a risk of “content homogenization.” Although AI anchors can reduce merchants’ costs and improve efficiency, their characteristic of “outputting according to scripts” may lead to a new trap of content homogenization in live – streaming. For example, if all merchants use AI anchors with similar talking points, users will soon get tired of the “identical” explanations, reducing their willingness to watch. In addition, the popularization of virtual digital humans may accelerate the “unemployment wave” of real – human anchors – mid – and lower – tier internet celebrities are already struggling to survive, and the substitution effect of AI anchors will further compress their living space. As the core city of the internet celebrity economy, if Hangzhou fails to find a balance between “AI substitution” and “real – human innovation,” it may face the embarrassing situation of “industrial upgrade but employment damage.”
Suggestions for Entrepreneurs: Seize the Transformation Window Period and Shift from “Traffic Arbitrage” to “Value Deep – Dive”
In the face of the transformation of Hangzhou’s internet celebrity industry, entrepreneurs need to break away from the old thinking of “relying on traffic dividends” and layout around three major directions: “content value,” “technological empowerment,” and “scenario integration.” The specific suggestions are as follows:
Improve content professionalism and transform from “shouters” to “value transmitters.” The traditional “low – price shouting” model is outdated, and entrepreneurs need to focus on in – depth content in vertical fields. For example, lifestyle – oriented internet celebrities can combine Hangzhou’s “beauty economy” scenarios (such as West Lake culture and Song – Dynasty charm aesthetics) and convey the stories behind products through forms like “store visits and origin tracing” and “cultural explanations”; beauty – oriented internet celebrities can strengthen professional content such as “ingredient science popularization” and “make – up effect tests” to enhance users’ trust. The more vertical and in – depth the content is, the more it can withstand traffic fluctuations.
Make good use of technological tools to reduce operating costs and improve efficiency. For small and medium – sized merchants, they can first try self – broadcasting or virtual digital human anchors: self – broadcasting can achieve low – cost continuous exposure through employee training (such as product knowledge and live – streaming talking points); virtual digital humans are suitable for 24 – hour circular live – streaming of standardized products (such as daily necessities and food). At the same time, pay attention to Hangzhou’s AI ecological resources (such as Alibaba’s virtual anchor service) and use platform technology to lower the threshold of technology development.
Rely on Hangzhou’s content ecosystem to strengthen the integration ability of “scenario + business.” Hangzhou’s advantage lies in the high – level coordination of “online content + offline scenarios.” Entrepreneurs can actively connect with local resources: for example, cooperate with animation and game companies to develop “IP co – branded products”; use cultural landmarks such as the West Lake and Liangzhu to create “scenario – based live – streaming” (such as Hanfu fashion shows and Song – Dynasty charm tea parties); participate in content co – creation in the “Online Writers’ Village” and the “Zhijiang Screenwriters’ Village” to integrate literary and film – and – television elements into live – streaming and enhance the cultural depth of the content.
Pay attention to the opportunities in the “replacement of the old with the new” in the industry and layout new top – anchor incubation or MCN services. The decline of top anchors means the emergence of new traffic entrances. Entrepreneurs can focus on “new consumption trends” (such as national fashion and healthy food) or “new user groups” (such as Generation Z and the silver – haired population) to incubate new anchors with “content – creation + user – operation” abilities. In addition, providing MCN services of “content training + product selection support + traffic operation” for mid – and lower – tier internet celebrities to help them upgrade from “amateurs” to “professional content producers” is also a direction worth exploring.
In short, the “ebb” of Hangzhou’s internet celebrity industry is not the end but the starting point of a transformation towards a higher – quality and more sustainable form. Entrepreneurs need to seize the industry’s window period after “de – foaming,” take content as the core, technology as the tool, and scenarios as the support, and build competitiveness on the new track of “integration of virtual and real humans” and “co – existence of business and culture.”
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