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Started in South Korea -

This peculiar activity started gaining popularity in 2010 in South Korea, but by 2014 it was a business.

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Now “Mukbangers” are everywhere -

The phenomenon has especially gained popularity in the US, where people are eating insane amounts of food and have thousands, sometimes millions, of viewers.

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It’s huge - A video of Erik Lamkin, known as Erik The Electric, attempting the 100,000 calories challenge has nearly nine million views, and he has over one million subscribers.

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Mukbangers are celebrities of sorts -

They interact with their audiences through comments and questions. Park Seo-yeon, a popular mukbanger who goes by “Diva,” reportedly spends a lot of time looking pretty for her stream, and fans ask her a lot about her personal life and cooking advice.

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There are vegan alternatives -

Vegan vloggers have also taken to the trend, using this avenue to explain more about their diet and showcase some vegan dishes.

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Donations are encouraged -

Most eating broadcasters have donation pages where fans can send direct money transfers.

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It’s lucrative -

Park Seo-yeon is one of South Korea’s top culinary bloggers and was making US$9,000 per month back in 2014, centering her only job on eating.

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It takes time and money -

Park told Time that nearly every day, she prepares and eats her enormous and usually expensive evening meal, live-broadcasting for up to four hours at a time. “I try to look pretty, eat pretty, and eat a lot of delicious food,” she says.

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It’s not just eating, it’s performing -

Lee Chang-hyun, a famous mukbanger of Seoul, for example, is extravagant in his gestures, he shows off the food to tantalize viewers, and he invested in a good microphone to capture all of his noisy eating. He also takes care to interact with viewers.

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Why is it so appealing for audiences? -

According to CNN, experts believe this trend is linked to the rise of urban isolation and worldwide connection to food.

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A symptom of societal pressures -

Simon Stawski, a blogger and co-founder of Eat Your Kimchi, moved to South Korea in 2008 and realized that dining in Korea is seen as a social activity, so it’s rare for people to go out and eat alone.

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A symptom of societal pressures -

Since people won’t dine alone in public, they’ll usually stay at home to eat, “but they’ll still have the urge to socialize while eating, which is what I think mukbangers replicate,” Stawski said.

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Loneliness is only increasing -

Time reports that the number of one-person households in South Korea is expected to jump from 25.3% in 2012 to 32.7% in 2030, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

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A symptom of food obsession -

Park, AKA Diva, also cited the loneliness of urban life as one of the main driving factors behind the trend, but she also said it’s partly due to the increasing obsession with food, eating, and dieting.

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The pressure to stay thin -

The Diva’s meals tend to be long, multi-course affairs with huge serving sizes, but as a lot of her fans are young women facing tremendous pressure to stay thin and struggling to keep a strict diet, she says, “Watching me eat gives them a vicarious thrill.”

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The ASMR element -

A potential reason for mukbang’s popularity is also the autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR), which is a phenomenon in which people receive immense pleasure from hearing specific things like whispering, hair brushing, folding clothes, and, of course, eating.

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The ASMR element - In mukbang, sounds like slurping, chewing, crunching, and other noises emitted give many fans the "tingles." One fan, Sammy Bosch, told Today Food that it seems weird, but it’s almost hypnotic.

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A source of pleasure -

Bosch credits the videos as stress-relieving, adding that, “While watching others eat rich food you can fantasize that you are eating it. For me, I associate food with pleasure. So, watching these videos makes me feel happy.”

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A way to help curb food cravings -

Some viewers report they watch these videos as a way to satisfy their own food cravings to help them stay on track with their weight loss plans, but this feeling is a dangerous one linked with eating disorders.

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More profitable than a full-time job - Christi Caston, from Texas, hosts YummyBitesTV, an “ASMR/mukbang” YouTube channel where she claims she makes twice as much money as she made working a 9-to-5.

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Taking a portion of ad revenue -

Soo Tang has a channel called MommyTang, which has over 489,000 subscribers, and said she takes a share of ad revenue generated by views. She said that once you get popular, you can make close to US$100,000 a year in the US.

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Other avenues for profit as well -

Once you have a significant following, there are also various endorsements, sponsorship, and product review payouts—just like celebrities.

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Internet TV channels -

In South Korea, an internet TV channel called Afreeca ("Any FREE broadCasting") allows people to stream their own live videos, and allows viewers to give them "star balloons,” which is a payment to them and the channel.

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Potential dangers to content consumers - Doctors and dietitians warn that this trend can be dangerous to consumers, as it can trigger disordered eating patterns in susceptible viewers, especially those who are looking to these videos as a hunger curb.

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Potential dangers for mukbangers themselves -

There’s a myriad of risks involved in binge eating, including triggering a heart attack and developing insulin resistance.

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The health impact -

Lee Chang-hyun eats a reported 4,000 calories every day, and Erik Lamkin binges on high-calorie American foods, but they both credit intense exercise and a healthy off-camera diet for maintaining their slim figures.

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Being a mukbanger can be lonely -

It might pay more than a full-time job, but it still takes over mukbangers' lives. The Diva spends most of her time alone, prepping, shopping, and broadcasting. It makes it hard to meet people in real life, or even simply make dinner plans.

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Feedback can also be harsh -

If you’re considering trying this new job for yourself, Lamkin warned, “Be prepared for people to critique how you eat.”

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It’s like any TV show -

Mukbangers sell a fantasy that more and more people are hungry for, that you can eat as much as you want and never gain a pound, and that you will always have a dinner companion who will be there for you.

This isn't the only strange thing to come out of South Korea—check out the unbelievable prison people are paying to stay in.

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