There are many ways to make money on TikTok. One way is the TikTok feature called “Live Gifts “ where viewers can purchase virtual gifts for a live streamer.
Streamers can then collect diamonds for these gifts and cash them in for real money. The live streamers receive a percentage of the earnings while TikTok takes a share.
In Kenya, this feature is turning a portion of the population into digital beggars.
Yes, people can make money from live streaming on TikTok. Increasingly, it’s becoming the default way a lot of Kenyans to earn a living. Kenya is currently 7 weeks into a series of protests majorly led by youthful citizens. While various factors for example the Finance Bill 2024 have been the call to action, it is no secret that unemployment is the fire in the belly.
Kenya’s Youth Unemployment Numbers
Kenya is a nation of young citizens with a median age of the population at 19.7. Today, 29.7 percent is between the ages of 18 and 34. This demographic is hardest hit by joblessness in an economic setting that is plagued by reduced hiring on the back of sluggish corporate earnings. High taxes and instances of double taxation, combined with a lack of government assistance to the private sector, have deterred investors, resulting in job cuts. Similar obstacles hinder the informal sector, which provides jobs for roughly 80% of the population.
Basically, Kenya’s bulging youth population is in dire straits. This is further exacerbated by the one million young people who graduate from colleges and secondary schools annually.
The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) data shows that while the national unemployment rate in Kenya stands at 12.7%, the situation is significantly worse for young people. Youth aged 15 to 34, who make up 35% of the population, have a disproportionately high unemployment rate of 67%. This underlines the growing crisis of youth unemployment.
Youth unemployment is not unknown to government. President William Ruto is often heard speaking of ICT hubs and digital jobs going on to mention youths earning online in places like Attendee. However, there is little evidence that the government is doing much to create the said digital jobs.
TikTok as a Source of Income for Kenyans
Today, the country is home to 13.05 million social media users in January 2024, equating to 23.5 percent of the total population. A Statista survey from January revealed TikTok as one of Kenya’s most popular social media platforms, with 70-90% of respondents using it. Based on official numbers from Byte Dance, about 10.6 million Kenyans aged 18 and above are using the Chinese owned platform.
Livestreaming around the clock has been popular in Asia and the US for a while now. Titokis algorithm and its live feature pushes more niche streamers in front of more eyeballs and doesn’t only favour celebrities and influencers. Kenyans have taken advantage of this aspect for financial gain to make ends meet.
Accumulating 1,000 followers on TikTok is the first milestone. This achievement grants creators’ access to features such as live streaming, virtual gifting, collaborations with other influencers, and eligibility for creator programs. Additionally, it opens doors to potential income through brand partnerships.
READ: What Happens When You Get 1000 Followers on TikTok?
The 1000 follower’s milestone may seem like a daunting task especially if you are accustomed to platforms like X, where users are mean with followers. However, this is not strictly the case on TikTok. Almost similar to the follow trains that were popular on early days twitter, TikTok has “grow host live streams”. These are creators who stream and encourage viewers to follow each other. It is the quickest and simplest way for users to reach the minimum number of followers required to go live.
Tap Tap Army and Nyota
Once they reach the milestone Kenyan streamers, switch on their cameras from the comfort of their homes and go live. You may have had of the “tap tap” call of action. For those new to this land, tapping on your phone’s screen while viewing a livestreamer increases the number of likes a live streamer has received.
So live streamers will often be heard marshalling viewers to “power tap” or “tap tap”. The higher the likes, the greater the popularity of a livestream. Popular livestreams will be shown to more people as they scroll through the app. It is this this that increases the probability of a visit from ‘nyota”. The stronger your tap tap army, the higher the probability of nyota.
Nyota is Swahili for star. A Kenyan evangelist Mr Ezekiel Odera uses the word “star” in his sermons as his way of describing good luck. Tiktokers adopted the phrase to mean luck and subsequently to mean a generous gifter.
Ordinarily, streamers simply go live and for viewers to come in and have a chat. Most Kenyan TikTok streamers don’t do much in terms of content creation or have a themed conversation. They just go live and hope they receive many gifts. It is the dependence of the unknown nyota that makes me equate the practice to street begging but on a digital platform. The streamers will put up a number of virtual gifts that they wish to receive from benefactors. These defined gifts are called Live Goals. When street beggars put out pans for coins, digital beggars set live goals.
TikTok Box Game
As people love a challenge, TikTokers in Kenya tend to play what is called box games. A normal TikTok live can host up to 9 guests in what is called boxes. The challenge in a box game is after a set duration, the person with the least number of gifts will be dropped and another one joins.
This game is dependent on streamers calling on their followers to come in and gift them. The app has a share feature and streamers will often share their livestream to followers. Luck or Nyota also plays a huge part. A random user may come and gift a user in one of the boxers during the game. Hence, ‘nyota” remains a dependable source of gifts for streamers.
Matches and TikTok Battles
Another way streamers push viewers to gift them is via matches. TikTok livestreams allow users to have versus that lasts for 5 minutes. During these verus sessions, streamers are opponents, the streamer with the most accumulated points from virtual gifts wins. Again, followers and random guests are relied on to come and ensure a streamer wins. Tapping the screen also helps not just to bring in more viewers but accounts for some points that help in the contest.
The match is usually played between two people. It can also be played by 4 people who pair up to battle each other. After every session, the streamers can rematch and compete for winning streaks. Matches can sometimes have challenges, taking advantage of TikTok features to give each other dares. Streamers use challenges to encourage gifters so as they don’t have to do a something embarrassing. You can often find TikTokers full of flour, painted or in a dustbin as part of the challenges.
Smoke Begets Smoke
In the event that one side of the battle has consistent big gifters you will often hear the word “smoke”. Kenyan digital beggars have learnt that “Smoke begets smoke”. Playing on the ego of gifting viewers, streamers will often taunt them to surpass the rival gifter smoke by gifting even more. All in all, when both sides of a match have “smoke” they tend to end the live stream with a good haul that can be converted into substantial real money.
On occasion, the matches are pre-planned. The live streamers will advertise these battles well in advances and will rally their regular gifters to show up with high value gifts on the set day. Advertising a battle may also bring in a special nyota. Set battles only last the 5 minutes. While there is usually a loser, the hope is usually that a battle brings in a large number of gifts hence, money for both sides.
Metamorphism of Digital Beggars
In book The Tiger’s Bones by Ted Hughes, he writes, “Nothing is free. Everything has to be paid fo,.” Unfortunately, there are trade-offs for the free gifts that streamers receive. Like street beggars, the digital beggars often get passer-by’s who gift them and move on.
This may not always be the case. One frequently discussed problem is the proliferation of explicit livestreams. Some users may turn their streams lewd in the hope of getting more viewers and gifts. Last year, the Acting. CEO, of Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB) Mr. Joel Wamalwa, said public concerns on TikTok live streams led the Kenya government to demand TikTok to disable the live feature. However, this did not happen, the government instead demanded the platform to share quarterly reports.
Furthermore, it has largely been alleged that viewers trade sexual favours for more live gifts. The conversation often termed as “behind the tent” refers to streamers chatting with generous gifters on their inbox. There are allegations that some gifters, especially from overseas , demand explicit photos or videos in lieu of virtual gifts.
Even more alarming are the creators who have taken advantage of livestream feature to sell sexual services. While complaints have been raised, Tiktok appears to have turned a blind eye to the matter.
READ: TikTok & AU Team Up for Multi-Year Youth Online Safety Campaign
The unemployment rate in the country has forced the youth to the TikTok streets acting almost like digital beggars. Lack of immediate employment opportunities after school traps some in the allure of easy gifts that become a source of income. Other that doing away with any sense of privacy, plus the psychological toll it can take, there is the risk of moral depravity. The risk that more of the country’s youth will morph from simply digital beggars to digital sex workers remains.
