Dear Steemit Friends:

Whether or not we like it, the internet is embedded into our everyday lives. More than ever, our life has become more reliant on this persistent network of communication and without it, many of us would find it hard to live comfortably - I know I would.. In the midst of this, internet culture has spawned it's own unique way of communication, we've seen the prevalence of internet 'memes' dominate much of the internet and as the demographic of internet users reach a wider audience, particularly the younger generation, we've seen language itself evolve.

For better or for worse, the language has given the internet users a sense of character, and allowed many of us to express strong feelings in previously unheard of ways. There are of course phrases that have arisen that add a sense of humour. In China, these internet phrases have become a common place in everyday communication, and today, i'd like to introduce you to one of these new internet phrases.

Earn a living with face

Directly translated, this phrase says "to eat with your face". The picture surely depicts the literal sense of the phrase and how ridiculous it may seem to consume food through your face and not your mouth. In actual fact, the meaning has nothing to do with actually eating food with your face. Rather, it is a satire of how people use their looks to earn money.

The phrase actually comes from a longer phrase - Why should we rely on our talents if we can use our looks to earn money. This was first ushered by an actress on a TV who clearly believed her aesthetics earned her living. Many netizens then began using this phrase to praise themselves positively. The new meaning became, having both talents as well as good looks.

Earning dinner with face

This restaurant in Zhen Zhou, China, offers customers a free meal if the restaurant deems the customer good looking.

Attractiveness Grading

The customers will be asked to scan their face on a machine, and then after that, a "specialist" will grade the client's face according to their "professional" standards.

Face Scanning

Specialist grading

Can you really earn a living with your face in China?

In western countries, equal opportunity initiatives at work places have made hiring people based on aesthetics an undesirable practice. It results in out-roar from employees as well as workplace unions. However, in China, the answer is a definitive YES. In many client facing businesses including high end shops and hotels, an attractive face is elevated to the same importance as their qualifications. The companies regard a pretty face as a must have and often will require the employee to be good looking as well as talented. (In that order!)

In recent years, online celebrities have become an industry, growing parallel to the development of these social networks and e-commerce websites.

It is projected that the online celebrity industry will be worth as much as 58 Billion RMB in 2016. Far eclipsing the box office sales of 2015.

Online Celebrities have their own set of skills too. They no longer need to memorise lines from the script, or even be adept at singing or dancing. Their strongest asset is their looks. All they need to do is post their life photos, share videos, and live stream regularly and they will attract the public like the super stars before them. In China, entertainment industries will sign real celebrities, but the growing trend is signing and supporting new online celebrities. It's a very lucrative business and their commercial success will rest on maintaining the online celebrity in the spotlight and using their online influence to earn advertising fee's or sell their goods on e-commerce sites like the Chinese Ebay - Tao Bao. They can even make money through live streaming and receiving gifts from their fans which are exchangeable for money.

An example of a very successful online celebrity is Dayi Zhang. She earned 300 Million RMB (46 Million USD) in a year through the aforementioned internet celebrity activities. This is actually more than the top earning female celebrity in China.

Internet Celebrities already exceed 1 million people in China and for them, it is their main occupation. Some of my friends are full time live streamers and they have a higher income than many office workers.

Being good looking and aesthetically pleasing is absolutely essential for an internet celebrity, that's why plastic surgery is becoming very common for young girls who seek to improve their looks in a bid to compete for a share of this lucrative market. However, it's disappointing to see that a persons individual talents and qualifications are rarely indicative of their incomes. This is a systemic problem in an unfair society that largely favours superficiality.

My personal opinion is that I think talent, looks, EQ and IQ are all important. To get a better measure of people, these attributes should be multiplied and not added. Earning a living with face alone is not sustainable in the long term. After all, people will inevitably age, and no amount of plastic surgery can reverse that. Therefore, making sure we invest into our inner selves as well as our outer appearance should be the most important for success.

(Source:1,2,3,4,5)

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed my interesting blog about internet language. Feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you think!

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在这个各种网络满天飞的时代，网络语言成了我们生活中离不开的工具。有时候一些好玩的网络语言让我们的文字更有个性，可以更强烈的表达我们的情绪，也可以增加幽默感。在中国，也有很多流行的网络语言，已经渐渐深入了我们的生活。今天我就来和大家分享一个有趣的网络语言吧！ 靠脸吃饭看到这张图，你是不是已经笑出声了。没错，就是用脸蛋吃饭。靠脸吃饭是中国网络的流行语言，指的是靠长得好看来工作赚钱的一类人。画家用冷幽默的方式，把这句话直接翻译，用漫画的方式画出来。 这个词出自完整的一句话，明明可以靠脸吃饭，偏偏要靠才华。它最先是一位演员在节目中的台词，后来网友们纷纷用这句话夸奖自己，意思是自己不仅仅长得好看，有颜值，还非常有才华。 靠脸吃饭的餐厅:这是中国郑州的一家餐厅，号称长得漂亮的顾客，可以免单。 顾客们通过扫描容貌，再由美容整形专家根据专业评分标准，给顾客的面容打分。得分最高的前5位顾客吃饭可以免单。 在中国真的可以靠脸吃饭吗？在西方国家，公司聘用人的时候如果提颜值，公司可能会被告上法庭。但是很遗憾，对于中国，答案是“是”。这几年“网红”产业在中国随着互联网和电商蓬勃兴起。网红不需要像明星一样，会记台词，会表演或者会唱歌跳舞。只要长得好看的人，通过摆pose发美照，视频或者网络直播被大众关注而走红，形同明星般受到关注。中国的网红已经超过了100万人，网红已经成为一种职业。在我身边就有一些网红朋友，每天在家视频直播，却比一个上班族的工资还高。而颜值是网红入门的必备条件，大部分网红的内涵与报酬的不对等也是社会不公平的一方面。 但是我个人认为，才华、颜值和情商同等重要，去衡量一个人的，不是三者相加，而是三者相乘，缺一不可。靠脸吃饭不能吃一辈子，年老色衰是不可逆转的自然规律。所以让自己内在和外在一起变强大，才是成功所必备的。 谢谢你们的阅读，希望你们喜欢我的文章！如果有什么想法，记得留言和我分享哦！

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If you are interested in my other blogs related to "Chinese Culture" please check out these other blogs below^^

Unravelling the mysteries of Ancient Chinese Opera.
Taking Steemit to one of the 8th wonders of the world^ ^
Impressions of China--Taking Steemians back to the Tang Dynasty.
Capturing the Spirit of the Uyghurs through Ink Wash Painting.
A thousand years ago, I was an Empress!
Welcome to my world of Idioms #1.
Welcome to my world of Idioms #2 .
Welcome to my world of Idioms #3.

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