For female streamers in particular and the streaming community in general, their work is no different from being a “daughter-in-law to a hundred families”. It is nearly impossible to please everyone, and they often face insults, slander, and attacks on their dignity. Yet there is a young streamer who is always full of energy whenever she appears on screen. No one knows or suspects that behind that energy, Mèo 2k4 has gone through some “terrible” times in her streaming career.
Hello Mèo 2k4, could you introduce a bit about yourself?
Hello everyone, I am Mèo 2k4, my real name is Nguyễn Hoa. I was born in Bảo Lộc – Lâm Đồng, and I currently live and work in Ho Chi Minh City. My main job is as a game creator.
It is known that Mèo is currently a streamer, can you share a bit about your current job?
I have been in the streaming profession for nearly 2 years now. I really love my job and my life now revolves around my family and work. I have quite a few friends, but since starting this job, I feel like I have made more connections and communicate more, which helps me become more confident. Another special thing about this job is that more people care about me, even though among them are those who dislike me.
Some people say: “Just looking at her, you can already tell you dislike her”, so even if I do nothing, just not pleasing someone will also get me insulted. Moreover, as a streamer, many people see me daily, whether through the screen, on social media, or during livestreams, so viewers cannot fully understand what a streamer is really like.
What are your challenges in this job? How do you react to mean comments?
I don’t know how everyone else starts in this job, but personally, I have received a lot of insults. The reason I get insulted is simply because my voice has a mix from several regions. My father is from the North, my mother is from Central Vietnam, and I was born in Lâm Đồng. The distinct voice of a person from Đà Lạt – Lâm Đồng is a mix of North and South.
I have been insulted with very harsh words like: “Talking as if you’re mumbling…”, or “Trying to look cute, huh?”, and “Your voice is so whiny”. At first, when I read those comments, I was very sad and cried a lot. Sometimes I even thought “If my voice wasn’t like this, I wouldn’t get insulted, right?”
Then I gradually realized that they could insult me for countless reasons. A peak moment was when I started dating someone, my boyfriend is also a well-known streamer in the community. When we became a couple, we both went public about it. However, this made me face a lot of horrific insults, as my boyfriend’s female fans came to my personal Facebook to curse and slander me. The peak was when one of my boyfriend’s female fans “reported” my YouTube channel, causing it to be suspended. At that time, even my own fans turned their backs on me when they heard I had a boyfriend. People accused me of “using my boyfriend’s fame” to get noticed, while posting a picture of us on my personal Facebook made me think a lot. I even always avoided my boyfriend’s webcam whenever he livestreamed.
There were times when I felt stressed, thinking: If I chose another job, I wouldn’t have to endure such things. But then I remembered, there are still people who love and support me from the very first steps into this profession, and mentors who encouraged me not to give up, so I tried even harder. Although I haven’t achieved much success compared to other streamers, I have people who care for me, who bring little joys into my daily life. For example, when I don’t livestream or haven’t released new content like videos or highlight clips, fans message me to check in, saying they miss me, and that makes me very happy. I always see my fans as friends, an inseparable part of my life.
Reading negative comments, I mostly choose to stay silent, while during livestreams, I often “joke around” or respond playfully, which unexpectedly turned some viewers into my fans. I also have quite a few anti-fans who later became fans. I don’t choose to insult or argue back with them because that would only affect those who care about me.
According to Mèo 2k4, what factors are important to determine success in the streaming profession today? How do you assess the streaming community in Vietnam right now?
In my opinion, the key factor to a streamer’s success is based on the viewers, based on the fans. Next is the continuous effort to produce the best content and the most enjoyable livestreams. Because for me, streaming is also a form of entertainment; we should provide the viewers with as many emotions as possible.
Personally, I see the streaming community becoming increasingly “loose”. People are misdefining or oversimplifying this job. Many think that being a streamer is just sitting in front of a computer and playing games, and even many people buy computers and just turn on livestreams to play games and call themselves streamers. I hope the streaming community will grow stronger, and being a streamer will become a recognized profession that everyone knows. And finally, I will try even harder to contribute to the growing streaming industry.
What are your plans for the future, Mèo?
In the future, I want to push myself harder to bring viewers the highest quality content. I will also participate in performances and try my hand at other entertainment areas to further enrich my knowledge. Because I want everyone to know me – Mèo 2k4, who always strives and works hard with my own strength.
I wish you success, thank you for this sharing!