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Streaming vs 9-5 job debatealso known as Streaming is harder than a 9-5 job or Streaming vs Real Jobrefers to a viral debate centered around prominent streamers who claim their work routines are “harder” than a 9-5 job. The discussion started on TikTok in September 2022 but gained a lot of attention in November 2024, after FaZe clan streamer Plaqueboymax claimed that streaming is harder than normal 9-5 jobs. As the debate became popular on the internet, netizens fueled social media with jokes mocking streamers’ “harder” lives as content creators. The debate also inspired streamers Kai Centa and Duke Dennis for posting a sponsored video while working a shift at McDonald’s.

Origin

On September 5, 2022, TikTok creator @jd.lion responded to a follower’s comment saying that “creating content is harder than your 9 to 5,” delving into the difficulties of trying to create content for the internet. The video (see below) garnered more than 136,000 likes and 34,000 comments in two years.

The debate gained a lot of attention in 2024 after some streamers claimed that their work is harder than a 9-5 job. PlaqueBoyMax was one of the creators who commented on the topic and quickly sparked a viral debate on social media, after he mentioned in a live stream on November 4, 2024, that being a streamer is “harder than a 9-5 job and nobody really understands what a top streamer goes through mentally.” X-user @FearedBuck posted a clip from PlaqueBoyMax’s live stream (see below), which received over 10 million views and 43,000 likes in a week.

Spread

In the following weeks of November 2024, the streaming vs. 9-5 jobs debate attracted other content creators and netizens to share their thoughts or simply joke about the topic on social media, especially on X, YouTube and TikTok. For example, on November 13, 2024, streamers Kai Cenat and Duke Dennis posted a sponsored video featuring McDonald’s in the midst of the viral 9-5 debate, which garnered more than 1 million views and 52,000 likes in one day.