For some people, life would probably be better lived through the eyes of someone else. Well now you can do just that, all you have to do is look through a periscope… Sorry, I had to.
Apps Meerkat and Periscope are the new kids on the block, set out to see who’s got “the right stuff” when it comes to Live-video streaming. Both apps are still in the beginning stages to prove that live-streaming is the social medium of the future. Conceptually, this type of social media makes a lot of sense. Instead of watching prerecorded videos of your favorite YouTube sensations, or seeing “snaps” of your friends on Snapchat, wouldn’t it be better to experience life WITH each other? Along with having a great concept, Periscope and Meerkat are the innovators in this social media landscape so it’s up to them to get everyone interested in live-streaming, or at least attract the early adopters. Here’s how these platforms work.
You download the app (I prefer Periscope for UI reasons) to your smartphone and log-in using your Twitter account. From there, you’ll see a feed of live streams happening this instant. At the bottom of the app is a globe icon. By clicking the globe you can see who around the entire world is “periscoping” at this exact moment, and click on their icon to watch what they’re streaming, LIVE. A very cool feature to think about how far social media has come in this day and age. By clicking the group of people icon at the bottom of the app you’ll see Featured periscope accounts and suggestions on who to follow. Most suggestions come from who you already follow on Twitter that also has a Periscope account. It’s best to just add everyone so you have an initial feed of live streams to start with. At the top of this screen you can click the person icon to view your own profile which shows the obvious, Following, Followers, Blocked, Broadcast, Settings, list.
Now for broadcasting, you can click on the camera icon. Your phone then turns on your video camera and asks you what you are seeing right now. Typing in a caption will be the text that shows up when people come to see your live stream. You can also turn on/off location services and decide to post the stream on Twitter or not, along with a few other settings. By clicking the big red “start Broadcast” button you are now LIVE. Whatever your phone is recording is being fed to your Followers or anyone else that thinks your life is interesting enough to watch. And that’s where the trouble begins…
This is the biggest issue both Periscope and Meerkat have. Who cares? Seriously, who cares about my life? I don’t think i have many people in my local area, let alone around the world who are just dying to see what’s happening in Matthew Suchan’s life this very moment. However, there is some saving grace here. Matthew Suchan’s life may not be that interesting to most, but I bet Kim Kardashian’s life is pretty interesting, although her fame comes from nowhere (sorry, off topic). I believe people will definitely want to view her life in the first person. Even smaller, lesser known individuals who are still popular with large audiences can rank supreme with live-streaming (follow my good friend @RyanScottGraham).
But until enough “famous” people are using Periscope or Meerkat, these apps will struggle to succeed. Innovators create things, early-adopters test things, but it’s the early majority that make anything worthy of public acceptance. And it’s the “famous” ones who attract the early majority. So KanYe West, Donald Trump, Tim Cook, get over here!
So that is Periscope and Meerkat. Live-streaming your boring life and viewing everyone else’s boring lives as well. So get Periscope, find people in Uganda, and tell them “Hello! Greetings from America!” And let us all be one, worldwide, live-streaming family together. By the way, @MatthewSuchan