Follow-up on Periscope and Meerkat live broadcasting
Posted By RichC on April 4, 2015
I watched several broadcasts from the new iOS app introduced this past week called Periscope. It enables iPhone/iPad users to broadcast live video to other “
socially networked” viewers (Twitter) just as with the early competitor app MeerKat. Periscope differs slightly as it saves an archive for 24 hours or until deleted (not possible with MeerKat) … and maintains the comments within the app rather then into the Twitter stream. Perhaps an advantage might eventually be to control “who sees” the feed as users can limit their broadcast to select individuals. A few I talked to about these two apps have asked, “what good is this and why do I need it?” Most likely it’s the same question people asked when setting up a social networking account like Facebook, Google+ and Twitter … but to answer directly, it isn’t needed as far as I can tell at the moment, but it is very intriguing. Times they are a changin’ …
I think watching the astonishment from the talk radio/TV personality Glenn Beck after what he invested in his Texas studio had me realizing what was happening. He spent millions to set up his Internet broadcast setup and The BlazeTV (and conservative news network) only to see how this really shortcuts distributing live content. The “Average Joe” is now able to share live breaking stories with a video feed “as events happen.” Imagine things we’ve yet to see?
Besides Periscope being a media disruptor (like Twitter and Facebook), these new live video apps will also be a way for speakers and musicians to show off their talent. I participated in a couple live sessions (MeerKat vs Periscope, Auto Show reveals and musical performances) noting just how much can be shared to a small or large group in real time. It is going to be hard to slow things down from here … and I can only imagine the kind of mischief celebrities, politicians … and under-aged kids are going to get into (lawsuits galore?) Yikes!
I was going to include an archived Periscope feed from @ezpcmusic but realized the time had passed and that there isn’t a way to embed the video … anyway, visualize a live one-man musical concert taking request sounding like Patrick Carroll’s YouTube channel.
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