Periscope App Catches Live Broadcast, Has Many Practical Uses

Technology changes at the speed of light, at least that is how it seems. Apps come out every year that change the landscape dramatically. Periscope and other video streaming apps have done this in 2015. The question is how can it be of help to businesses, startups and entrepreneurs that produce their own content.

• What is it?
Periscope is a video broadcasting app that can be used with an Android or iPhone mobile device. The app allows users to live stream a video that is seen by followers. It is owned by Twitter, so the app is available to Twitter users.

Periscope is similar to other apps such as Meerkat, Vine and Lynxus (an Arkansas-based company).

A good recap of the difference with Periscope was written by Julie O’Donnell: “In addition to the instant connection to Twitter, Periscope lets users limit who can see their broadcasts and offers people the opportunity to show their appreciation to the ‘streamer’ by sending heart icons (similar to Facebook’s “Like” button). Video streams also can be saved to replay later. In contrast Meerkat streams are public-only and live-only.”

• How does it work?
Periscope, as O’Donnell said, connects to Twitter. Actually, Periscope is owned by Twitter, so, the process of opening an account and broadcasting is all intertwined with the social media platform. Thankfully, if you are going to follow people, Periscope finds Twitter followers who are also on Periscope and lets the user know they are available. It helps to make connections with people you already know.

Periscope “likes” are hearts. I must admit I smiled the first time I received hearts, even though it was a rather mundane testing of the app. I kept the broadcast going long enough that one of my Twitter friends @deltamoxie was watching and soon others were too. I received hearts, but I wasn’t quite sure who was sending them. It was almost as if I had a secret admirer.

Smart phones such as these Android and iPhones are incredibly powerful with the ability to record, take pictures and shoot videos. The app takes advantage of this with the live broadcasting. You can already make videos, but the app lets you broadcast it live for others to see.

You can watch a Periscope broadcast either on your phone or on the desktop. Once you see that a broadcast has started, simply click the link and you will be taken to the live broadcast. Broadcasters can make comments available so they can interact with others.

Your broadcast is announced on Twitter with a link, like this.

• Why should we use Periscope?
For the average person, Periscope might not hold a large appeal, but then again, people are interested in our day-to-day tasks sometimes. For a brand or company, Periscope can hold some great benefits. A brand can use Periscope to help build buzz for a new campaign, product or service. Another use of Periscope for a business is to show some “behind the curtain” type broadcasts.

Tanya Dua from Digiday wrote an article on five different ways brands are using Periscope. Among the ways she mentions are sneak peeks into exclusive events, celebrity takeovers and Q&A’s. I think that we will see different ways as people use the app more.

I have seen journalists, especially sports journalists, use Periscope, and it makes sense to me.

• Getting started
Just like anything else, to get started, you will have to try it out, read how-to’s and ask others for help. I reached out to @deltamoxie because she has used it way more than me, and she did a great job of answering my questions and then pointing me to some good info. She recommended me use Katch.me to help keep broadcasts more permanent since Periscope only keeps them for 24 hours. Kelly Jo (@deltamoxie) and Jeanetta Darley conducted a presentation on Periscope at this year’s AWBU Women’s Blogger conference.

• A few tips
Experiment. Don’t be afraid to run a test broadcast or two, or three, or more, before you broadcast for a bigger audience. It gives you a chance to figure out the things you want to do such as adding comments, creating a better title and using the comments feature.

Involve others. Honestly, it is probably best if you can involve someone else in your broadcast. One of my first test broadcasts was an interview of a barista at the coffee shop in Conway. Whatever form your broadcast takes, involve others so you aren’t trying to carry it yourself.

Plan to use at an event. Once you are comfortable, you plan on using it at an event. One thing you might want to do is make sure the event organizers are okay with you doing so. It might be a trade conference, maybe a press conference or some other event. I noticed some were using Periscope at the Arkansas State Fair this year.

A couple of great articles to help you get started are the Huffington Post and Hubspot. The two articles do a great job of providing how-to’s to help get started.

• What’s next?
On Friday (Oct. 16), I will be at LR TechFest and will broadcast via Periscope. I am hoping to Scope at least a couple of times. Follow me on Twitter @tejones to catch the broadcasts. I am also @tejones on Periscope, so follow me there and turn on notifications so you will know when I go live.