Thoughts on Periscope ...The most important social app since Facebook

[rkmalo1]

I'm sure many of you may have heard of this new app called Periscope. IMO it's the most intriguing and most important app to hit the market since Facebook. Below are my thoughts on it and how some of you may be able to use it.

Summary of what Periscope is

For those of you who don't know about it, Periscope is live streaming video via your phone. There is no delay in the stream and it's crystal clear. Currently these streams disappear after 24 hours. You can broadcast anything from any location in the world. You can also just be a viewer. Periscope has two options for viewers to find your stream, a "list view" and a "map view". List view organizes the streams by title and map view is by location. Periscope broadcasters are streaming to anyone has the app. Periscope followers of the broadcaster will be alerted on their phones when the broadcaster starts a new live stream. Broadcasters have the option to turn off their location for privacy reasons, of course.

How someone with an established platform can use it

When you stream video on the app, you title your stream. I'll use @MJ DeMarco as an example, so let's say he wanted to do a Q&A session about becoming a millionaire and the book. Viewers ask questions/comments via a scrolling text which MJ will see on his phone (the market for phone tripods should be rising soon - although some people just walk around or set it up on their desk. MJ could title it "Millionaire Fastlane author AMA" or something catchy to grab peoples attention who are scrolling through the list view of broadcasts. Twitter bought the app in early March, so for someone like MJ, who has a decent # twitter followers, he will immediately have a decent number of viewers. His followers will be alerted that he is broadcasting on Periscope via twitter and then they will be given the option to follow him on Periscope as well (the ones that have the app downloaded). If they happen to see the tweet on Twitter, they can also view on it on their computer. Whenever he does a stream, those followers will be alerted and additional viewers (non-followers) will be able to find his broadcast in the app. I've noticed streams with the word "millionaire" in it get viewers rather quickly. For someone like MJ, who can keep coming back with new streams to promote his book and this forum (because the questions never end for him), I think Periscope is great for marketing.

Obviously any sports team, concert event, etc has been huge on the app because it gives viewers a backstage pass to the team or event.

Tons of B-list/C-list and upcoming comedians have been using it to promote themselves, it's huge for them. They seem to mostly be streaming their everyday life, some are really funny. Tom Green's career is literally back on the rise solely because of this app. Just like there are people who are considered Vine and Youtube stars, periscope is also creating these new semi-famous people. Heck some of those vine/Youtube stars make some serious money so why not if you have that type of personality?!

Oprah streams videos of herself cooking from time to time. I want her kitchen!

I watch a lot of the Q&A sessions with venture capitalists and other investors, which are always insightful.

Normal Small businesses

Currently I'm having a difficult time figuring out how to use the app for a business like mine. I can't really can't come back to the app with new streams like MJ can to answer questions, it'd be way too boring plus I don't have a business presence on Twitter. @Vick might be able to promote his glasses by showing a stream of him stepping on them and his glasses not breaking but he can't really do that every other day, can he?! idk I have some more thinking to do about this...

News

Periscope will (and has) changed the landscape of how we get our news. and how these major news events are shown. Using the map view, viewers can narrow it down to exact location of the news event. There will most likely be lots of streams there and viewers of the map will notice it right away. For example, let's say something horrific happens in Miami, periscope broadcasters (normal everyday people) in Miami can give viewers real-time unedited footage of Miami. Personally, I'd much rather watch that footage over CNN. I can actually see CNN partnering with Periscope and paying people for their footage in the future. I'm excited to see what happens here with the news.

Vacations/Amazing Experiences

Most periscope broadcasters have been streaming video various experiences. It's amazing to see real-time live footage of the Eiffel Tower or Rome or an Ibiza foam party from my home in Chicago. Maybe we can convince @biophase to periscope some of his next African Safari? haha

Potential Opportunity?

I can also see this app (or an app like it) being huge for schools (K-12)...I'm not sure how, because I'm sure there are privacy concerns, but with an app like this, no parent would ever have to miss seeing their childs play or a school sporting event again. The school can set a live video feed of the school event via the app, the parent logs into the app and watches the event from work or hotel room (if they are traveling on business) or where-ever. There's def a business opportunity here..

Thought I'd share my thoughts on this app with the forum. I kind of feel like I work for Periscope with all of the praise I just gave it. I'm sure Facebook/Instagram will come out with a similar type app, I'm very curious on how will be different and what it will look like.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Awesome write up, totally can see how this can be the next big thing. Been already hearing a lot about it.

 

[The-J]

I clicked the headline expecting this to be full of shit. I've never heard of Periscope before now.

Now, though... I'm convinced. This could be big for a LOT of reasons.

Not just news, but breaking stories as they occur. Live feeds from war zones, showing the horrors of what's going on in other parts of the world. Riots, as they go on.

Celebrities like Kim Kardashian can use the app to give people a live feed into their lives.

POV porn as it happens! Oh, joy!

And so much more...

I fear that governments will put a backdoor in it to spy on anyone with the app... but let's leave politics out of this.

 

[rkmalo1]

POV porn as it happens! Oh, joy!

haha! They have actually been doing a pretty good job of banning people who are doing drugs or showing nudity during the stream. I saw this one live feed of an upcoming comedian flash the camera, she got banned but she was able to convince them to let her back on the app.

They did get into some trouble (pretty sure they were sued) with the Mayweather/Paquico fight. There were people who set up their phone on a tripod facing their TV that the had the fight on and the entire PPV fight was streamed on Periscope.

 

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[The-J]

haha! They have actually been doing a pretty good job of banning people who are doing drugs or showing nudity during the stream.

Boooooooooo

 

[wade1mil]

I just downloaded this app today. My buddy has been mentioning it non-stop. Is there a way to password protect streams? That might solve the privacy issue with the children at school. You could also use it for a video baby monitor, babysitting while working out or at work, etc.

 

[theag]

I dont see value in it personally.

They didnt invent livestreaming, they just put it in the hands of the masses. But 99% of the time the masses dont have anything important to livestream and everything important is already livestreamed through other platforms/technology. Or captured on video.

I'm sure it will be big though, mainly because there are a lot of people out there who would rather live through someone elses livestream than their own life.

Now we get livestreams of other peoples food instead of filtered pictures. Humanity evolves one more step forward. Not.

 

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[theag]

Change "buy selfie stick" for "use periscope" in this cartoon and its still true:

 

[biophase]

Maybe we can convince @biophase to periscope some of his next African Safari? haha

Would love to do this except there is no internet out there. The only time I think I can do this is at the Four Seasons Hotel at the pool by the elephants. I think that hotel may have decent broadband. It's all satellite internet over there.

 

[biophase]

I dont see value in it personally.

It's just another step towards instant. Instead of recording a video and uploading, people get to see it real time. Based on the reaction to the Mayweather fight, people seemed to love being in the living rooms with others. If I'm at home watching the NBA playoffs in Arizona by myself, a live stream to my friend's place in Chicago where 20 of my friends are also watching the game would make me almost feel like I'm there watching with them.

 

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[rkmalo1]

I dont see value in it personally.

I get what you mean, some people on it have been broadcasting non-sense but I'd assume that eventually most people won't be producers, they will just consume and like Twitter, you have the option to follow who want. Twitter and FB started out this way (with people tweeting and posting things like what they had for breakfast and then people started to "get it" and use it to find news/valuable content. Obviously some people still use social media for complete non-sense. For comedians, authors, entertainers, etc I think this app is extremely valuable. It's a much more "intimate" experience with their fans than posting to FB, twitter, youtube, instagram.

In addition to what Bio said (value of being with Family/Friends via video - I can actually see FB/Instagram doing well with this if they come out with a similar app), I'd add the real value will come when some type of major event happens and anyone can use the app to see real-time unedited video footage.

But 99% of the time the masses dont have anything important to livestream and everything important is already livestreamed through other platforms/technology.

I don't think it is to be honest - not in a "real" way. There is almost always some bias.

Now we get livestreams of other peoples food instead of filtered pictures. Humanity evolves one more step forward. Not.

This might be a bad example because it's not something that is "important" but below is a screenshot I just took of a party in Nakuru, Kenya. I'd never experience something like this if wasn't for this app. Unlike Bio and some of my friends are, I'm not that adventurous and would never visit a small town in Kenya, but this app and others like it make it possible to appreciate other cultures in a way unlike anything we have every seen before. I think this is huge for humanity and will bring cultures together.

 

[theag]

This might be a bad example because it's not something that is "important" but below is a screenshot I just took of a party in Nakuru, Kenya. I'd never experience something like this if wasn't for this app. Unlike Bio and some of my friends are, I'm not that adventurous and would never visit a small town in Kenya, but this app and others like it make it possible to appreciate other cultures in a way unlike anything we have every seen before. I think this is huge for humanity and will bring cultures together.

I see your point and I agree with it. I'm just not sure if theres a difference between a livestream and a captured video for stuff like this. For me personally there isnt and I prefer videos, but I'm a bad example since I'm 25 and dont really use any other social apps than occasionally facebook. So I'm kind of a late adopter / laggard .

Any way to discover great stuff is good, and if periscope does that, great. I'm just not as hypey as others about it, but everybody has his opinion

 

[ClaytonAlbright]

It's just another step towards instant. Instead of recording a video and uploading, people get to see it real time. Based on the reaction to the Mayweather fight, people seemed to love being in the living rooms with others. If I'm at home watching the NBA playoffs in Arizona by myself, a live stream to my friend's place in Chicago where 20 of my friends are also watching the game would make me almost feel like I'm there watching with them.

This has been around far longer that periscope. I think the reason "it's being talked about" is because twitter bought it. I've watched livestreams on FB years ago. There's many apps you can livestream yourself on a smartphone. That said I haven't tried periscope and other apps have had issues, so maybe they've solved them. I'm with theagg on this one. Don't think it'll take off much more than it has, but it certainly has it's uses.

 

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[tafy]

Hmm I see it as a value add to Twitter or Facebook, it could stand alone like instagram but i dunno. Video is going to be huge but live streaming?

So I think its a fad

 

[AllenCrawley]

http://www.shopify.com/blog/33559876-how-to-use-periscope-to-grow-your-ecommerce-business

 

[silverbax]

As a streaming broadcaster, Periscope (and its competitor, Meerkat) simultaneously worries me, interests me and makes me shake my head. For sporting events, Periscope will quickly run afoul of licensing issues. So, for example, I worked on a deal with a major sports broadcaster which starts with the letter 'E' and ends with 'N'. They paid $45,000 for the rights to broadcast a specific event. Then, on top of that, they had $100k invested to actually broadcast the event, which took place over several days. If people walk in and can just stream that game from their phone...nope. Going to be a serious problem. Lawsuits will ensue in a hurry.

There's also the data costs - which are MASSIVE to stream HD data. If you stream a HD NBA game to 20,000 people (assuming your phone doesn't die), Periscope's data transfer rate is going to be about $5,000 or higher. Not the individual user- Periscope's. Consider that 20,000 is miniscule to what will actually happen if it hits a real user base of size. We're talking millions of dollars in streaming fees every single day. This is exactly the problem YouTube ran into - you have to monetize the video, and you can't monetize video that you don't own the rights to. Streaming an NBA game illegally and then putting ads on it will land Periscope and the company that owns it in bankruptcy.

For me personally, I worry about smaller venues where we've paid an exclusivity contract but the event organizers don't have the manpower to stop fans from streaming. We already have issues with people showing up with cameras, filming the game, then posting in on YouTube. It's effectively stealing from us AND the event organizers. Someone will pay a ticket price, say they are there to film their son playing in a game and then upload full games two days later. The event organizer needs the money from us (the broadcaster) to subsidize the event. Think of it this way - if 200 fans can walk into an NBA arena, stream the game for free from their phone and no one pays for cable, the NBA goes under and there is no NBA. The NBA cannot exist on ticket prices alone. It's sort of like old-school bootleg films where people would secretly film from a theater expect today they could do it live. They could stream Broadway plays live, concerts, anything. Periscope and Meerkat will need to have a way to disallow streaming from certain venues/locations, which is not an easy problem to solve. Coding a video streamer into a phone is child's play. Not allowing someone to do it when they are seated at a small college football stadium or a community theater is not so easy.

The marketing aspect of periscope intrigues me. I can see how people could use it to live stream video on the fly, do special conference, all kinds of stuff. This is great for marketers, but hard for Periscope to monetize without doing what UStream does, which is just run ads right in the middle of the stream.

 

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[tafy]

We already have issues with people showing up with cameras, filming the game, then posting in on YouTube. It's effectively stealing from us

I don't see it as stealing, its great that people think your so great that they want to record/stream whatever. I think nowadays there are no secrets anymore, consider this shit free marketing and think of ways to capitalise on it.

 

[silverbax]

I don't see it as stealing, its great that people think your so great that they want to record/stream whatever. I think nowadays there are no secrets anymore, consider this shit free marketing and think of ways to capitalise on it.

It's stealing. The event organizer pays for the venue, mostly with money from broadcast rights. We pay the broadcast rights so we can broadcast it exclusively and sell ads on it. If we don't have enough of an audience, we lose money. That's the risk. So if people come in, pay nothing, and steal our audience, we no longer do the event and the organizer goes under.

 

[tafy]

Old business models die, new ones are born. This sounds like a dinosaur to me. Mass media is dying off pretty fast so any business model like the above is not going to be around for long (IMO).

Still think its not stealing tho

 

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[SEBASTlAN]

It's stealing. The event organizer pays for the venue, mostly with money from broadcast rights. We pay the broadcast rights so we can broadcast it exclusively and sell ads on it. If we don't have enough of an audience, we lose money. That's the risk. So if people come in, pay nothing, and steal our audience, we no longer do the event and the organizer goes under.

Who's going to watch it through someone elses perspective via periscope on their smartphone when they can watch in high quality on TV?

 

[LateStarter]

Periscope and Meerkat will be around for a while...as will other flavours that pop up along the way. Video is the next progression of social. But as with all new social business models, monetizing it will be a challenge. Once it's cracked though it will be here to stay.

Yes, there is much discussion (and lawsuits currently underway) about digital content rights for mainstream content. These broadcast rights aren't cheap and companies are trying hard to enforce their exclusivity. While Periscope itself has yet to be sued for this, many of the people who have posted the content are being fired from jobs and having litigation thrown at them. This is no different than people posting copies of mainstream broadcast content on YouTube. With policing and litigation, this kind of activity can and will diminish and the underlying technology will persist.

The rights issues fundamentally end up being a violation of your agreement as a ticket holder to an event. Depending on the event, as an attendee you're not allowed to take photographs, audio recordings or video recordings of the 'performances'. By and large historical violations of this agreement haven't been enforced since the potential damages would be small compared to the cost of litigation, so it's not financially viable to try and pursue action against violators. However, Periscope violators may end up reversing that trend due to the scale of the potential damages in 'simulcasting' live events (like the Mayweather fight). Violators can be held liable to the rights holder, promoter, talent, venue, etc for damages sustained as a result of their 'fraudulent' activities.

My opinion is that Periscope does need to figure out how they could create 'private' channels where users could authenticate to watch certain feeds. This could help monetize the platform through main stream media outlets much like a TV Everywhere like application from your cable co. Unlike You Tube, it's much harder to monetize live streams with advertising. The dynamic nature of the audiences and lack of 'real time' audience metrics will not allow agencies to buy available ad slots for fair market prices. You can't base ad revenue for a slot off of prior week's audiences because there was no audience...it's 'live'. So that needs to be figured out, and a subscription model for premium content may help to unlock that. Either way, don't poo-poo these platforms just yet. Though they've been around a while, they're still in their relative infancy but they will help shape social engagement and media consumption in the future.

 

[MediocrityNoMore]

I've got a bit of a love/hate relationship going on with Periscope at the moment, I can see the value in it from a Marketing perspective (take a look at what Grant Cordone is doing with it, he's everywhere!), and at some point in the future i'm sure I will consider it for that purpose, I have already suggested it to a couple of my clients, one is a Wedding Band, there is definitely a benefit for them using it - live broadcasting from one of their gigs so the wider audience can get a feel for the atmosphere they generate, and how good they sound.

I hate the procrastination aspect of it, there are some fun stuff on their and by our nature we are nosey sods, so you can easily lose an hour flicking through and seeing what others are doing in there lives, I've seen a few feeds that could have potentially ended up being live porn, another initial thought I had was a vision of someone being murdered live on air, I'm sure that will probably happen at some point, plenty of crazies about willing to do stupid shit like that, I can see so many options for expanding on the service though its unreal.

For me personally I'm going to hold off using it so much until I can utilise it into my marketing strategy, who knows, it might never happen, I'm not a fan of jumping in front of a camera, I don't like looking at myself that much, but you never know, look out for a cross-dressing silver back Gorilla lmao. **EDIT** (actually I've just read that back to myself, don't get the wrong idea, cross-dressing is not my thing!, and i'm not really a Gorilla )

 

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[mvn_604]

twitter brought periscope for 100m