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periscope appPeriscope launched today, and with it – a plethora of opportunities and opportunists.

When a new medium launches, opportunities open up to small teams, solo-entrepreneurs, and big corporations alike. They are all on the same level.

I haven’t yet figured out if I’ll get into this whole live-streaming thing, but I’m still intrigued by it. There is something very interesting about it and I, along with many others, can tell it will go somewhere big.

I spent some time this morning watching a few streams and using the app. First reaction: interesting enough to make me come back.

I didn’t have that feeling with Meerkat. Mostly it was because there were very few streams to watch within the app. Meerkat lacks the world stream of Periscope, so I was forced to refresh Twitter hashtag #meerkat over and over to find something to watch…it just took too much time and the lack of preview made it a thumbs down from me.

With Periscope, I had a lot to choose from at the beginning. So I watched a few. Here are some quick thoughts on those few:

small periscope logo – Some guy having breakfast at Twitter HQ

I watched him get his breakfast at the cafeteria in Twitter, and do a pretty good job of talking to the people on the video. I was interested to see what the inside of Twitter looked like.

small periscope logo – Chris Sacca answering questions

Quick. Random. I really enjoyed it. Around 500 people watching. He was on a beach and just shared some of his thoughts. Then he opened it up to questions and just answered question after question. There was something about knowing that he was doing that in the same moment I was in. There is some kind of interesting connection there that is different from a video on YouTube or elsewhere.

Chris Sacca PeriscopeAs one user said, it was like a Reddit AMA on steroids.

Chris was asked: “How can a user monetize their broadcast?”

He mentioned two ways: 1. Get advertise to sponsor your stuff. 2. Have sponsored stuff appear in your feeds.

Sounds like there are tons of cool stuff that people are doing – chefs giving insights to their menu meetings in a top restaurant. French horn player showing what is going on in the pit in a symphony. David Blane showing some new tricks. Will i Am from the Black Eyed Peas showing some cool stuff as he is recording his new album. etc.

small periscope logo – A group of girls walking to lunch at Taco Bell

Just standing around talking, with 5-7 viewers at first. After a while, the viewers dropped out, leaving only me. They proceeded to go down the elevator then walk to Taco Bell (they were in New York). I lost connection before they go there, but for last 75% of the feed, I was their only viewer. Once I became their only viewer, they made several comments to me directly. Here is what I wrote down from what they said:

“Are you going to tell them what we are doing?”

“who are we talking to?”

“Were talking to Brady

“Brady, let us know if you want to know what we are doing. ”

“We are going to Taco Bell”

“Brady is committed to us now”

“Brady, we’re walking around in the rain for you”

It was super intriguing to hear them address me directly. I felt like I was going to lunch with a bunch of friends. Though, as their only viewer, I have a feeling they might look me up to figure out if I’m some creeper or not.

small periscope logo – Two co-workers testing it for their business

They were asking questions about the functionality of the app, and many of the viewers would answer via chat. It was pretty cool to watch them respond in real time, with their voice, to the questions and comments.

small periscope logo – Others

Lots of random people testing. Lots of views looking out the window of where the broadcaster was. Some random people dancing, or eating, or walking to work.

Final Thoughts

Spotty connections were a bit frustrating. I find myself wishing I could connect to them again, but no luck. Concern for Periscope and Meerkat and any live stream platform in general is of course, explicit content. I’m excited to see where this goes, and am thinking about ways that I can provide value on these mediums.

Enjoyed reading this? Lets connect.

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