Back in May I wrote about Periscope after the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight.
This last week, I completed 7 in 7 -- broadcasting Periscopes (scopes) for 7 days. I wanted to see for myself what was going on. Right now, just a few weeks in, it's really the wild west and everybody's just figuring it out.
With Periscope you can stream live videos from anywhere about anything and also watch live stream videos from anywhere in the world. Everyone viewing the broadcast can text live comments and you can read them at the speed they are sent. They can also heart your scope and heart you.
According to Mashable, Twitter said during an earnings call with investors that its live broadcast app -- which was acquired by Twitter in March -- is off to a strong start, with more than 1 million logging on to give it a try.
There's really cool stuff like CNN broadcasters, NBA players, Funny and Die pitch sessions, Oprah, YouTube stars, and much more. There also dogs playing in the backyard, parties on the beach, getting ready to go out and more. A lot like Twitter in the early days -- remember when everyone said, "I don't really care what you had for lunch!"
OK, so that's typical of a new platform...and then everyone gets bored. Or the trolls are so disgusting everyone leaves. Or there's really nothing going on -- no real business or cool use cases -- and it's just another social wannabe.
Hard to know yet, but Periscope just might become a real thing for business and consumers. Here's why I say that ... it's really compelling.
As one of my new Periscope friends, Jon Mitchell, says:
Periscope is one of the most exciting platforms to hit the social media world in quite some time. It provides a level of connection and engagement that we haven't experienced to this point. It allows the broadcaster to invite their audience into their world instantaneously and in real-time, to experience a personal behind the scenes perspective.
I asked my followers for input for this blog post about their views on how Periscope will be used. One airline VP said he will be scoping their employee meeting about a new product next week. A student from Elon University in North Carolina said that he's going to be using Periscope in a marketing intern position because "...It's a live streaming app that connects people more directly than other forms of social media."
I'll keep scoping and I plan to take Periscope into the university classroom at UCLA Anderson when I teach The Global Business of Media, Entertainment, & Sports. It should be interesting to see how that scopes out. I'll keep you posted.
Beverly Macy is the CEO of Gravity Summit LLC, a strategic advisory firm located in Beverly Hills. She also teaches at UCLA Anderson School of Management and is the author of The Power of Real-Time Social Media Marketing.