Periscope v. Meerkat

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Periscope v. Meerkat

Postby radiofan » Sat Mar 28, 2015 8:09 pm

Periscope v. Meerkat: Our Initial Re/action

By Kurt Wagner @KurtWagner8
March 27, 2015, 5:32 AM PDT


Are you a Periscope or a Meerkat?

A month ago, that question didn’t make any sense, but boy what a difference a month can make.

On Thursday, Twitter launched Periscope, its standalone livestreaming app, to rival the incumbent industry leader, four-week-old Meerkat, a similar app that took off at the recent South By Southwest Interactive conference in Austin, Texas.

In many ways, the two apps operate the same. Users can stream live video and audio from their smartphones and share a link to the broadcast on Twitter. People can follow along to watch the stream, comment on what’s happening and pass the link along to others in order to build an audience.

The differences, though, subtle as they might be, are what will likely set the two apps apart as users choose one camp over the other. We’ve spent a few days comparing the two, and there are things you should know about each.

Independence from Twitter
Meerkat has put itself in an interesting position. It relies on Twitter — the company it’s now competing with — a lot.

That’s because Meerkat users must sign up with a Twitter account, and every time you “Like” a stream or comment on something you’re watching, those actions are reflected on your Twitter account, too. As Meerkat explains it: “Everything that happens on Meerkat happens on Twitter.” In other words, publicly.

On Periscope, those actions are contained within the app. “Liking” is also different. You can Like a periscope broadcast as much as you want, and each Like (generated by tapping the screen) sends a small heart floating up from the screen’s lower right-hand corner. The idea is that broadcasters can see exactly when their audience really engages.

I found these hearts odd at first, but after broadcasting myself, I have to admit it was helpful. Give the people what they want! My colleague, Re/code Senior Editor Jason Del Rey, agreed on that point in our internal news feed this week. “I like Periscope’s floating hearts,” he wrote. “Laugh away. And you can quote me.”

Oh we did, Jason. We did.

Read the full story at: http://recode.net/2015/03/27/periscope- ... -reaction/
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