New Kid on the Block: Is Periscope the New “Hot App?”
Periscope gives users the opportunity to live stream their lives for the world to see.
My friend just introduced me to this new smartphone application called “Periscope,” and I must say, the first impressions I had were “slightly weirded out” and “slightly not-impressed.” Similar to the collaborative live streaming feature on Snapchat, Periscope allows anyone from anywhere in the world to live stream what they’re doing at any given moment. That means that we could watch someone in the midst of a protest, driving through a safari, or even flying through the sky onto their next adventure. Capturing live performances and once-in-a-lifetime experiences seems to be the purpose of this application, and this is definitely something that holds great potential in our never-ending journey to link the world together through social media.
But this also means that we will get to follow people around like cameramen filming another nonsensical reality show. Let’s face it, the majority of our lives are not filled with exciting bouts of adventure. I’m not sure that many people would enjoy following me to the grocery store, then to class, then to my bed for my afternoon nap, and then to the library for an evening of SUPER FUN studying. I know that I’m not going to want to watch people play fetch with their dogs all day. I’m not even sure if I want people tuning into my day endeavors, even if I happen to record myself climbing a mountain or strutting down the red carpet because I won some local radio station contest (although that would be super cool to flaunt to the world).
What I’m waiting for is when celebrities get ahold of this app, or for artists to start a viral feed that will spark a major following. Yes, I do feel like this app’s concept has potential, and no, I don’t know if this idea will sustain in the presence of Snapchat, but it will be interesting to see how far this will go once more people start downloading the application.
Maybe I just downloaded the next smartphone sensation, maybe I just downloaded another cool concept that will only go as far as Vine did. Which ever it may be, Periscope is on the market and live streaming all over the world as we speak, and I’m intrigued to see how far people will take this in terms of exposure and popularity.
