Twitter’s Periscope, was launched a few months ago and has garnered some much deserved attention. Some of it good, and inevitably, some of it bad. The application allows users to broadcast whatever they want using either an iPhone or Android.
Users make these streams public or private and receive messages and appreciation in the form of hearts dabbled across their stream. Here’s how you can become an established “Periscoper” yourself.
How to use Twitter’s live-streaming app Periscope
Download Periscope for iOS or Android for free in the App Store or Google Play. I will be using the iOS version of the application for this guide.
Once you open the application there will be a 4-page guide that you can view or skip.
Next, tap “Get Started” and you can sign up with your Twitter account or use your Phone number. With your information correctly gathered, tap Create Account to begin using the application.
When your account is created, you will be taken to the Global homepage of Periscope. You will be prompted to allow or disallow notifications. Similar to Twitter, you will be notified when someone you follow has uploaded a new stream or when people message or like a public stream you have posted.
Take note of the four icons located at the bottom of your screen.
- By default you will be in the Global section (globe icon) that displays streams from all over the world.
- The TV icon to the left of the globe features live steams and recent broadcast of people and companies you follow.
- The Camera icon to the right of the globe is where you will broadcast your stream. You must enable your Camera, Microphone, and Location before you can stream.
- Lastly, there is the People icon, on the far right. Here is where you can find and search for people to follow.
Now that we know the basic ins-and-outs of the Periscope app, let’s take a look at how you can create your first broadcast.
How to use Twitter’s live-streaming app Periscope
Tapping on the Camera icon allow you to begin streaming. First, you need to name your stream so that viewers will be able to find and identify it. After that, you can choose to share your stream with everyone or a select few with a private broadcast. You can also announce your live-stream via Twitter by tapping on the Twitter icon.
Streaming Your Live Broadcast
After selecting your viewers, you tap Start Broadcast to begin broadcasting. The rear camera will be used by default, but can be switched to the front-facing camera by double-tapping on the screen.
During your broadcast you will be able to see viewers that have joined your broadcast (if public) and you’ll see messages and hearts if your showing viewers something legit. To end a broadcast slide down on the screen and tap Stop Broadcast.
When you have finished the broadcast, it will automatically upload so that you and other viewers can replay it. You can cancel and upload by tapping the progress bar before. You will also see the stats from your Periscope session. The total number of viewers, the aggregate time watched, as well as the retention rate. These are insights extremely helpful for marketing companies and brands that are trying out the new application.
If you do not want people to replay your broadcast, you can scroll down to the bottom and tap Delete Replay.
Exploring Periscope
Like any good social application, we don’t really have to do anything ourselves to use the app. Voyeurism at its best. We can enjoy and follow other people’s public Periscope accounts. As you would with Instagram or Twitter, you can use the search option find cool feeds to follow or search for friends or well-known accounts. Once you have found a few interesting accounts you can view their recent Periscopes by tapping on the TV icon.
If someone you are following is streaming live, you can select their stream from the list, comment and tap the screen to send hearts. You can always view all public live streams from the globe icon.
So there you have it. Those are the most important aspects of Periscope and I hope you enjoy using the application. Periscope really has a lot of potential for regular folks and major brands to really get creative and show their followers what’s going on in their end of the world. Whether you want to stream a World of Warcraft gaming session or your trip to the Bahamas, Periscope is the ideal application for showing off everything you do as it happens.
Let me know what you guys think of Periscope in the comments section.
