Facebook recently added live streaming to the social network, which has become a huge boon for the site. Viral videos from Buzzfeed’s watermelon to the lady with the Chewbacca mask have been shared millions of times and brought more users onto Facebook to watch them. Live video is becoming a cornerstone to the site, but Facebook isn’t the only place doing live streaming video. Twitter’s been pushing Periscope for quite a while now, but broadcasting live hasn’t taken off until Facebook live streams have become viral posts.
Twitter is now trying to get the same attention as Facebook by using Periscope. The Periscope app is a separate download, but users traditionally sign in with a Twitter account or phone number. Twitter’s integrated Periscope into the platform with live videos showing within the apps, and being able to search for streams with the #Periscope. The users may watch a live stream on their feed, but they’re not taking to time to live stream to Periscope themselves. Either because they don’t know how or because they don’t think about live streaming at the moment.
Twitter now is testing a “live” button on the compose Tweet area. The “live” button directs users to download Periscope and stream to their followers. The button will raise awareness for Periscope, and will hopefully get users to live stream their lives more often. I would like to see Twitter roll the Periscope app into the core Twitter app – making it easier to stream, watch live streams, and comment during live streams.
Tell us in the comments below what you think about Periscope having a live stream button in the Twitter compose window!
