Periscope and the Citizen Journalist
When future historians look into their time tablets, gazing back to the 21st century in a desperate act of escapism from their damp, Kevin Costner’s Waterworld existence, they will see an age of voyeurism.
Technological advancements coupled with the rise of social media have fostered a time where we are more connected than ever before. The internet has become a window through which we view the lives of others in a weird dance of hyperbole, humblebrags, envious trolling and outright lies.
It’s a rabbit hole that we tumble deeper into every day. First you could tap out a status update and a couple of tweets. Now you can supplement that with photography on Instagram and a video snippet (snappet?) on Snapchat. Spotify and Apple Music even have social elements so we can see exactly what you were listening to while you were hunting for the best angle for your bi-daily selfie. The escalation from simple text update to multimedia running commentary has been rapid.
The next step is live video. It’s likely that you first became aware of Twitter’s live-stream app Periscope in March, about the time they were battering their competition, Meerkat, into a fine, pink mist. The app allows you to record and stream video live and direct to your followers. Followers who subscribe to your updates are notified when you start a broadcast, while those who miss out have 24 hours from the end of the stream to view your recorded content. After that it’s gone for good.
Ignoring some of the broader activities that Periscope will find itself used for – boring life updates, social shaming, pranks – it could be an interesting tool from the perspective of the citizen journalist. Smartphones and other devices made high-quality video accessible to the masses years ago, but with Periscope the delay from shoot to broadcast is completely removed. No edit, no upload bar, just raw, live footage direct to your audience.
Basically, the chances of an unsolicited live video of your bum-crack ending up broadcast to a load of strangers on Twitter just went right up.
It’s yet another tool in the growing pool of resources open to the citizen reporter. Periscope has already been used to break the news before traditional channels get a look-in, and with more people turning to social media for their news the implementation of live video seems a logical step. For the opportunist with a big following on Twitter and a knack for being in the right place at the right time, Periscope could provide a platform to make a real impact.
