Twitter has inadvertently made Meerkat even more interesting, by acquiring Periscope, a video startup working on a similar product that’s still in private beta. They quietly sealed the deal last month, for somewhere around 100 million dollars or a “fraction” of that number depending on who you talk to, Business Insider reported this week.
Either way, it’s an interesting addition to Vine and its consumer video feature launched in January. Periscope will bring live-streams to the social network, though it’s still in private beta and has no official launch date.
Here’s the rub: Meerkat, an app that streams live video to your timeline, has been making its way around the Twitter world in the past month and it’s gaining in popularity. Brian Stelter’s been using Meerkat on CNN to share behind the scenes footage of his show “Reliable Sources.” Among other things:
I now “get” @AppMeerkat‘s potential. Phone says “@lizeswein is live.” I open app. Suddenly I’m at a Maroon 5 concert. pic.twitter.com/Q0SzLGrqFl
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) March 7, 2015
so remember how when we first got mobile phones we’d call anyone and talk about anything @brianstelter? #meerkatpic.twitter.com/oKbbRCZEjf — rbdc (@rbrowndc) March 7, 2015
Live-streaming, and not in 6-second loops, to Twitter is a gamechanger for journalists and news orgs. In TV land, there are so many possibilities. You could watch something like the Grammy’s while Kim Kardashian streamed it (because she would totally be all over that, judging by her Instagram). You’ll be watching feeds of people watching #TGIT soon enough, like a tweaked out Twitch gamer.
Twitter can’t really block Meerkat now to make room for its version, either. Periscope better be as cool, easy to use, and work on its name-as-verb situation. Everyones already meerkatting.
If you’re not live Meerkatting your reaction to the Apple Watch event, I’m not even interested.
— Michael Roston (@michaelroston) March 9, 2015