Periscope – the live video streaming app owned by Twitter – is getting a Google Android launch a couple of months after it was released in the Apple app store.
Is it a social network too far though?
What is Periscope?
If you’ve never heard of or used Periscope, it’s a social network that lets users stream live video content to their followers via their smartphone camera.
In turn, followers can comment and have live discussions while the broadcast is taking place, and videos are saved and can be viewed again once they have been screened.
Up Periscope?
Back at the start of this year, Twitter quietly acquired Periscope while it was still in development for a fee believed to be somewhere in the region of between $50million and $100million.
Although this sounds like a massive outlay for a start-up that was still very much in its development phase, Twitter will feel somewhat vindicated by the fact there were over a million downloads of the Apple version of the App during its first week of release.
And with this relative success story already in the bag, Periscope is being thrown open to Android users – but do we really need another social network, and could it be yet another cynical way for companies to capture data and grab content completely free of charge?
The problem with Periscope
The question of whether we need another social network in our lives is wholly subjective and a pretty moot point – one man’s MySpace is another man’s Facebook – and Periscope does have a very definite USP.
One problem with the app though is it can munch through data quicker than Pac-Man on a Pac-Pill – a 10-minute stream on 4G can easily make its way through 250MB of data.
So if you’re on a low-data plan you could quickly find yourself out of pocket.
And then there’s the question of who the content belongs to – Periscope is keen to point out how it can turn any smartphone user into a global reporter, so does this mean footage from the front-line of a war-zone can be syndicated to global news agencies with the author not even receiving as much as a credit for their work?
Then there’s the question of censorship and how can developers be sure wholly inappropriate content isn’t being streamed live?
And what about sensitive information? The app could easily be used to screen live conference calls or business meetings which, in turn, could compromise sensitive data.
Social networks are continually pushing the boundaries of what is socially acceptable – privacy has never been at a higher premium.
