Up Periscope!
By Jeff Moffitt
@moffittjc (118433)
Gainesville, Florida
December 14, 2015 7:17pm CST
Have any of you heard of, or used, the Periscope app from Twitter? Basically, it's a video app that is live-broadcasting to the rest of the world as you record on your smartphone! Other Periscope users from all over the world can connect in to your live feed and watch what you are filming in live time--from anywhere in the world! I use it quite frequently at work, and I've slowly started using it more in my personal life. In fact, yesterday as my son and I were hiking through some nature trails in a forest near my home, I was broadcasting on Periscope! I just use the camera on my smartphone to capture what I am doing for the moment, and it's just like filming a video, only it's live! I even had someone in Israel connect in and watch my feed as I was hiking through the woods, so they were seeing everything at exactly the same time as I was! The app let's you know who is connecting in to your feed, and how many people are connected in to your broadcast, and you can even chat with them while you are broadcasting (through an on-screen messenger). It's definitely fun to use, and I plan on live-broadcasting more of my adventures in the future!
Have any of you tried the Periscope app?
6 people like this
6 responses
@VivaLaDani13 (60314)
• Perth, Australia
21 Mar 17
@moffittjc Cool! I’ve not heard of that before. Although I’m not on Twitter anymore. I got quite bored of it. But Periscope sounds interesting!
2 people like this
@moffittjc (118433)
• Gainesville, Florida
22 Mar 17
I was excited about it when it first came out, but now I don't hardly ever use it anymore. Every now and then I will, but for the most part, I just stick to Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter now. Don't really use Twitter or FB as much as I used to, but I still use them on occasion.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118433)
• Gainesville, Florida
23 Mar 17
@VivaLaDani13 You should have PM'd that to me! Now everyone in the world will know how to find you on snapchat! lol
2 people like this
@VivaLaDani13 (60314)
• Perth, Australia
22 Mar 17
@moffittjc oh speaking of Snapchat. I had to stop using the other one cause it locked me out. New one is: jumpspin4 if you wana add me again. Up to you.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (118433)
• Gainesville, Florida
15 Dec 15
hahaha that's very funny! Don't you know, everything's legal now!
But seriously, I use it almost like a news reporter, because you can flip back and forth between the cell phone's front camera and back camera, so I'll do a panorama shot of the setting, and then I'll flip the camera to record my face, and then I'll give a commentary as to what the audience is seeing. For example, along my hike yesterday, I came across a couple who were searching for shark's teeth in the creek. Just from seeing them, the audience wouldn't have known what they were doing, but with my commentary added in, I was able to explain it. It's a pretty fun app to use, if you're not camera shy!
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
15 Dec 15
@moffittjc They must have known the area reasonably well to search for shark teeth because they were obviously aware that the area was underwater at some time.
@moffittjc (118433)
• Gainesville, Florida
15 Dec 15
@Asylum All of Florida was under the ocean about 10,000 years ago. You can go out and dig in any of our creeks and find hundreds of shark's teeth. I used to do it all the time with my kids when they were little. They loved finding so many teeth!
1 person likes this
@patgalca (18179)
• Orangeville, Ontario
15 Dec 15
I love periscope, but it still needs some work as it drops connection A LOT! And you can only comment if there are a small number of people on. I have never done a broadcast, but have considered do a chat with fellow fibromites that way. I follow celebrities and book publishers and really enjoy them. Howie Mandel uses it a lot. I've also had a book/reading website periscope while they were at a convention of sorts. They shared every author as they spoke. And Penguin Books has been walking around their offices talking with staff about their book recommendations.
I really love it when people read your messages on the screen and respond to you live. I've had that happen a couple of times. Made me feel special. LOL!
What's your Twitter handle so I can follow you and see your periscopes?
@moffittjc (118433)
• Gainesville, Florida
15 Dec 15
Ahh, it's nice to meet a fellow Periscoper! Yes, nothing makes you feel more special when someone reads your comment out loud during the live broadcast! That is the best feeling! My handle is Gator_13.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118433)
• Gainesville, Florida
4 Feb 16
It is fun! The only problem I have with the app is that you have to have a great wi-fi connection or a strong signal in order for it to work. I was at a medieval faire this past weekend, and I wanted to Periscope while I was there, but it wouldn't let me broadcast because I didn't have a strong enough signal. Other than that weakness in the app, I think it's great!
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325696)
• Rockingham, Australia
15 Dec 15
That's pretty cool but it wouldn't suit me. It's a bit like taking the whole world along the trip, which is fine, but not really what I want to do.
@moffittjc (118433)
• Gainesville, Florida
15 Dec 15
I've got to admit, it's taken me a long time to embrace the app, although I downloaded it onto my smartphone within the first week it came out. I'm more comfortable using it at work to broadcast my events and programs, but I have been slow to embrace it with my personal life. However, I'm slowly getting more comfortable, so I expect I'll continue to use it more and more often.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118433)
• Gainesville, Florida
15 Dec 15
Do you use Twitter? It's an app developed by Twitter, so it's starting to become more and more popular. I guess it was Twitter's way of keeping up with photo/vidoe apps like Snapchat, Instagram and Vine.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118433)
• Gainesville, Florida
15 Dec 15
@fishtiger58 Twitter is probably the social media site I use most often, although I have been spending more and more time on Snapchat and Periscope. I've had a Vine account since it first came out, but I'm not that creative at making videos, so I mostly just watch everyone else's video creations on that site. I have noticed that many social media sites are gravitating more towards video nowadays.
1 person likes this
