A Starter’s Guide To Using Periscope

This article originally appeared on 60 Second Social.

Periscope is the live streaming app from Twitter which has seen great success since it first launch a few months ago in the wake of Meerkat. Live streaming is soaring in popularity with users tuning in to watch live streams of people cooking, people out for a walk, or even just people talking to an audience. 

Up to recently, live streaming has required a laptop or desktop computer. However there is now a surge in mobile live streaming as these new apps arrive on the scene. The concept is simple: Broadcast a live video stream about anything you want and from wherever you want. Followers are notified and then tune in to see what you are up to.

Periscope has hosted broadcasts from dog walks to car rides and even businesses working on building up their brands and looking for new followers. It is a straightforward app to get a grip of and even if you are too shy to stream yourself, it is great fun to tune in to other streams and see what people are up to.

You can either login using Twitter credentials or you can create a freestanding Periscope account. Make sure that you enable your camera, microphone and location when you login.

Privacy: You have the option to make your broadcasts public (anyone can watch) or private (only specific users and followers can watch). You also have basic tools to help with moderation such as reporting inappropriate broadcasts and blocking users.

Title: Give your broadcast a title, the title is what will draw in viewers or push them away to another stream. Keep it short and make it interesting. Remember, this is a live streaming app – users are clamouring for attention. If you have linked Periscope and Twitter together then the title of the broadcast will be automatically tweeted when you go live.

Comments: Users comment on your broadcast in real-time. Other viewers on the app can read the stream of comments as they flow in and it is a nice way of interacting with the audience you are broadcasting to.

Hearts: Viewers can tap the screen as much as they like to give you hearts if they are enjoying your stream. Each tap is a heart so tapping like a mad man will have hearts flowing up the screen. Hearts help users rank higher in the “most loved” section, plus it is just great fun.

Stop Broadcast: To stop broadcasting you simply swipe down from the top of the screen to reveal the stop button. You can save the broadcast to your camera roll or share the link so that people can watch a replay of the stream if you share it on social media for a period of within 24 hours of the initial broadcast.

Periscope allows you to be a fly on the wall and is an app which is proving to be tremendous fun. There are some annoying little things about the app, for instance the camera. You cannot set the direction of the camera before you start broadcasting, you need to start the broadcast and then double tap the screen to flip the camera. It is a minor thing however still a bit irritating.

A recent update of the app has also added a much needed feature of being able to mute notifications for certain users. Up to this point notifications have been a bit overkill, especially if you have someone who streams a lot. Now you can mute certain users so you don’t get a notification when they are live and their updates will still appear on your feed.

The app also now takes advantage of Apple’s handoff feature which allows you to transition between computer to iPhone or iPad. The new mute notification feature is iOS only at the moment however Periscope promises that the option will soon follow for Android.

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About The Author

Mark is the founder of 60 Second Social media where he provides social media news and digital marketing analysis. He has an Advanced Diploma in Psychology and a Diploma in Digital Marketing And Social Media. You can follow him on Twitter here. You can also follow 60 Second Social on Twitter here. Or you can drop Mark an email at, daltomark@me.com