Already, various publishers – ranging from news outlets to pro sports teams – have embraced Facebook live streaming. This change could go a long way towards helping Facebook persuade more TV networks to deliver their video content on the platform.
Periscope broadcasts 200 million streams in its first year
This weekend, Periscope celebrated its one-year anniversary by revisiting some of its favourite broadcasts that have been on the service. And what a year it’s been. Periscope has gone from being a little-known startup, to rising to prominence within Twitter’s ranks. In addition to reaching 200 million broadcasts, it was also revealed that 110 years’ worth of live video is watched per day, which represents a 91 percent increase from last August. Periscope’s launch in March 2015 came just as its main competitor at the time, Meerkat, (who?) started to gain traction at SxSW. Fast forward to a year later: Meerkat has pivoted, and the live video market is starting to get busy with the introduction of Facebook Live and, soon, YouTube Connect. Stay strong, Periscope.
YouTube Connect livestreaming app to take on Periscope
It’s all heating up in the world of livestreaming, hey? Google has quietly been building a new livestreaming app called YouTube Connect in an effort to take on Twitter’s Periscope and Facebook Live. YouTube Connect has much of the same functionality that you’d expect; there are chat and tagging features, and a news feed that features the latest clips from your friends or those that you’ve subscribed to on YouTube. No doubt YouTube connect comes around after talk of the platform losing a bit of its luster against growing competitors. It’s hardly ground-breaking stuff, but always good to have a healthy bit of competition.
You can put yourself into all sorts of unusual comic strip situations, along with the avatars of any friends who also use the service. Whilst it is currently not known what Snapchat may have planned for Bitstrips, I believe it can only end in world domination, one selfie at a time.
Tumblr is finally bringing comments back
Tumblr users are rejoicing as it has been announced they are restoring one of their most-missed features, reinstating replies to posts. The company scrapped the reply feature in November and users were not happy, but in a bid to heal the wounds, Tumblr have not only brought back the feature, but upgraded it. Now, the feature is more conversational than ever, with authors able to reply to their own post, unlike the previous version which was essentially a straightforward comments section. The upgraded feature now allows the author to be more involved, whether it be fending-off negative comments or joining in on the ‘bants’.
Lord & Taylor settles with FTC for deceptive advertising
No doubt you’re familiar with influencers; the ridiculously good-looking and cool kids who get paid to be themselves. However, their job isn’t as simple as uploading a #selfie every now and again. There are rules and regulations around it, as retailer Lord & Taylor found out the hard way.