Upclose CEO talks about the current situation of live video.
It’s amazing to see how during last weeks the digital environment has been shaked up because of some Apps based on livestreaming – Meerkat, Upclose, Periscope-.
Creating live content for your social networks is now a worldwide trend, it’s cool and funny but, what is the real value which live broadcasting has for the user? I think in 2 different situations:
- When you are in exceptional situations or you have big communities of followers, like journalists, musicians, actors, hosts, athletes
- When the “watcher” interacts with the “broadcaster”, making him a participant in the chat and bringing him closer what the watcher is living at that moment.
Meerkat and Periscope are in the first sphere, both of them are tools for pure livestreaming. It’s a live videocamera, with some comments, but without any interaction. That’s why if we analize the videos in which users are broadcasting with these Apps, the most part of them are testing the app, there are broadcasts with very banal content and trivial for the user. TechCrunch site explains it so good in this article.
In the other hand, Upclose’s experience is based on the interaction, in the chat between people, where the live video is an elemental component to improve the interaction. Because of that, Upclose has won over a very different target, youngest people (Youtubers and Viners), people keen for being connected with their communities in social networks, and a more professional target like journalists (Juan Ramón Lucas, Alberto Granados, 40 principales), musicians (Fyahbwoy, Pescao), politicians (Ramón Espinar)…
More than a different vision, there are obvious differences of product between Meerkat & Periscope and Upclose.
Meerkat & Periscope VS Upclose
– first two Apps are only available for iPhone. Upclose is in all platforms (Android, Web and iOS).
– It’s possible to watch in Web but not interact. With Upclose you can interact in the Web version.
– Meerkat & Periscope are not real time 100% (they have a delay of several seconds in their videos). In Upclose there is no delay.
I understand the expectation created in the market, but we have to wait to all the media “noise” goes over and analyze the real value for the user related to broadcasting live. You choose if you want to broadcast the inside of your fridge, like it’s happening in Periscope #fridgeview; or being chatting with Lang Lang or Betaworks C.E.O
