So you may be familiar with the new live streaming app called Periscope. I have been broadcasting LIVE from my jewelry studio as well as on the road since last November. I just celebrated my 50th broadcast a couple of weeks ago with this epic broadcast.
"What's this Periscope thing all about?" you ask. You are not alone in asking. I get a lot of questions about Periscope from my students about how, where, why, and when to watch. So I thought I would post my Top Tips for Periscope Viewers to help clarify and make your experience as seamless as possible.
Kate's Top Tips for Periscope Viewers.
1. Why should I watch?
Periscope's tag line is "Explore the world through someone else's eyes." And that is just it. The app allows you to search out different broadcasters all over the globe that film what they are seeing in real time. It's a cool way to connect with others that have similar interests and create community. My goal is to share my jewelry world with you through demos, product chats and information on current trends. I usually broadcast LIVE every Friday morning around 10 AM PST. Sometimes I broadcast when I am on the road to bring you along to bead and DIY craft-related shows, classes and events. It's the next best thing to having you come with me in person.
2. How do I watch?
It's pretty simple. You can watch right on your mobile device or tablet, iOS or Android. Download and install the app, follow me, and listen for the whistle to alert you when I broadcast. The video will be available for 24 hours.
3. But I wanna watch you on my computer.
No prob. You have a couple of options. You can go to this page to view on your desktop. That's my Periscope landing page and my broadcasts will be there for 24 hours. It's not as interactive as your mobile device, but a good solution for those of you who prefer desktop.
4. What about watching you later? I don't want to get in trouble with the boss.
Right! I don't want to be the culprit to get you reprimanded at work for joining me on Friday mornings. All of my broadcasts are automatically archived on my Katch channel as soon as they end. You can find all broadcasts there. I also archive the best ones on my YouTube channel.
5. What's with the hearts, comments, and shares? How the heck do I do that?
The cool thing about Periscope being live is that I can interact with you in real time while I broadcast. You guys can interact with me in a bunch of ways:
Hearts. Hearts show that you like what you are seeing, you agree, you like the demo or camera angle, think I am hilarious or whenever you just want to say "good job" without actually typing "good job." The more hearts I get, the better my ratings are, so hearts are great. Your heart matches the color on your chat box so they are assigned to the individual and I can see who is sending them.
Comments. There is a comment box at the bottom of your screen, Type any questions or comments you have. Sometimes they flood in so fast I trouble keeping up and when I demo I don't watch the screen, so if I miss your question ask it again at the end of the broadcast as I wrap up. Feel free to email me with questions or topics you'd like to see on future broadcasts.
Sharing. You can give a shout out to friends on Twitter and Facebook to view the broadcast, too. During the LIVE broadcast, tap the little person silhouette on the bottom right corner. A share box will pop up and you can share as you wish. During a replay on Periscope, you can swipe right and the share box will appear. Sharing is awesome and helps get the word out.
6. What's with the followers with the "naughty" profiles? And the weirdos that sometimes pop on?
As you know with any live broadcast, anything can happen and once in a while "trolls" pop into the broadcast and try and be funny by saying totally random or offensive things. Meh. It happens. Don't engage and they leave pretty quickly.
Fortunately it's easy to block them. If there is a troll commenter, I block the offender by tapping their comment. They are removed and blocked from future broadcasts. Also I have found that periodically I need to review my followers and block the ones with suggestive profiles. It's not something that happens all the time, but I am really on top of keeping my feed and broadcasts a "troll-free" zone. You can also block trolls from your screen by tapping their comment and blocking. It will just block it for your view, though.
Hope that helps! Follow me on my social media Insta, FB and Twitter as well as my newsletter to keep in touch and see when and where I am broadcasting next. Thanks for watching!
