My Initial Thoughts on Periscope

0000000 periscopeI have been watching Tim Ferriss for a few months on Periscope and did my first broadcast a week or so ago. Today I did a few broadcasts and watched a ton more.

My first thoughts are that this reminds me of AOL in its infancy stage. People were amazed at AOL’s ability to chat online with real people in real-time. Today, it sounds pretty dull but at the time it was a breakthrough. Much of it had to do with the ease of use since the capability, technologically, was around long before but mostly only used by tech geeks (I say that with the utmost respect). Today’s Periscope feels like a similar breakthrough to me.

So here is what I did today by watching people’s live scopes (that’s slang for Persicope broadcasts).

1. Went on the Splash Mountain ride in Disneyland
2. Saw Jackson Square in New Orleans
3. Looked up at the Freedom Tower in NYC
4. Walked through the streets of Italy
5. Spent some time backstage at the World Poker Tour
6. Talked to some college kids at St. Lawrence college
7. Attended a rock concert in France
7. And much more

The above is just through a few short hours on Periscope. Obviously the newness of the app is what makes it so excited to start and I am sure the hype will die down eventually. But for now, I find it one of the most compelling things I have seen in awhile. If you have yet to download it or try it out, I would highly suggest it. In a few short hours I think I have a pretty good handle on how it works. One warning I would have is that users can be crude or cruel. If they are the ones broadcasting, you can obviously just leave the broadcast. If they are watching you broadcasting, then blocking is what you should do. Just hold on their personal icon next to their comment and a few options will come up. Choose “Block User.” The only other thing to beware of is battery and data usage. This app uses them both very quickly.

Hopefully this post will help you understand a bit more about Periscope. Until next post, enjoy a worldwide trip using this exciting new app.