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Periscope by the Numbers

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Re: Periscope by the Numbers

#11
post #5

Periscope had a great start, support very early on from investors, influencers and was bought by Twitter before going live, that helped explode the app from day 0. Something that did hurt Meerkat a lot was being cut off from the Twitter API something that became pretty normal on several apps that started getting traction. Periscope acquisition by Twitter seems to have slowed them down on launching new features, but I…

"Google starts doing the same using youtube" is that confirmed or you feel inevitable?

google already has live streaming. They do it here and there, like music festivals, etc.

Re: Periscope by the Numbers

#12

Twitter ripped off Meerkat. That's all I will ever see to this story. I don't care how succesfully they may be or become. Disclaimer: I don't work for Meerkat. It's just the way it is. Twitter deserves every bad bit of luck they are getting lately.

If you do something new and it's popular and shows potential to be a big business, other people will compete with you; that's how markets work. Some of those people will try to innovate and out-pace you, and others will simply copy you. Some will be scrappy startups, and others will have deeper pockets than you; that's inevitable.

When Facebook launches streaming video, should we be angry at them since they have way more money/users than Twitter, and because Twitter did it first?

If Meerkat has built something defensible, then they'll be fine. If not, nobody should expect them to just be deemed the only company that can do streaming video. During Twitter's history, many people tried to pop up and knock them down to take the lead - but Twitter was tenacious and had an awesome product, and they won.

It's a long game and Meerkat can still win it. If one early competitor is enough to crush them, then they probably weren't going to make it anyway.

Re: Periscope by the Numbers

#13

Twitter ripped off Meerkat. That's all I will ever see to this story. I don't care how succesfully they may be or become. Disclaimer: I don't work for Meerkat. It's just the way it is. Twitter deserves every bad bit of luck they are getting lately.

> Twitter ripped off Meerkat.

Seems to me that Twitter built a truly massive social media platform with hundreds of millions of users interacting with short real-time updates in a semi-public manner. An accomplishment nearly no other company has ever done.

Meerkat had the remarkably obvious and unoriginal idea of having this hyper successful platform also host some live streaming video. In implementing this obvious extension to the Twitter platform they ignored the effect of their intrusive updates on the UX for everyone else in violation of the terms of service.

Twitter decided that the experience of posting media on Twitter is their department and acted accordingly. In the process Meerkat's founders and investors were deprived of the opportunity to become billionaires in exchange for a few months of development and a trip to Austin. My heart breaks at this injustice.

Re: Periscope by the Numbers

#14
post #12

Twitter ripped off Meerkat. That's all I will ever see to this story. I don't care how succesfully they may be or become. Disclaimer: I don't work for Meerkat. It's just the way it is. Twitter deserves every bad bit of luck they are getting lately.

If you do something new and it's popular and shows potential to be a big business, other people will compete with you; that's how markets work. Some of those people will try to innovate and out-pace you, and others will simply copy you. Some will be scrappy startups, and others will have deeper pockets than you; that's inevitable. When Facebook launches streaming video, should we be angry at them since they have way…

Honest question, then what's the point of innovating, if Google, Facebook, or Twitter can simply copy your idea with an unlimited reach?

Re: Periscope by the Numbers

#15
post #5

Periscope had a great start, support very early on from investors, influencers and was bought by Twitter before going live, that helped explode the app from day 0. Something that did hurt Meerkat a lot was being cut off from the Twitter API something that became pretty normal on several apps that started getting traction. Periscope acquisition by Twitter seems to have slowed them down on launching new features, but I…

"Google starts doing the same using youtube" is that confirmed or you feel inevitable?

I think is the natural choice. Their social network "Google+" failed, they are now implementing live streaming for games (after laughing about Twitch[1]) and already offer live hangouts. I'm sure the next step is to use Youtube ala Periscope/Meerkat, maybe with a standalone app. If they want to keep their influencers and Youtube pros they should offer this functionality to them but Facebook is ahead now.

[1]https://twitter.com/justinkan/status/580524413604478976

Re: Periscope by the Numbers

#16
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you do something new and it's popular and shows potential to be a big business, other people will compete with you; that's how markets work. Some of those people will try to innovate and out-pace you, and others will simply copy you. Some will be scrappy startups, and others will have deeper pockets than you; that's inevitable. When Facebook launches streaming video, should we be angry at them since they have way…

Honest question, then what's the point of innovating, if Google, Facebook, or Twitter can simply copy your idea with an unlimited reach?

Well, back when I was first starting to understand computing (Pentium II days), the phrase we always kicked around was "Do something great that Microsoft is terrible at, then wait for them to buy you out." That kinda-sorta applies in this scenario.

Re: Periscope by the Numbers

#17
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you do something new and it's popular and shows potential to be a big business, other people will compete with you; that's how markets work. Some of those people will try to innovate and out-pace you, and others will simply copy you. Some will be scrappy startups, and others will have deeper pockets than you; that's inevitable. When Facebook launches streaming video, should we be angry at them since they have way…

Honest question, then what's the point of innovating, if Google, Facebook, or Twitter can simply copy your idea with an unlimited reach?

If you do it right, and get lucky (timing, network effects, factors beyond your control), you might be in a position to stand alone against them or be acquired by them.

Re: Periscope by the Numbers

#18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honest question, then what's the point of innovating, if Google, Facebook, or Twitter can simply copy your idea with an unlimited reach?

Well, back when I was first starting to understand computing (Pentium II days), the phrase we always kicked around was "Do something great that Microsoft is terrible at, then wait for them to buy you out." That kinda-sorta applies in this scenario.

Except in this case they aren't buying meerkat out they rolled out their own version. So I don't think that ethos applies to his question.

Re: Periscope by the Numbers

#19
post #13

Twitter ripped off Meerkat. That's all I will ever see to this story. I don't care how succesfully they may be or become. Disclaimer: I don't work for Meerkat. It's just the way it is. Twitter deserves every bad bit of luck they are getting lately.

> Twitter ripped off Meerkat. Seems to me that Twitter built a truly massive social media platform with hundreds of millions of users interacting with short real-time updates in a semi-public manner. An accomplishment nearly no other company has ever done. Meerkat had the remarkably obvious and unoriginal idea of having this hyper successful platform also host some live streaming video. In implementing this obvious e…

Meerkat had the remarkably obvious and unoriginal idea

The timing of the meerkat -> Periscope launches indicates that your analysis of how "obvious" and "unoriginal" it was is probably wrong. It's not like this was a big thing before meerkat came out, not that they were the first, but meerkat essentially made the market.

Re: Periscope by the Numbers

#20

Yes, Periscope is getting huge. I feel this platform is very cool and can fulfill many niches along with Meerkat. For example, I could learn/communicate from/with an expert on a subject or just hangout with someone famous (Kevin Hart). I even watched an entire wedding (from planning to the event to the after party) thanks to Amanda Oleander (I think she's the top Periscoper right now). Personally, it can also broaden…

> I feel this platform is very cool and can fulfill many niches along with Meerkat The success of Periscope and Meerkat are mutually exclusive. While Periscope has topped the Social Networking category in the App Store, Meerkat has been gradually losing ranking since Periscope's inflection point at the end of May, according to App Annie: http://i.imgur.com/b51Wpm2.png No, "YOU CAN GUEST IN ANOTHER LIVESTREAM ZOMG XD"…

"YOU CAN GUEST IN ANOTHER LIVESTREAM ZOMG XD"

Yeah, I don't understand the mentality of "but we have xyz feature"! Its rather tacky and I'm not sure if it ever worked. There's a reason why Meerkat has fallen out of favor and its not because of a single feature. Periscope has what "304 million monthly active users" potential users because of Twitter alone. That's hughmongous! Also, the name Meerkat is not fun. Reminds me of a Ferret for some reason.

Facebook has already released live streaming for celebs. Once that catches on, Periscope will be reserved to just another feature that Twitter uses.

No one's going to win. Its just an enhancement of a service that's long due. I do think, however, that the Meerkat boys will be fine. They can just have FB write them a check and be acquired (which I believe was the intent anyway).

Twitter on the other hand, if used wisely, may help their business model since more and more people will be active on their platform because someone's on there acting interesting. (Expect to see 1,000,000 #WSHH tags on Periscope soon.)

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