Have you heard of the new social media channel called Periscope?
Launched on March 26, 2015, Periscope is the newest social media buzzword that is getting a lot of attention from many high-profile social media experts. As of August 2, 2015, Periscope had surpassed 10 MILLION accounts! As Periscope stated on their blog, over 40 YEARS of video are watched each day on Periscope. Those are pretty impressive numbers!
From everything I’m seeing and hearing, Periscope is a game-changer, and here to stay!
So what exactly IS Periscope? According to the folks at Periscope, it’s an app that allows you to “discover the world through someone else’s eyes”.
From the Periscope website:
“Just over a year ago, we became fascinated by the idea of discovering the world through someone else’s eyes. What if you could see through the eyes of a protester in Ukraine? Or watch the sunrise from a hot air balloon in Cappadocia? It may sound crazy, but we wanted to build the closest thing to teleportation. While there are many ways to discover events and places, we realized there is no better way to experience a place right now than through live video. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but live video can take you someplace and show you around.”
Until recently, I hadn’t done much with video on my blog, mainly because, well, I’m not fond of going in front of the camera. I’ve been trying to change that up a bit since I downloaded Periscope on my phone over a month ago. It was during my recent trip to the Adirondacks that I broadcasted from 5 different locations that we visited. Those were the “early” days of Periscope for me, and in just over a month I’ve learned so much more about Periscope…like how to SAVE your broadcasts – which unfortunately I did not do while I was in the Adirondacks. Thanks to Katch.me I will no longer make that mistake!
So how have I been learning so much about this great new social media channel called Periscope? From the Periscope experts and influencers of course! With Periscope being so new, how you define who is a Periscope expert or influencer could be different for every Periscope user. In my short time on Periscope, I’ve discovered a few people who I happen to think fit the title of “Periscope Expert” or Periscope Influencer”.
If you are thinking of joining Periscope, or already have, here are 5 Periscope experts and influencers I recommend you follow:
5 Periscope Experts And Influencers You Should Be Following
Alex Pettitt: Alex is an award-wining UK broadcaster whose scopes are simply fabulous. It was actually one of my own followers, new Periscoper @DuellingDesigns, who alerted me to Alex a couple of weeks ago. Since then, I have watched every one of his scopes – and learned something from all of them. In fact, just today, I learned some breaking news from Alex – that Periscope had just gone live with personal URLs for your Periscope account on the web. Now viewers (ME) can watch scopes from the comfort of their laptop. I LOVE this upgrade!
Kim Garst of Boom! Social: Described at the “First Lady of Periscope”, Kim offers great tips on how to use Periscope to grow your business…no matter what that business may be. Kim’s scopes (as Periscope broadcasts are referred to) are timely, informational, and easy to follow along with. Give her a follow and watch her. She’s one smart lady!
Pat Flynn of Smart Passive Income Blog: I haven’t seen any of Pat’s scopes yet, but my guess is that they are great. I follow Pat on Twitter and subscribe to his emails…and I read them all. Every. Single. One. He’s a wealth of information for anyone who wants to earn an income from their blog.
Chris Hadfield: Everyone’s favourite astronaut! There likely isn’t a better match for Periscope than Commander Hadfield. I wonder if they have Periscope in space? lol Can you imagine the great Periscope’s Chris could do from up there? By the way, someone needs to tell Chris to update his profile – that’s a big social media faux pas. Then again, 83.5 THOUSAND people obviously don’t care that this beloved Canadian hasn’t uploaded his photo yet. But please! On behalf of your loyal periscope followers everywhere, upload your friendly face Chris!
Periscope: You can’t have a list of periscope experts and influencers without including Periscope itself on the list. If you are scoping at all, you should be following Periscope for all the latest Periscope updates and information.
But wait…don’t follow Periscope on Periscope.
What?
Nope. Their own page just leads you to other Periscoper’s pages. Instead, follow their blog or follow them on Twitter. This is where Periscope breaking news happens!
Late addition….I’m adding a #6…just because I can!
Canadian Blog House: Me! Of course I don’t have the sky-rocketing number of Periscope followers that the aforementioned Periscope experts and influencers have (did you pay attention to those numbers?! Wow!), but I would still love it if you would come follow me on Periscope. I will most definitely follow you back – because I want to know what YOU are up to!
I would love to be able to add another person to my list, but I could not find him on Periscope. His name is Neil Patel from QuickSprout. I LOVE his emails and I think he would be brilliant on Periscope. Neil, where are you? Why aren’t you on Periscope? Should I be sending out an SOS? Neil please start scoping!
One last thing…
Don’t Sink Your Social Media Ship By Going Overboard With Periscope
Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.
A word to the wise. Too much of a good thing can be…bad.
Trust me, Periscope can be a little addicting. Yes, Periscope is easy to use. Yes, it is fun. Yes Periscope, is a great way to interact with your followers, however, you don’t want to make your followers roll their eyeballs when they get yet another notification that you have gone live for the 50th time today. No, we don’t want to see you cleaning up your basement, digging in to another bag of chips, or brushing your teeth.
Plan your scopes wisely. Make them interesting. Use them to teach your followers something they would love to learn. Use them to show your followers something they would love to see for themselves. Take them “behind the scenes”. If you own a business, offer your followers something special (a coupon/discount/free gift) that only they can get because they are your follower on Periscope.
Before your scope, ask yourself, would I watch this scope on someone else’s broadcast? If the answer is no, don’t hit the broadcast button!
***Ironically, as I was writing this post today, I received a tweet telling me my blog had been featured on a print screen in a presentation at the Disney Social Media Moms Conference in Toronto. It was in the hashtag feed for this conference that I discovered one of the organizers was sharing the presentation on Periscope. THAT’s what I love Periscope for. It allowed me to join in LIVE with a conference that I wasn’t attending.
Are you on Periscope? If you are…leave your Periscope handle in the comments section and I’ll find you there!
Disclosure: Canadian Blog House was not compensated for this post. We just love Periscope and think you will too!
