Watching the sunrise over Twin Peaks in San Francisco or enjoying the sunset from Piazzale Michelangelo in Florence has never been easier. Today, popular livestreaming video apps Meerkat and Periscope allow us to be part of another city, country, or even continent—without actually physically being there. With both apps giving users the ability to connect with events around the world, the question of “which app is better?” is unavoidable. So, which app is better? We’ve outlined the pros and cons of both below.
#TEAMMEERKAT PROS
- Meerkat supports livestreaming directly from your GoPro.
- Meerkat allows you to sign up for an account without a Twitter account (and generally integrating to other platform services, which is extremely useful).
- The Cameo feature allows users to broadcast with each other, letting users invite their viewers to take over their streams for 60 seconds at a time.
- Meerkat Library allows you to save your broadcasts to your personal library, with the option of keeping them private or viewable to others.
#TEAMMEERKAT CONS
- No official way to save streams for archival/future viewing purposes
- Twitter prevents users from being able to see which of their followers are Meerkat users
#TEAMPERISCOPE PROS
- Larger database of user videos to watch from/with.
- Unlike Meerkat, Periscope allows you to view streams up to 24 hours after expired.
- According to this article, Periscope has a better responsive functionality.
- Periscope ists everyone you’re following on Twitter under its People tab, alongside a Most Loved list of the users who have been sent the most hearts during their livestreams.
#TEAMPERISCOPE CONS
- Periscope does not allow you to share your streams on Facebook (generally not as integrated with other platforms).
- Comments on interface screen may clutter up the stream more, compared to Meerkats simple, less cluttered interface.
With a huge market growth in video livestreaming, each app certainly has its own advantages for the average social media user. Have you tried either of the apps? Let us know your experience in the comments below!
