So What Does Periscope Have To Offer?

The internet has created a new set of philosophical and ethical questions.The selfie: self-expression or narcissism? If you Instagram your brunch, are you being ‘basic’? (Yes, it’s created a new language.) And if an event isn’t live-tweeted, did it really happen? Now, Periscope’s (free!) app is adding to our ‘social’ lives by inviting its users to live-stream films of exactly what they’re doing (sans filter) to followers. The app scored a million users in its first 10 days. Twitter must also have high hopes for it, seeing as they purchased it in February – before it had even launched – for a sum rumoured to be just under $100 million.

How does Periscope work?

Viewers can show their approval (or otherwise) by leaving hearts or comments – or just by leaving the stream altogether (the ultimate diss). A ticker in the bottom right-hand corner indicates how many people are watching at once while you’re hitting ‘record’. Monitoring the rising numbers of eyes watching you eat your cornflakes live from your kitchen as you give them some sugar (literally) is suitably addictive.

Videos – either live broadcasts or those recently uploaded (they disintegrate after 24 hours) – are listed under the ‘global’ section. People you’ve followed are in your ‘following’ list according to live time. There are no hashtags to search, but users’ names can be found in
a similar way to Instagram (just drop the @).

**Who’s on Periscope?
**

Early adopters include Sky News anchor Kay Burley – who Periscoped from the spin room during the election debates – Lily Allen, who’s used the app to live-stream a morning yoga session, and Katy Perry, who does her red-carpet interviews via Periscope (her biog on the site naturally says ‘Perry-scoping’).

Aspiring ’Scopers should look to Amanda Oleander, a 25-year-old LA-based artist. In April, she held the accolade of the ‘most loved’ person on Periscope (with 7.5 million hearts awarded in just one month). There’s more than something of the Zoella about her: she’s a pretty, put-together brunette, whose broadcasts about life in LA are fun and approachable. She’s already using the app to promote her own work: one recent post was entitled ‘finishing up a painting’. It’s brand-building, Gen-Y style.

**Who should you be ‘peri-stalking’? **

As personality becomes currency, it’s no longer the start-up founders who are the stars – it’s the pioneers of the medium itself. In May, German ‘serial entrepreneur’ Alexander Khan – who bills himself as a social media self-help guru – attempted a world record: the greatest number of people in the greatest number of countries watching a single live stream of his tips on success.

London stylist, executive fashion director of cool tome TANK magazine and chic woman-about-town Caroline Issa (search Caro Issa) is a fast favourite. Her live-stream of London Collections: Men included a sneak peek of her show-side spot (behind Samuel L Jackson’s head and near Brit actor Chiwetel Ejiofor), and made you feel like a paid-up, conspiratorial member of the fashion pack.

A contender for new Brit girl crush could be Hayley Carr (aka London Beauty Queen – search LBQblog), who is adding a Periscope dimension to her successful beauty blog. And if you’re looking for insider knowledge from your favourite magazine, follow Grazia_Live, as well as our own in-house style guru Joshington Post (otherwise known as Josh Newis-Smith) live-streaming his weekly In The Closet With Q&As.

Savvy brands are also now playing with
the formula. Selfridges is using the app (and has more than 2,000 followers), as are Stella McCartney (more than 2,600) and Versace (almost 12,000). Hip London fitness brand Frame has an account, as does style blogger Garance Doré. Harvey Nichols has just edged over the 1,000 follower mark, while top make-up artist Lisa Eldridge has more than 2,000.

What’s Periscope good for?

It’s these visual, show-and-tell industries – make-up, fitness, fashion – that could really work wonders if the Periscope revolution takes off, not forgetting the fashion world. Burberry – always ahead on technology and the crowning jewel of the LFW calendar – has already flirted with live-streaming. Earlier this month, it Periscoped its megawatt ‘London in Los Angeles’ show, starring Brit models including Edie Campbell and Malaika Firth, and front-row spots from Cara, Kate and Jourdan.

And while news organisations such as The Washington Post and Vice are getting in on the act early, it’s the platform’s ability to allow a network of citizen journalists to start their own broadcasts that is becoming one of its most exciting pulls. During the Baltimore riots, eyewitnesses used Periscope to report live from the melee.

Will Periscope change your life?

Possibly, or possibly not. Periscope is not all save-the-world stuff. When I tuned in one morning, I watched a minute of ‘Man In Vest’, while his audience – 24 at one point – left comments like, ‘My friend thinks you’re cute!’ The most interesting bit was when he did a sweeping view of his bowl of pasta. ‘Man In Vest’ was at least clothed; the app’s obvious risk is creating an underworld of inappropriate imagery. Nudity is banned but, as with many things online, it’s notoriously hard to police.

Of course, like YouTube before it, Periscope is likely to create a new generation of live-stream stars. Comedians, musicians or just anyone doing something more interesting than simply wearing their undies could find fame and fortune.

Unfortunately, as I write, some parts of Periscope are still a world away from big-money glamour: I’m currently one of 16 people viewing a man eat a Subway sandwich. But the revolution is live – and plenty of people are watching.

- By Phoebe Luckhurst