Being a very social person on internet, my first crush was Orkut (today’s millennial may not even know about it’s existence) and first love was Facebook. That is predominantly because I could for the 1st time, put up my dreamy, dramatic, vulnerable, sassy, jocular, tranquil pictures and see the world reacting to it. With time, we had desirable ways of uploading and beautifying pics with more dedicated platforms like Instagram and others.
Slowly, the world started progressing towards video contents. Youtube has undoubtedly entertained us a lot in this genre. According to statistics, video content is most engaging at 85% if the length is less than 30 seconds. To leverage this behavior, Vine comes into existence which settles for 6 second videos and how can we forget the viral Dubsmash. Another important facet to time limitation is a bend towards creativity by users. Look at the one below.
According to research, social behavior in humans is evolving fast and so is it’s form of expression.The world is slowly evolving towards a more genuine and honest form of expression — Live Streaming. People have shown enough of their virtually ideal world. It’s okay to be without makeup, imperfect clothes, without the most expensive gadgets, without riding a girl.
You are still AWESOME
because it’s the real YOU !!!
Here are a few reasons why live streaming is slowly and steadily trending :
- Honest moments.
Live streaming helps you to capture your honest moments. Imagine 10–20 years down the lane, what you see and show is the substantial you. It’s not about sharing pictures or videos to show how awesome your life is -in a party or having a cute pet. But it’s more about “hey friends, common come with me to this party or concert” or “lets dress up my puppy today”. With live streaming you can also save your moments forever.
Moreover, it’s no more novel to take a picture beautify it, edit it and share it on FB/Instagram or other social media. (Check your phone to see why so many good pics have still not made it to the social media limelight) - Teleport friends
You are on this Hawaiian beach party and miss your friends? Start a live streaming and teleport your friends to experience it too. - No limit for number of audience
With Live streaming, we can reach the whole world as an audience with no limitations. Other popular mediums like Skype allows only 10 people on a group video call and Hangout allows only 15 users at one time. So streaming is also ideal for events or conferences with huge audience. - Reducing fake accounts In most social platforms like Facebook, Tinder, Instagram we get to hear about many fake profiles and their intentions. Users would avoid a fake profile since they cannot stream things that they fake about their life and themselves. Hence, there is a considerable chance of reduced fake accounts and a relief to genuine users.
- Instant feedback and interaction
No more waiting to see likes/comments that comes over a period of time on your social posts. Stream your moments and get to see the world engaging to it instantly. Saves time and anxiety, isn’t it? Moreover, it’s a great way to engage your attendees with things that they want to hear or see. There are a lot of Question & Answer streams on Periscope. Think about a user who streams while singing songs that is request based by his audience. That’s the kind of instant interactive form of expression we are moving on to. - Instant setup and instant results
Unlike most other platforms you do not have to create a community of friends to go viral or spread love. The moment you set up an account and stream a video, people around the world start communicating to you. Hows amazingly a community, more of like minded people, is instantly created without your efforts. You do not need to have a channel or followers/subscribers to stream your moment to sizable audience. Easy peasy lemon squeezy !!!! - Marketing
A lot has been already said about Marketing as the new trend in popular live streaming apps. Companies showcase their products in front of live audiences. Audience’s trust is developed by reaching out to them directly and trust is won by it’s transparency while streaming. Its a great way to set up campaigns and promote them regularly on streaming apps. I can envision it for creating networking opportunities too. - Live Sports
Sport’s enthusiasts love to watch there favorite games on live streaming platforms dedicated to sports. This is not the interactive live streaming form of expression that we are discussing, but included this as this form is hugely popular and trending.
Top sites to watch Live sports are
a. Fromhot.com
b. Laola1.tv
c. Feed2all
d. Allsport-live.net - E-sports
This niche is again very popular and interactive unlike the above. It is a multi player game and streamed live. Viewers can chat while they watch the game streams.
Few sites to watch for e-sports are
a. Twitch.tv
b. Unikrn.com
c. SoStronk.com - Celebrities going Live
Contrary to the point 7, Live streaming apps are getting celebrities to promote their apps. The celebrity stint gets a lot of users to the apps.
Facebook’s newly launched streaming feature for Celebs, is garnering a lot of attention.
Other possibilities of effective live streaming that may soon start trending are (not limited to)
- Event managers can save money on huge auditoriums, and can rather stream their event Live. They can sell their tickets through platforms like Explara.com and still earn a lot of money.
- Webinars should be frequently conducted through live streaming apps for a much bigger reach. Also, it sets a trend of discussing and acknowledging people all over the world at the same time without any discrimination.
- Governments can use Live streams more often to connect and inform people.
- Reporters and general public can leverage live streaming as a platform to report incidents happening around the world, more often.
Do share other ideas that will make our world a better connected place with live streamings.
Meanwhile, are you still thinking of live streaming but don’t know where and what to start with? Here are ideas for newbies to start with.
Where to stream?
1. Periscope
2. Meerkat
3. MyEye
4. Voola
What to stream?
- Stroll in a park/road
- Pets (people love to watch dogs/cats even if not funny)
- Singing and dancing (any talent)
- Babies are darlings on internet
- Your wardrobe (clothes, shoes and everything)
- Teach how to apply makeup
- Review your gadgets
- While cooking
- Car/bike ride
- Friends get together
- Classroom
- Time with your fav girl/guy in your School/College
- What’s in your refrigerator?
- Visit to a restaurant, concert, museum
- Unboxing of your new toy or surprise eggs
Any Any Anything….. Just do it. Have fun!!
This was originally posted in Medium.
You can find more about Voola on TRHS here
Disclaimer : I am the cofounder of a video streaming app called Voola (twitter @voolaapp).
Thank you,
Ruchika Kar
@reachruch
asha chaudhry
nice ideas you’ve shared ruchika!
i hope we are able to use voola at the hyd meetup soon.
ps: pls add insta lively to your list – they did an awesome job of covering our entire OH in gurgaon last week. i will be posting the vids soon!
Alok Rodinhood Kejriwal
Excellent post! Will promote!
Ruchika
Thank you Asha. Yes we can.:)
Ruchika
Thank you Alok for your encouragement.
Prateek Gupta
Awesome post, Liked the vision. I can see Live streaming taking education to rural areas (IF we can get some apps which work on low bandwidth, or if we get some good connectivity there).