For several weeks this spring, much of the technology community appeared to be broadcasting its daily activities live.
Meerkat appeared at the end of February and gained rapid popularity around SXSW in March. Twitter, which had acquired Periscope without announcement, then launched it on March 26. Within days, technology commentators were debating which app would prevail, and users were broadcasting from cafés, conference hallways and their own kitchens. Viewers receive a push notification when an account they follow goes live, tap it, and often find little of substance to watch.
We are in Bali, a few weeks from opening a dive centre with our partners, so the question is a practical one: should a dive business be using live video, or is it a novelty that consumes time?
Periscope or Meerkat: what is the difference?
Both apps offer essentially the same function. The user opens the app, presses a button, and the phone camera streams live to anyone watching. Viewers can comment, and on Periscope they can tap the screen to send hearts. Meerkat streams disappear when they end unless they are saved. Periscope keeps a replay for 24 hours, after which it is removed.
Live streaming is not new; YouTube and Ustream have offered it for years. What is new is its simplicity: no setup, no laptop and no special account, only a phone and a signal.
Meerkat was first to market. Twitter now owns Periscope, however, and in March it restricted Meerkat's access to parts of Twitter's network, which was Meerkat's main source of audience. Periscope added an Android app in May. In our assessment, the app owned by the platform is better positioned. For background, the Periscope page on Wikipedia summarizes its history in a few paragraphs.
The concept itself is likely to endure. Given how easy it has proven to be, we expect Facebook and other platforms to add a live button to their own apps. For a small business, this matters more than which app ultimately prevails.
Is live video useful for a dive business?
At present, our answer is mostly "not yet," and in part "not really."
Part of the reason is physical. Streaming from underwater is not possible, since radio signals do not travel through water, and the most compelling part of any dive takes place where no phone can broadcast. For a dive centre, live video therefore means the boat, the beach and the classroom. These are of interest, but they are not the reef.
Connectivity is another factor. Mobile data on the small islands off Bali is not reliable enough to support a live broadcast; the result would likely be a frozen image and a loading indicator.
Attention is the third factor. Every minute a team member spends holding up a phone on the boat is a minute not spent briefing divers or watching an anxious student. In a small operation, this trade-off matters. Safety and attention to guests come first; the camera always comes second.
Live video can, however, work well for events: a beach cleanup, a group completing its final training dive before becoming instructors, or a social evening at the dive centre. These have a set start time, and people who cannot attend genuinely want to watch. Routine activity, such as the boat leaving again, does not hold viewers' attention for long.
How should a small business use live streaming?
For businesses with people and a physical location, such as a shop, a restaurant or a tour operator, these are our conclusions after observing the first months of this trend.
Why go live for events rather than daily routine?
People will attend for a specific occasion: a launch, an opening, a question-and-answer session with the owner, a class, or a chef preparing the most popular dish. They will not attend to watch an ordinary weekday. For routine content, a short edited clip consistently performs better.
Why announce the stream in advance?
This is the step that almost every business we have observed omits. Going live without notice means the audience is limited to whoever happens to be scrolling at that moment. Inform people of the day and time, the day before and on the morning of the stream, through a tweet, a Facebook post or a line in your email newsletter. This can make the difference between five viewers and fifty.
Why save and reuse the recording?
Both apps treat a stream as ephemeral; Periscope keeps it for only 24 hours, and many valuable moments will be lost as a result. Both allow a copy to be saved to the phone, and we recommend doing so every time. Edit the best two minutes into a clip, publish it on YouTube and on the website, and send it to those who wanted to attend but could not. The live broadcast itself represents perhaps a third of the total value.
How can a business capture unplanned moments?
Live video offers one capability that no other format provides, which is why it should not be dismissed.
Unexpected moments occur: a pod of dolphins beside the boat, a storm approaching over the water, or a child seeing a turtle from the surface for the first time. Such moments cannot be scheduled, and a live stream captures them in a way that a photo posted later that evening does not.
Capturing them, however, requires preparation: a charged phone, the app already installed and logged in, and a team member comfortable starting a stream without hesitation, who also knows when to put the phone away. This preparation is minimal, yet most businesses do not undertake it, and when the moment arrives, it passes before the phone is ready.
This is the practice we intend our crew to develop once we open. The photo and video side of a business does not need to be complicated. It requires someone who is attentive, with a phone battery that is not at four percent.