Convince me about Periscope

@editorkid I wish my phone liked Periscope so I could take advantage of things like this. Alas, it really, really hates the app so I deleted it a while back.

@PurplePawprints I think it appeals to a certain kind of curiosity about the world. I mean, Periscope has kids who hang out with their friends while they get high and there are escorts and webcam models drumming up business, but there's tons of trashy books and movies and TV shows too. If I go into a bookstore the week Sarah Palin and Donald Trump release new books, I'm going to wonder what the point of books is.

@editorkid That all sounds awesome and absolutely not intended for what Meh has been using it. Also outside the availability of all these individual streams, none of the functionality listed is missing from google hangouts. More so there's totes functionality in google hangouts that's missing in periscope that would help the community interact more (a chat accessible to everyone not just those on a phone or with a twitter account for example.)

@DrunkCat The point of Periscope is the opposite of what you're looking for. It's specifically a broadcaster-audience model. It's like complaining that radio doesn't let you thank a DJ for playing your favorite song. (Although that's pretty much what Twitter is for.)

Twitter accounts are free. They aren't a burden. You don't ever have to use Twitter to use Periscope; you log into Periscope once and you're done. They broadcast; you receive. If you want to say something, you type, like you did here, except less. Folks like marklog and Teripie and lots of others were cracking me up plenty when I watched the replay of JonT's unboxing. And you know, since it wasn't a live broadcast, I couldn't comment, but I didn't care, because it was still a fun, cool thing that some virtual friends did.

I honestly don't get why you'd want to ramble on and on while some nice stranger is showing you closeups of the moon or the sunset in Paris or why you think the audience would want that either.

Hangouts is the second most unappealing thing Google's ever done, after Plus. It might be a very nice Google Voice replacement (maybe; I prefer GV something fierce) and conference call platform, but it isn't what Periscope is about. And far moreso than Twitter, Google makes having an account a burden because, while you're logged in, every moment, you're being monetized. I have Google's Nexus 5 and the only time I ever use Plus is to block a spammer (which happened again this morning). I've blocked a couple of random Periscope users, but they were just random Periscope users.

And like I say, I tried to put aside my cynicism about where this thread was going to go, but it turns out you really did have an agenda, and I wasted my time.

@editorkid Well at least my agenda is about Meh's use of periscope and more generally Meh's streaming collaborations with the community. You bring up "some nice stranger is showing you closeups of the moon or the sunset in paris" but that has nothing to do with this thread and its intent. Which is probably my fault now that I reread the wording.

It's not so much convince me about periscope itself as website, it's about convince me about meh using periscope to broadcast to its community in an interactive fashion. I'm sure periscope and it's intended use/goal is fine and it does sound like fun.

Also twitter accounts are a ridiculous burden. I had to make one for business reasons and already I've been blocked/harassed by dozens of users despite using it once a year. It seems to be a lightning rod for folks to "dig up" and attack you with outside forums. Also I can't type, you can only view via PC. That's the most debilitating issue (other than its reliance on twitter).

@DrunkCat Make a fake twitter account. who cares what anyone else does with it.No need to monitor. You are just using it to sign in on periscope. I have one explicitly for that.

@ceagee Yup. The couple of Meh 'scopes I've watched live, I was under another username and they were fun, but no one knew who I was. It turned out someone else had already grabbed the editorkid handle on Twitter, so I threw an underscore after it, and will only ever use it to watch 'scopes.

@ceagee Yeah! And the app is fast enough to be able to handle it if I use two fingers basically drumming them on the screen. One of the shows I watch, Sock Cop, he does impressions of different characters eating the hearts, like Hannibal or Jaws or Pac-Man. Great stuff.

@ceagee Oh, is that how those work…! I'm kind of with @DrunkCat on this one, used it the one time for @JonT's forum talk, and was super confused by the hearts.

@Thumperchick You can control notifications by broadcaster from their profiles. I don't know iOS, but you can turn off all of the Android app's settings from Android's Apps settings. At home, I usually watch on my tablet, so a call won't disconnect me, but I also have my Mac hooked up to my TV if I want to watch it on that. But if you don't have either second screen, well, yeah, like you say.

@editorkid I don't think I should need a second screen to fully use an app. That defeats the purpose for me. It has potential, but it's not quite there for me.

@JonT - Welcome back, glad you liked PV.
I'm sure I would be addicted to Periscope if it worked on a PC. I think that's the breakdown for some of us, not the content, but the hardware. Then there's Twitter . . .

On another note, I couldn't really watch today because the jumpy camera causes motion sickness. I don't think I'm alone on this. I tried to just listen. It did seem to get better later, thanks so much for your help with that, @MEHcus.

@JonT See my other comment. Seems its great for randomly bouncing between streams on your phone but I absolutely disagree with accessibility being a strength. Sure I can watch it on my PC, but I can't interact. I specifically need the app and a twitter account on my phone to interact which isn't possible.

Why not give G+ hangouts a whirl? It's even more accessible than periscope since it includes pc/mac users.

@DrunkCat oh good god, can you imagine all them breaking in constantly, no one pressing mute to save their life, it would be... pandemonium... GO FOR IT MEH!

@thismyusername you can broadcast it so that viewers can just see and chat in their own thing separate from the actual hangouts.

@JonT Could it be that you kept going up in watchers as time went on... I miss the labcast! :'( It's still a sore topic with me. I attempted to get in on all of them.. However yesterday's periscope was pretty simple once I figured out how to get the twitter account to connect to it... >< I hate twitter.

@darkzrobe This is really my only complaint. If they can't do FF (and they can) they could remember where a viewer is in the replay.

@darkzrobe really agree with this point, not being able to FF during replays is a major downside.

@darkzrobe Yes! I never managed to finish yesterday's video because I watched the first half twice and then lost my spot. I couldn't bring myself to try a third time.

@editorkid My kids and I use hangouts to chat when we're too lazy to traverse a flight of stairs. I didn't even know there was a video chat (or whatever) option. Also, I much preferred Google Voice and refused to do anything at all with Hangouts until recently.

@editorkid Well at least we're on the same page of "attempting to use things outside their intent".

As for google hangouts. I have been to meetings. No whales. And the wrong kind of sharks.

@Bogie It's all about the moment. Look and maybe there's something interesting. If there isn't, close it and try later. It's like here. You check every night hoping for that moment Meh's buyers found something just right for you.

Strictly speaking, Periscope doesn't allow nudity or even much friskiness, but like I say above, webcam models and, shall we say, professionals turn up every so often. But like you found, it's easy to ignore.

There's actually some regularly semi-scheduled stuff in the evenings. One guy has a Satan sock puppet, another who I've mentioned is a sock puppet cop character (who's PG enough to block any users who swear, if that's an issue). Humor site Funny Or Die does stuff pretty regularly. There's a Vegas cabbie called Strip Cab not after a popular Vegas occupation but because he likes the Strip part of Vegas, and he can be interesting to listen to if you like listening to people talk about their jobs and where they live. He gives out cab rides to people who guess where his fares are going. Another guy delivers pizza at night, talks about his customers and random other stuff. Those guys are like the conversations you'd have with random people sitting near you at a bar. If you aren't into that, you wouldn't miss much by skipping them.

@Bogie PBS is my fav to follow ! And, of course, meh.com

@Bogie You're trying to avoid the NSFW stuff and you came here for recommendations?